St Patrick's Day Dash 2009

My dad and I ran the Seattle St. Patrick's Day Dash Sunday in the craziest weather! It was snowing when we left West Seattle:
It was pouring at the Starting Line by the Center House:It was clearing at the half-way point out on the Aurora Bridge (!):And it was a downpour when we sprinted to the finish line against "rivers" running down the course:We were soaked by the end but had a BLAST! It was only as we neared the car that the chill set on ... : )

*My only regret is that the boys didn't get to run their first race (the Leprechaun Lap) due to the weather. Next year has GOT to be better, Boys!

*BTW: I'm training for a Marathon and ran 15 miles along West Seattle's shoreline Saturday in similar weather. Totally nuts. But as I ran the last mile and looked out onto Elliot Bay, there, just above a ferry crossing the waters, was a big, beautiful, full rainbow. And the sun had dried me off. Talk about awesome.

Rock and Roll with O - 3.16.09

Guess Who Is ...

... Walking!!!

At 11 months, 1 week, Kate took her first steps tonight!! And then - icing on the cake - she stood up without holding on to anything!! Congratulations, my little BIG girl!! I can hardly believe it!

If only Daddy could have been here to see it ... The pics above were taken immediately afterwards. Then I started trying to catch her steps on video ~ a whole other story! We'll post a video as soon as I can get it set up, get Kate to take the steps on command, and then catch the act on tape in less than a minute OR as soon as Collin or Owen's attempts at creating a documentary catch the steps instead of a 360 view of the room, including the ceiling!

*We're thinking of you, Daddy, and sending you and and G&G T hugs and kisses and many, many good thoughts and well wishes! (Grandpa T was rushed to the hospital in Illinois yesterday afternoon following what now appears to have been a smallish heart attack, perhaps followed by a second a couple hours later. But today's reports have all been good, and the doctors hope to send him home tomorrow with meds and strict instructions to take care of himself. Kevin will be in Illinois at least until Sunday to visit and help his family. We love you, Grandpa!! And, Daddy! And Grandma! And G&G B too! And all of our Illinois fam!! Oh, gosh, and all of our family everywhere! We love you, one and all! ; )

R

The Letter of the Week at our house this week is R. So yesterday Collin was making his R page with pictures of things that start with R. A ruler, a rainbow, a rock, some raindrops ~ and an arm.

Lori: Collin, what's that?
Collin: An arm.
Lori: Oh, an arm. Does "arm" start with R? Sounds kinda like it does but -
Collin: Lori, no! The arm is Reaching!! R is for Reaching!

Moments with Others

Let's face it: blogging is hard to keep up! But I'm always striving to keep you "posted" - which is why I'm just recently blogging Collin's August birthday and posting Christmas and New Years two months after the fact. Thankfully, you don't have to just look at our page for Tepker Moments!

To see pics and read tales of:

Kate's Tour of Oregon Vineyards and More on Our Visit to Grant's Pass --- http://sorenson-family.blogspot.com/2008/10/day-3-of-jens-visit.html

Our Trip to Boise, Idaho (10 hours in a car; a house with 7 kids; and it was an awesome visit!) --- http://thewhitefamilynews.blogspot.com/2009/02/fun-visit.html

Baby Play Date at Woods Coffee with Braxton, Kate, Lola, and Eden --- http://rykers-ohana.blogspot.com/2009/02/braxton-is-6-months-old.html

Happy New Year 2009

Nine Months Old

Christmas Moments 2008

Collin's Rudolph Ornament

Christmas Aftermath with G&GY

My and my Granddad 12.25.08

I love you, Grandpa!!

Grandma J made the boys new jammies for Christmas and Kate the cutest Christmas dress!!

So adorable!

Christmas Eve with the Tepkers

Christmas 2007 the kids made cookie-cutter gingerbear cookies for Santa. In November 2008, Collin put in his request: "Santa really liked the cookies last year, Mom! We need to make gingerbread cookies again for him!" And so we did. (*And he+she loved them!)

In their Christmas Jammies

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care ...

Our Chrismas King

Baby's First Christmas Eve ~ complete with a HUGE bruise on her forehead, caused when her brother Owen accidentally introduced the very stool featured in this picture to her cute little melon the day before. Oh, Brother! It was a rough Christmas for Kate. The next day, she played patty-cake with a fireplace and burned the tips of all the fingers on her right hand (thankfully she's also a smarty and kept them in icy water afterwards - probably because it felt good - and the burns healed in just over a week).Collin, who had nearly memorized The Night Before Christmas by Christmas Eve, read the classic to Owen (and their handmade sock puppets from G&G J) before they snuggled in for the magical night!

Silly Kids!

My basket of goofballs! 11.16.08

Haiden Dawn ~ 12.19.08

Congratulations to Rylie, Justin, Sarah, Jamie and John on the arrival of my youngest niece: Haiden Dawn! Love you guys!!

Owen 12.08

Who wants to be a starter?

Way to go, Jedi Pirates! Great season!!

Owen dresses himself - and usually, he comes downstairs in "normal" attire. However, he often has two or three pairs of underwear and a pair of boxers. On this day, he also had four shirts ~ and a little difficulty getting the third and fourth one on! : )

He still doesn't know how to use his brakes (and like his dad, he thinks you should wear shorts even though it's been snowing off and on all week) but he can cruise with the best of 'em!

Kate at 7 Months - 11.08

Snowy Memories

Remember when we were snowed in in Monroe? I sure do! We had such a great time! Here's a few extra pics I wanted to share:

Brian, Jordan, Christi and I played Hearts by candle and fire light! It took us 8 tries to get a picture with all 4 heads in it!At one point, I took the yard still out to the back porch table. It was measuring 17 inches. By the time we left the next day, another 5 inches had accumulated.
Collin and I caught snowflakes in the Winter Wonderland!
I love crunchy face!

These bath pics were taken in the Aitkin's master bath moments before the power went out during our snowed-in stay! Fun times and great memories!

Owen-Speak

Although at 3, most of his words are clear as can be, there are a few that require interpretation for those who aren't around him often. My two favorite Owen "words that require interpretation"of the moment:

twying (trying)
ors (yours)

And he rarely says "I love you" ... even if he is the first to speak, he often says: "I love you too!"

Seal Pack

As we ran around Lake Padden Sunday morning, Christina and I stopped quick when we heard the most intriguing sound. Since it was dark, and we were running by headlamp and moonlight, our first thoughts rushed through the animal noises we might hear from woodland creatures.

Bear? No. Cougar? No. Coyote? Not quite the right sound, but closer.

It sounded like - whatever it was - it was on the other side of the lake. And if it was a coyote, it wasn't likely to attack us, so we kept running. I am so glad we did.

1/4 mile later, we heard it again - and again, we stopped in our tracks.

"Sounds like a seal pack!" Christina exclaimed. Seals in Lake Padden?!

Turns out we were hearing the sound of ice melting! Beautifully, we listened as the ice covering the lake cracked, melted, bobbed. It was AWESOME! One of the most beautiful sounds and most amazing moments I've had in nature.

To think most of Bellingham was still asleep, safe and cozy (and warm!) in their beds. But they missed it. Lucky us!!