Wyatt and Sadie's 1st day of school

Wyatt and Sadie had their first day of school the following day and they were both quite excited. Thankfully we have been warmly welcomed in Libertyville and the kids had already met several kids their ages. Wyatt met several 4th grade boys through football and one in particular, a boy named Drake, has gone out of his way to include Wyatt and make him feel comfortable. And praise the Lord, Drake and Wyatt are in the same class!!

Our neighbors across the street have 3 daughters and their middle daughter is the same age as Sadie. So they offered to have several 2nd grade girls over to their house last week for a pool party so that Sadie would know several girls at school. Seriously, I am awed by how welcoming everyone has been to us here. And thankful--so thankful! 

As a result, both Sadie and Wyatt were still a bit anxious (to be expected when you're at a new school and in a new town) but were also excited!

(Think it was a bit humid that day?!)

Sadie was really excited but Wyatt became a bit bothered by Sadie's height gain over the summer, that was evident when they stood side-by-side. We reassured Wyatt that Sadie wouldn't be taller than him ;)

Ready to head off!!

The kids had a great first day of school. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day--it reassured me that we had made the right decision and the Lord had guided us through every step of the way. If we hadn't bought this house, we would have sent the kids to CHA, a christian school that was 30 minutes away. But after we bought the house and started to realize how far away CHA would be (2 hours in the car for me, every day!), Matt felt pretty strongly that we should send the kids to Oak Grove, the public school that we were zoned for. It's a K-8 school and the only K-8 school in the area, making it very unique and also attractive. It's the highest ranked elementary school in Libertyville and we were starting to see why. We talked with many of our neighbors and realized that if we wanted to have an impact on our community, we needed to be invested in the community and not pulling out of it. I wrestled with the decision and had many fears about it, but both Matt and Wyatt felt quite strongly that we should go to Oak Grove. And so after much praying and seeking the Lord, spending time in His Word and talking with friends, I agreed to follow Matt's leading and we sent the kids to Oak Grove.
So for me, that first day came with a decent amount of fear and anxiety, but also faith that this was where the Lord was calling us to be and praying that He would use our family in this community to reach others and be able to share the Hope that we have.

Blake's off to preschool

Blake actually started preschool the day before Wyatt and Sadie started school. He was so excited to be going school (finally) but he was a bit bummed that he still has to wait another year to be at the same school with W and S. Still so proud!

Sadie was so excited for Blake's 1st day

The big man 

He was so excited about his Ninja Turtle backpack--his favorite part was the shell, of course!

It was raining like crazy that morning. Thankfully Blake has older siblings that were more than willing to walk him in and check out his classroom with him. (I think Wyatt and Sadie were equally as excited for Blake's first day since the older siblings rarely get to go see where the younger ones spend their days)

The whole family was there! I love his picture of these two in Blake's new classroom.

Blake is at a Montessori preschool this year and I absolutely love it! I wish I had done a montessori school for my other kids, but it definitely fits Blake's personality very well. He walked right in, didn't even think to give me a kiss and hug (until I asked for one) and went over to pick out a puzzle with Ms. Peggy.

And an 'after' picture when we picked him up with his proud big sister. Blake loved his first day and was ready to go back the next day--unfortunately he had to wait until the following week! 

Blake goes to preschool on Monday-Wednesday-Thursday mornings and then comes to BSF with me on Tuesdays.  He loves school and wishes that he could stay longer like some of the kids do and eat lunch at school. But he's stuck with me! His teachers are amazing and of course, I love hearing their comments about how 'bright' Blake is and how amazed they are that he can read already. (I was amazed to hear that as well since I didn't realize he could! I credit all his education background to his sister!) But yes, he's reading and writing and doing all kinds of fun things that I certainly wasn't doing when I was 4 years old! It's going to be a great year at Village Green Montessori.

First piano recital

The kids had their piano recital during the last week of school also. Grammy was here helping pack boxes, so she was able to come along and hear all that the kids had learned from their lessons this year. They were both quite nervous (as one would expect) but they did awesome and neither of them made one mistake. (And Wyatt even had to play with his brace on his thumb!)

Wyatt's teacher had asked him to 'compete' in a piano competition earlier in the month. At the end of the recital, we found out that he had won the competition for his level! We all had a good laugh because the piano seemed to come so easily to Wyatt and he was quite good at it, but just didn't love it. He was really holding out hope that we would eventually let him play the drums! We will have to see...

Our support group

The beginning of the end….our goodbyes started about a week before we moved with dinner with our small group. Man am I thankful for these couples! I can't even put into words what this group meant to us over the last year. We joined their small group about two years ago when we started attending Faith Community Church in Hudson. And what was intended to be a small group/Bible study between 5 couples quickly progressed into a 'support group' as we all called it, to help us get through the struggles and stresses of life. We shared life's burdens with one another--and it definitely lightened the load to know that although none of our struggles could be taken away, we weren't alone in walking through them. We prayed for one another, shared our fears and ideas, dreams and goals and disappointments. I am so thankful for these couples (as well as the Bangtsons, who moved to Wausau a year ago) and felt refreshed with every moment we spent with them. They will be missed dearly!

(l to r, Todd and Anna Holter, Matt and I, Zach and Nikki McCabe, Josh and Kim Agrimson)

Season-wrecker

The first broken-bone in our house. Wyatt broke his thumb fielding a grounder that took a weird hop and got him right on the end of his thumb. Of course, we thought he'd be fine and told him to just ice it and sleep on it. He went to school the next day but when he got home and was still complaining about it hurting, Matt had me bring him in. Sure enough--broken. Of course I still thought he could play in his baseball game that night, but the PA looked at me and said, "Oh no. He needs to rest it and stay out of baseball for the next two weeks."

WHat?!?! We would be gone by then and moved to IL. Poor guy was so bummed. But he still went to his games and cheered his team on!

Memorial Day Weekend

After Ty's graduation, we headed up to Stormy just for two days to get everything ready for the summer and enjoy a weekend of rest before the craziness of the move set in. 

This makes me smile.

College Grad

Uncle Ty graduated from Bethel University and it was a bittersweet day for all of us. We have had the privilege of having Ty live with us several summers and he has been a great role-model for our kids. We will definitely miss getting to watch him play hockey for Bethel, have him over for meals and to do some laundry or just to hang out and talk about life. We were blessed to be able to live in the cities while he was in school there and it'll definitely feel weird to not have him stopping by occasionally. 

But we are so excited for what the Lord may have planned for him next, whether he ends up in podiatry school or chiropractic school. It's an exciting time but also a bit sad to see his time at Bethel end. He had a great experience there and also had a great impact on many students. And he may not be the last Sorensen to graduate from Bethel--Wyatt still talks about wanting to play hockey at Bethel someday so we may be back in about 9 years!

What would a picture with Ty be without a silly one?!

Track 'N Field Day

Track N Field Day--probably one of the best days in all of elementary school, right?! Thankfully the kids had great weather (even a bit too hot if you ask me). Blake and I dropped by to cheer the kids on for a bit and take a few pictures before we joined them for a picnic lunch.

Sadie and some of her fellow 1st grade girls in the 50-yd dash

This picture perfectly exemplifies Sadie--always smiling and having fun, regardless of whether she is winning the race or losing. She just loves being with people and enjoys the entire experience--and I love that! She isn't bothered by losing and it has no effect on her enjoyment of the day. And as a result, she ends up surprising us all and doing quite well because she just goes out there and tries her best and doesn't worry about winning or losing or anything else!

Sadie got 4th place out of all the girls in 1st grade!

Then we walked over to watch Wyatt and the 3rd grade boys

The older kids did the 100M on the track, which they all thought was pretty cool.

Somebody thought he was a 3rd grade boy…..

And he took off with them at the sound of the gun! 

Don't think that falling behind deterred this kid…..

Then we popped back over to check out what Sadie was up to. And now someone seemed to think he was a 1st grade girl.

Smiling yet again!!

Blake was made for track n field day. 

It was a really fun (did I also mention hot) day for the kids. Needless to say, they all slept really well that night!

Blake's turn

Blake has also been doing gymnastics all year and had his final class the same week as Sadie's meet, although his was during the day so he didn't get to have quite the same audience. But he got a medal and I took the obligatory picture.

Gymnastics Meet

I have to start by saying that Sadie is such a great sister. She patiently endures many practices and games of her brothers' activities and rarely complains. And of course the activity she most enjoys, gymnastics, has only one 'meet' at the end of the year for her to showcase all that she has learned and have her family come support her and cheer her on. So this day was a big, big deal for her!

Sadie and her 3rd cousin Livi

(we think it's 3rd cousin---Livi's grandma and Sadie's grandpa are first cousins)

They loved being in the same class together

Warming up--Sadie's perfected the splits! Ouch!!

Sadie's biggest fans!

I didn't get a good picture of their actual routine, but Sadie and Livi did their floor routines together and did a great job!! I love this picture of the two of them waiting for their music to begin.

So proud when she get her medal! I think she could have stood there all day long while people took pictures;)

Sadie, you are a great example of someone who doesn't give up when things are tough. It took you nearly two years to get that cartwheel down, but you never quit and never complained. You just kept working hard and looked forward to every practice you had. And you always did it with a smile! We are all so proud of you.