Christmas Morning

Grandma G got to spend Christmas morning with us this year.  There was a big debate about what time we would be getting up.  The kids were fighting for 5:30.  Mom and Dad said 7:00.  Grandma G just said, "You tell me when to be there and I will."  We settled on 6:30.  Grandma was on time.  The rest of us were still sleeping.  Her knock on our door got things going Christmas morning.  Since she was the first one up, she got to be the first one down the stairs after our family scripture reading about the Savior's birth.

Eric and I got a new bedroom set for Christmas.  We graduated from a Queen bed to a King.  Everyone loved the extra room when we piled on it to read Christmas morning.

McKenna had left milk, cookies and a note for Santa:  "Dear Santa...Sorry that I have been nauty this year. I hope you forgive me and still give my family presents...Sorry I didn't write you a letter or go see your helpers at the mall.  I realy do believe in you, it's just...I guess it's just because everyone at school doesn't believe.  But don't worry, I do.

Of course Santa replied: "I am so glad you still believe.  That is what keeps the Spirit of Christmas alive!  Do you know what the Spirit of Christmas is?  If you can answer that question you will always believe and you will always be on the nice list because it will affect how you act the whole year through."

We did get presents:

 McKenna got a new bike.  Santa knew exactly what color (not pink) and size (knees don't hit the handlebars when peddaling) to get.

Carson had a few more Christmas surprises, though none as spectacular as Abel.

Austin got a weight set and a shaving kit.  I am not sure which he was more excited about.  He had a little mustache going that Carson had fondly named Fernando.  It stuck and the whole family would find every opportunity to tease Austin about his new friend, Fernando.

Goodbye, Fernando!  We will miss you.

When Tanner got a nice luggage set from Santa I couldn't resist giving him the book Wherever you Are:  My Love Will Find You.

I was wandering through Kohl's helping McKenna pick out some Christmas presents when we found this title. I should have known not to read it.  I was sobbing right there in the middle of the store and McKenna had to finish reading it to me.  With a son getting ready to head out into the great big world (college for a year and then a 2 year mission for our church) the story resonated with me and what I most wanted Tanner to know.  Tanner read it on Christmas morning sitting by his luggage (there was no way I was going to get through reading it to him).  I don't think his eyes were dry by the end of it either.

Tanner didn't disappoint me.  He added to the collection of dated snow globes he had started for me three years ago.

Eric got his Halloween wish:  his own sound system to put on his Halloween productions.  That will definitely give us more boxes in the attic for Halloween than for Christmas - as if there was ever a question of which holiday we have more stuff for.

All in all it was a fabulous Christmas season.

Christmas Surprises

Carson just loves surprises!  Any gift list he has you can count on a line item being "Surprises."  Last year for Christmas Austin surprised Carson with a fish tank and the promise to help him get it set up.  It was totally unexpected and was very thoughtful of Austin.  So thoughtful that it brought tears to Carson's eyes.  He was so overjoyed he didn't quite know what to do.  That will be a fond Christmas memory for many years to come.  It just so happens that we had another opportunity to surprise Carson again this year.

As you all know Carson loves the violin.  He loves to listen to violin music and over the last two years has learned to play the violin.  What many of you might not know is that Carson had to reach a certain point in his piano mastery before he could pick up the violin and he had to help purchase his instrument.  He saved and saved and dedicated himself to learning what he needed to on the piano.

Since he began playing the violin Carson has had to move from a 1/2 size to a 3/4 size and needed a full size.  Each time he had enough to cover half of his instrument through savings and resale.  The full size was going to be quite a stretch.  He was saving EVERY penny.

At Grandma Hirons' funeral we were approached by a distant cousin who found out Carson played the violin and told us that she had some violins that had been in the family for years and she would like Carson to have them.  Carson was very excited!  We didn't know what condition they would be in or if they were even playable.

When we got the violins in November we found they needed a lot of attention.  Grandma G, Cousin Geri and I decided that for Christmas we would all go in on getting one of the violins repaired for Carson as a surprise. At a family gift exchange right before Christmas Carson got a can of olives (which he was totally fine with and excited about), but when Grandma asked him if that was all he got she was led him to the closet where he found the violin.

Cost to repair one family heirloom violin:  $500

Cost of Carson's surprised expression and tears of gratitude:  Priceless

He named the violin Abel after his many-greats uncle Abel St. Germaine who purchased the violin in the early 1900s and played it in the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.  Uncle Abel then passed it along to Barney St. Germain when he came home from France at the end of World War I.  Uncle Barney could play any tune he heard and would always play at family gatherings and social functions.  Cousin Geri was gifted this violin at the age of 12 and was able to play a duet with Uncle Barney before he passed at the age of 85.  Several cousins tried the violin and decided it was not the instrument for them.  We are glad it has fallen into Carson's hands.

Carson was also given another full size violin that was cracked and beyond repair, but we put strings on it and it plays.  Carson cleaned it up and will keep it for a "practice" violin.  The 1/2 size violin that also came into his hands was in good condition.  We have cleaned it up, put strings on it and plan to sell it.  The price we receive from that violin will go into a music education fund so Carson can continue to pursues his violin talent in the years to come.

Christmas Activities

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas around our house without a few things:

1.  A family trip to the Festival of Nativities - after having so much fun with our picture scavenger hunt at the festival last year we decided to do it again.  We hit Dairy Queen after for a little blizzard treat.

2.  Christmas Concerts - Carson played at the mall this year with his orchestra as well as in his winter concert at the school.  He is the lead violinist and LOVES to play.  I never have to ask him to practice.

Tanner and Austin are now in the same choir and got to perform at several places around the Portland/SW Washington area.  Besides their winter concert at the school they also got to perform at the Festival of Nativities and the Grotto.  Tanner led the choir with a solo in one song and did a beautiful job!  You can listen to their song by going to http://unionchoir.org/media/2011-2012/holiday-concert/  and under the audio files selecting #13 Gloria by the Chamber Choir.  Tanner is the soloist on this piece.

3.  The Sork Family Musical Christmas Special - for years and years we have been performing in retirement homes around the community where we have had family members as residents.  With the passing of Grandma Hirons this year we didn't have a retirement home to visit.  Everyone felt a little sad about that.  So I called the retirement center where the scouts helped honor the vets on Veterans Day and asked if we could adopt them as our grandparents.  We were able to go meet some new friends and share our talents with them in memory of Grandma Hirons, Grandma Sork and Bapa Lou.  We also did a little program for the ward Relief Society Dinner.  Sorry, no pictures of this one.  I was busy sitting at the piano while Tanner, Austin and McKenna each sang solos.  I also accompanied Carson as he played a Christmas medley on his violin.  I also played a few duets with my piano students (I am up to five now).  We asked some family friends to participate too so we had a trumpet trio as well.  We also incorporated a few sing-along songs in there for the audience to participate in.  It was a nice evening.

4.  Arts and Crafts - One of my very good friends, Jeri Fitzgerald came by and brought us a Christmas Candy Train.  It was beautifully decorated and took so much time and love we decided to build a whole village to go with it.  Emily Mosset, our cousin, was visiting with us so she got to help too.

5.  Some sort of adventure.  This year it was snowboarding - The big boys got lucky and Dad took them up to the slopes one day.  I had been sick so not all of us could go.  There are so many different skiing levels in the family it takes two adults.  

The two youngers got to stay home with me. We had a cabin day (that means laying on the couch and watching a movie with popcorn and a yummy slushie drink.  We also played a few games.  Then Carson and McKenna planned, shopped and began working on the gingerbread village.

Finding Just the Right Christmas Tree

The Saturday following Thanksgiving we bundle up in our cold weather gear and head to the mountains with a large group of our friends to find our Christmas tree.

We always drive up into the mountains until we can drive no more.  Then we park our van along side the road and pile into the four wheel drive vehicles. When those are stopped by road blocks or too much snow we pile out and begin the hunt.

There are always winter treasures to find.  This year we found some giant icicles.  We also got into a giant snowball fight that ended up in a game of who could tackle who and our family's largest dog pile yet.

Eventually we find our tree, cut it down and haul it back to the vehicles.  I am always amazed that no matter where we stop to look for a tree we always end up downhill and have to haul the tree uphill to get it back to the vehicles. We think we have found the perfect tree and can't wait to get it home and decorated the following Monday for Family Home Evening.

"OW! That's still hot!"

After all that hard work it is nice to know that we have a hot meal waiting for us when we get back to our van.  Chili cheese dogs, chips, apples and hot chocolate with marshmallows.

The days don't get much better than this:  surrounded by people you love, Christmas music playing in the background, the scent of fresh pine all around you, and big welts from your snowball fight with your teenage boys - it doesn't get much better than this. It is great to live in the Northwest.

Count Your Blessings

This year was a Thanksgiving first for us--just our little family for Thanksgiving.  That was not as it was planned, but it was a nice treat.

We were supposed to go to the Tri-Cities for Thanksgiving.  With Marsha sick, I was going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the family so she wouldn't need to worry about it.  We had planned a menu together when we were in the Tri-Cities for Tanner's state XC meet.  I had prepared a lot of the food up front and was just taking it in coolers to then cook there the day before and the day of Thanksgiving.

Marsha was in between her 6th and 7th chemo treatments.  They were taking a lot out of her.  As Thanksgiving approached she just was not getting her strength back enough to have visitors so we opted to stay at home so she could rest up for her next treatment and not worry about me rattling around in her kitchen.  Though I was looking forward to using her Cutco knives...

It was a pretty stress-free day since most of the work was already done.  Carson got his wish - a whole turkey sitting in the middle of the table waiting to be carved like Norman Rockwell's Thanksgiving Picture.  Of course all the food wouldn't fit on the table, the rest of the food we had to dish from the buffet before we sat down.

Since I was cooking for two times the number of people we had, I didn't have to cook for the whole week following the holiday.  Everything turned out delicious!  So delicious people didn't mind all the leftovers, which is pretty amazing around our house.  We'll have to take a rain check for Thanksgiving in the Tri-Cities.  Maybe next year when Marsh is feeling better and finished with her chemo treatments.  This Thanksgiving we are especially grateful that she is doing so well and only has two more treatments to go.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tanner's 2011 Cross Country Season

Tanner had another amazing cross country season this fall - the last of his high school career.  He matured as a runner and made everyone work harder to keep up with him.  There were even times where no one could keep up with him.  Tanner really wanted to get a personal record every race this season.  That is easier said than done.  He did set four personal records (each noted by an * below) and improved his time from the end of last season to the end of this season by 25 seconds.  WOW!

2011 Season - 12th Grade
3 Mile
	10		16:16.69	Oct 1	38th Annual Sunfair In...
5,000 Meters
	4		16:26	Sep 9	Run-a-Ree
	1	*	16:21	Sep 20	Union @ Skyview
	4	*	16:20.57	Sep 24	Nike Pre-Nationals
	2		17:17	Sep 27	Evergreen vs Union / C...
	2		16:29	Oct 4	GSHL league Union Heri...
	41	*	16:16	Oct 15	Concordia Puma Classic
	3		16:40	Oct 19	GSHL 4A District Champ...
	11		16:24.2	Oct 29	Westside Classic
	37	*	16:13.0	Nov 5	WIAA 4A State Champion..

Nike Pre-Nationals at Portland Meadows
"Union is taking this race with Tanner Sork in the lead followed by Roman Kirkov"

Tanner entering the finish shoot at the Nike Pre-National Meet

Finalist Finish

Tanner and Roman took turns leading the pack this year.  Tanner gained more confidence in himself and in his ability to run his own race.  Tanner finished the season ahead of Roman placing 37th at state over Roman's 82nd place.  Tanner really wanted to make it into Border Clash, but needed a sub 16:00 at state to qualify - bummer.

Tanner leading the race on the XC course he designed
for his Senior Project and his Eagle Project for Union High School.

Union High Schools XC Men

XC Seniors and Coaches
L to R: Laurene Stepan, Roman Kirkov, Tanner Sork, Zach Lemberg, Miranda Taylor and Scott Eschels

We hosted a team dinner before one of the meets.  I made at least 8 quarts of pasta sauce and boiled 9 pounds of spaghetti noodles.  The team brought side dishes, bread and desserts.  There was not a drop of pasta left.  It was fun to have the team hang out together, visit and play games in our backyard.

Of course that meant everyone knew where to find Jeffie the Jeep for pranks throughout the season.  I think at least one of the girls on the team was sweet on Tanner.

Tanner was appointed team captain again this year and awarded "Most Improved" by the team for all of his personal records.

The Starting Line
Hudson's Bay Run-a-Ree
Tanner's the one with the blue K-tape on his shins

The Finish Line
Hudson's Bay Run-a-Ree

The Awards Stand
11th Place of 132
4A Boys Regional Meet in Tacoma, WA

The Fan Club
(Well, a portion of it anyway)