Richard Joel Sorensen

Our dear friend Richard passed away Sunday January 16 at the young age of 24 years old in Vegas. We were lucky to know Richard and to have many fond memories with him.

We will love and miss you Richard and look forward to meeting you again.
Richard is on the far right side.
Tony, Geoff, Tommy (Richards older brother), Brandon, Richard, Kenny (Richards oldest brother).

After the funeral service we all sat in his parents home for hours talking and enjoying each others company. Richard will be missed and is loved by many friends and family.

La Jolla Cave

Saturday the 15th of January we met up with Steven and Elise our good friends. They live near the military base in Mira Mesa. Since the weather was beautiful we thought it would be fun to check out the La Jolla cave since none of us had ever been in.

The entrance to the cave was in a little gift shop with a big, old man sitting at a table collecting the $4 per person in order to enter the cave. He had absolutely NO customer service at all but we still handed over the money and went through the door into the cave. It was old steps almost just straight down for at least 100 feet. The cave did not seem safe because it was just hollowed out sand surrounding us. When we got to the bottom of the stairs there was a platform you could walk out to and look at the beauty of the ocean from water level. It was NOT worth the $4 but it was still fun and quite an experience.

This is a picture I took from the bottom of the stairs on our way back up.

This is a picture from inside the cave looking out at the ocean.
After the cave we walked along one of the most beautiful beaches in Southern California. It was such nice weather and a really nice afternoon.

Brookish and Beckster

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TODAY to my older sister Brooke (28) and younger sister Becky (23)! I wish I was with you both so we could have a BIG celebration. Wishing you both a great brithday filled with lots of friends, yummy food and presents!

Love you both!

Mandelbaum Wedding Reception

Over Thanksgiving break Tracey (Brandon's mom) and Mike got married in Indiana where many of Mike's siblings and parents live. To celebrate with the friends and family who were unable to attend the wedding, on January 8th they had a wedding reception at Riley Farms. It is a darling family owned farm and the reception was in one of the old barns the Riley family renovated into a reception center. The event could not have turned out better. Tracey did a great job planning and creating all of the decorations.

These were the center pieces on each of the 8 tables.

The room really looked nice. In the rafters were little lots of little lights. They also had a live band (who happens to be Mikes best friend and teaching partner) play pretty much all night.

Tracey wanted a vintage elegant wedding. I think she nailed it!The first dance!

Of course dessert was one of my favorite parts of the evening. Mike & Tracey had an 80 + year old German lady who owns her own bakery make their wedding cake. The layer I ate was German Chocolate, they also had a orange creme layer.
If that wasn't delicious enough, Riley Farms is know for their apple desserts and so we also got homemade apple crisp.

Me with my sugar.
Brandon with his good friend and mentor Gayle. Brandon was lucky enough over the past 2.5 years to intern with Gayle who is a school psychologist at the same elementary school where Mike teaches.

The Christmas Season

This Christmas Season came and went faster than I could even make a post.
Here is a recap of the holidays.

We started them off with doing one of my all time favorite traditions DECORATING GINGERBREAD HOUSES. We invited Steve and Elise (some really close family friends, who live in Mira Mesa) over Friday after work. Elise showed me how to make her famous APPLE PANCAKES with APPLE SYRUP. They were yummy!

Mom and Dad sent us a darling Christmas Present. Mom made us a darling pillow, a painting of Santa and many other cute little things.

ORANGE COUNTY

Brandon & I went to celebrate Christmas time with Brody & Garet. We stopped by the mall and looked at the amazing, huge decorated Christmas trees.
Garet (15), Brandon (28), Brody (17)

After dinner we drove around town and looked at the Christmas lights. There is a block that goes all out.

I made the boys listen to Christmas music with me and tried to get them to sing along.

UTAH

On Christmas Eve we drove to Provo and arrived about 1:00. That evening we drove to Payson to my Grandma Graces Christmas party. It is tradition Grandma always gets us all matching P.J.'s. Brooke, Jimmy, Bryce & Gavin slept over on Christmas Eve with Brandon & I at Mom and Dad's house. Christmas morning was so fun watching Bryce and Gavin seeing what Santa left them.
Brooke and Jimmy with their stockings.
Grandma & Grandpa refinished my sister and I's old kitchen play set from when we were little girls. They even kept all of the original food we had. My sisters and I played with this for hours then and just like I was little again I played with it for hours with my darling niece and nephew's.

Eli and Brenna's first Christmas together! Just married 6 months.

I love the Christmas present mess that comes from opening all the presents. We waited until after Christmas dinner to open our presents which is nice because it makes the day feel longer.

I gave Brandon a new knife and skiing mask. This NINJA mask he can wear underneath his helmet to keep him extra warm. It came in really handy when we were skiing in BELOW ZERO temperatures.

The Christmas season wouldn't be near as fun without getting together with some of our closest long time friends. We all live in different areas of the country and it is rare when we all can get together. Tony, Brandon, Tommy, Beau & Brianne

Hanging out at my parents house is ALWAYS so much fun. There are always a million people coming and going and lots of friends and family ready to play games. The favorite of the season, was called HEADBANDZ.

Tony, Jimmy, Geoff, Tommy. It is fun to have our friends all camp out in my parents basement for a couple days. The more the merrier, I think!

Bryce and Lincoln love to pretend to be COWBOYS. They are trying to act like Grandpa!

Little Sis doesn't want to be left out of the fun. She also wants to be a cowgirl!

We had so many yummy meals over Christmas break. Just another reason I miss living close by Mom.

HAPPY NEW YEAR. WAFFLE FEST 2011 was in fine form this year! We were exhausted after a fun COLD day skiing but we didn't let that stop us from missing any of the festivities.

Becky, Brianne, Heather, Grandma, Brittany, Ashley, Brooke

Mom, Dad & Gavin. They always throw a GREAT New Year's Eve party. Uncle Kim had an amazing display of illegal fireworks he bought from WY. It was -1 outside while we watched them!

Happy New Year me and Dad!Eli and Brenna