Look Out Australia – Here We Come

For many years, Robin and I have talked about taking a trip to Australia. We thought about it for our honeymoon and we thought about it again a few years ago before Noah was born. Now the opportunity is upon us. On December 26, 2007, we depart LAX for a flight down to Sydney, Australia. We are going Down Under.

We will be in Sydney for five days and four nights. Most importantly, we will be there for New Years Eve. We look forward to an amazing evening on the Sydney Harbor. We also hope to get out to Bondi Beach and take a tour of the Opera House, amongst other things. We hear great things about Sydney and we hope to be able to say great things upon our return.

From Sydney we fly up to Cairns. We will be there for a day or so and will probably catch the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway and the Kuranda Scenic Railway. From there, we will hop on a two day, one night live aboard boat that will take us out to a couple of spots on the Great Barrier Reef. I have been dying to go there ever since I read the book Monkey Dancing – a great story about a father and an amazing trip with his two children, ages 9 and 13. The Reef is presently at grave risk due to global warming. According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Reef as we know it will be functionally extinct by 2030. We’ve got our guidebook to Tropical North Queensland, we’ve purchased an underwater camera, and we have some tips from my Uncle Michael and Aunt Lynda (thank you guys) on underwater photography and are really looking forward to visiting the Reef. After our boat trip, we then come back to Cairns and head up the coast to Port Douglas for a couple of days. We will hit the Daintree National Park and Daintree River. On January 8, 2008, we return to Cairns then to Sydney and then back to LAX.

The boys are not coming with us. After some pretty pleases with sugar on top, my Mom and Dad agreed to come down to San Diego and watch the boys while Robin and I enjoy this trip. The boys are a handful, so if you are in San Diego and have some time on your hands, give my parents a call at our house. I am sure they would love to see you – and have you spend a few quality hours with Andrew and Noah.

When we resurface, I think a THANK YOU with a little more than sugar on top will be in order.

G’Day Mate!

Central Coast of Relaxation

When Robin and I arrived home from our last “just us” trip, Andrew was having “quiet time” and Noah was sleeping. When Andrew was done with his quiet time, he came out of his room and started to head downstairs. When he got to the bottom landing, he was smiling, giddy and excited. He leaped down the stairs into Robin's waiting arms. He shed a few tears of happiness while Robin held him. Mommy (and Daddy too) came home. Noah woke right about that same time and he walked slowly down the stairs. Robin scooped him up too. Andrew let go of Mommy after a couple of minutes. It took Noah almost an hour before he wanted to go down from Mommy’s arms. We were home....

On Friday June 30, just after noontime, Robin and I got in the car and headed north for a getaway. We returned on the 4th of July. My Mom and Dad came down to our house and stayed with the boys during our getaway. Karin came down for a couple of nights to help out with the boys over the weekend. My Dad said, “It was really nice having Karin here; it's easier when it is 3 on 2.” Really?!? Despite the pure truth of that statement, we are not planning on hiring someone anytime soon. We wish.

We stayed one night in Solvang (Danish for sunny field) and four nights in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo Beach. We spent the time in the heart of the Central Coast of California. It was a great trip. It does not take much for relaxation to set in when you leave the daily life of watching over step and fetch-it. I do not think there is a better feeling than getting home and knowing you were missed. I think even Nana and Grampster missed us - or at least were glad we came home to relieve them of duty.

During our trip, we bought mood rings. While the colors changed slightly during the trip, it was usually from "Relaxed" to "Calm." It only took a day or two upon our return for us to discover new moods like "Fear," "Anxious," "Stressed," and "Nervous." Fortunately, during our respite, we were in the Central Coast of Relaxation.

Our drive up on Friday was miserable, which is good because we got the misery out of the way early. Robin wasn't feeling great - which is the only time I really drive. Let’s just say that I am not as “focused” when driving as Robin is. So I drove, for 7 hours in massive traffic on Friday afternoon, from San Diego up to Solvang. Thankfully we made it just before the sun went down. In contrast, the drive back home took Robin 4 hours 20 minutes and Pismo Beach is 50 miles further north than Solvang.

We had a nice dinner in Solvang on Friday night and a great day touring through the town in the morning. If you have not been to Solvang or Denmark go. The people were friendly, the Danishes were excellent, the sun was shining beautifully and the Beer Garden was just right. We had borrowed a polarizer for our camera for the trip (thank you Patels) and the pictures proved its worth. Now I need to go buy a couple for my lenses. I recently took a photography class and I would describe it as "somewhat" helpful. I still have a long way to go. (Thankfully though, we just recently got our camera sensor cleaned.) Regardless, check out the colors thanks to the polarizer!

Evan and Danish Flowers in Solvang

We Told You it was Solvang

Ahhh – A Big Cold One at the Beer Garden

Good Ol' Hans

On Saturday afternoon, we drove up to the Cliffs Resort in Shell Beach, just north of Pismo Beach off Highway 1. The resort was excellent. The "partial ocean view" from our room was nice. I got a good picture of the sunset the first night.

Sunset from our Hotel Balcony in Pismo Beach

Our room was very nice, but nothing could top all the wonderful food we had. Our first night, we had dinner at the Cracked Crab. According to Robin, this was the best meal of the trip. The basic premise of the place is super fresh shellfish boiled up and then dumped on your table. We were given about 6 different implements in order to bust up the crab and lobster. My personal favorite was my wooden hammer - which makes a pretty loud sound if you smash it on the table. We had two types of crab - Dungeness and Bairdi - and some lobster. The Bairdi crab was exceptional.

Cracked Crab (Lobster too) - Yummy!

They Make You Wear Silly Bibs – Felt Like Home!

Sunday we slept in and then went into Pismo for breakfast at a world famous cinnamon roll place, the name of which I cannot remember. But the cinnamon rolls were pretty good. We ordered three cinnamon rolls – under the theory that ordering four would certainly yield a funny look from the server. Robin was pretty much done after her first, which left me to finish off the other two (two plus two is four). I gladly accepted the challenge. Fortunately we skipped lunch. After cinnamon rolls, we headed over to an art fair at the Dinosaur Caves Park between Shell Beach and Pismo Beach. They had fifty or sixty different artisans’ works and we walked up and down the rows and rows of tents. After we tired of art, we headed over to the bluffs over the ocean. Robin sat down and patiently waited for me to take about 100 pictures of the ocean and the hundreds of birds prancing around giant igneous rocks jutting out of the water. Most of my pictures sucked, but under the law of averages, I did get a few good ones. My favorite is of Robin though.

The Art Faire at the Dinosaur Caves Park in Shell Beach

There Was a Lot of Bird Poop on this Rock

Birds in Flight

Robin in Relaxation Mode

Sunday evening I tried to take some pictures of the two of us off our balcony at the hotel. We got one keeper.

Us on the Balcony

That night we had a great dinner at Steamers of Pismo. It was the nicest restaurant and had a grand view of the Pismo Beach Pier (more on that later). My favorite was the 22oz Stella Artois I had and Robin's was the Seafood Fondue. We capped the night off by going to see A Mighty Heart with Angelina Jolie in the role of Marianne Pearl. The movie is good (particularly the portrayal of Pakistan's efforts to catch Daniel Pearl's abductors), but the scene where she finds out about Daniel Pearl’s murder will stay with you. It was worth it just for that.

Monday we kayaked up in the Morro Bay estuary. Robin and I went in a double kayak - our second joint kayak experience - the first being at Carl and Cheryl Alberola's wedding in Maui six years ago. The water was calm; we saw tons of birds (Brown Pelicans, Blue Herons, Seagulls, etc.), a few Harbor Seals, beautiful sand dunes, the massive Morro Rock, and a LOT of seaweed. Robin also found some wonderfully colored sand dollars - including GREEN - which we'll probably make into a shadow box at some point. There were two gals on the tour with us. While my photography has a long way to go, the picture that one of the two gals took of Robin and I in front of Morro Rock shows that they have a lot further to go than I do.

The Marina in Morro Bay before Kayaking (Thank You Polarizer for Tese Colors)

Morro Bay is a Bird Estuary - SEE!

This Crane Appears to be Walking on Water when in Fact, There is a Mud Flat Just Beneath the Surface

Robin and Morro Rock

A Green Sand Dollar (Who Do You Think That is for? :)

I Got Carried Away with Pictures of the Seagull

Robin and I (a little blurry - due to operator error) and Morro Rock

Monday night we had dinner at the world famous Splash Cafe in Pismo. The chowder was amazing. Robin got us a crab and shrimp topper - just put right on top of the chowder - and that made it even better. The gamesmanship involved in getting a table at this place should not go un-commented upon. After we ordered, Robin took charge of the filling up our soda cups and I tried to jockey for position. I found an open table just fine, but I could not pry a stool loose from anyone. On my seventh attempt at asking someone if they were using that stool, I got a reprieve. However, in order to get the seat over to the table, I had to go under another table. This did not seem to faze anyone in the place. But like I said, the chowder was exceptional.

After enjoying our chowder, we headed out to the Pismo Beach Pier. We watched surfers eek out every last moment of daylight searching for a passable wave. The surf was not great. We did catch a few glimpses of good form. And we were relaxing. As the sun was nearly gone, we headed down to the very end of the Pier. As we approached, a group of boys in their late teens/ early twenties were dancing all around one guy with a partial mohawk who appeared to be reeling in a significant catch. A crowd gathered around as he fought the creature. As the battle neared an end, several of his buddies dropped grappling hooks over the edge of the Pier and brought up a 50 pound Bat Ray. It took almost 4 minutes for the guys to get all of the hooks out of the ray and for enough pictures to be taken. They dropped it over the edge and it looked like it swam away all alive – catch and release in action.

Tuesday morning we headed over to Avila Beach. We toured through the cutest little town and had a wonderful lunch at the Custom House. The sugar packets at the restaurant, from a company called Sugar for the Soul, have these interesting quotes from Author Noah benShea on them. Our two favorites were: "Do not kiss your children so they will kiss you back but so they will kiss their children, and their children's children" and "Parenting is a journey from management to consultant, if you're lucky." We will be back to Avila Beach with the boys. The stretch of beach is super family friendly and the town is just the right size for the family to hang out for a few days.

The Avila Beach Pier

We then headed up to Hearst Castle in San Simeon, about a 50 minute drive north. William Randolph Hearst (newspaper and media magnate of the 1920’s to 1950’s) built a palace on a hill overlooking the Pacific. We had previously done the main tour, so we opted for the "Garden" Tour - which is really a tour of all the buildings except for the main house. The place is a palace. I've always enjoyed European palace tours, so this was no different for me. I took a bunch of pictures and a few turned out all right.

The Columns Overlooking Willy's (the Neptune) Pool at Hearst Castle

Cupid and the Ocean

Evan and the Ocean (Who's Cuter - Wait, Don't Answer That!)

Willy's House (Our Favorite)

Willy had a Nice View

Tuesday evening we had sushi in San Luis Obispo and caught the new chick flick, Evening. As usual, I liked the movie more than Robin did. But I am a sucker for emotional films.

For our holiday drive, Robin and I did Pismo Beach to San Diego on the 4th. It was much, much easier than the Susanville to San Diego drive on Memorial Day with both boys. We arrived home just in time for a little BBQ and fireworks. A fantastic 4th of July with the family!

Grampster and Noah Playing with Fire(works)

Noah Excited About his Sparkler

Andrew, the Pyromaniac/Fire Chief

Nana and her Boys

Many thanks to Mom & Dad (& Karin who came down for the weekend) for watching the boys to give us this special time. I understand that they had some adventures of their own…as it should be. We missed the boys and they missed us…as it should be. We got back to Insanity (aka Normal Life) pretty quickly. But we will always have our memories of the Central Coast of Relaxation.

Thanksgiving 2007

We did Thanksgiving in Susanville this year. We’ve had a few years down in San Diego, but for a variety of reasons, we headed up to Susanville and the Roseberry House this year.

Thankfully, Robin’s Dad (Sam) agreed to drive up with Robin and the boys on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I stayed back to continue working for the Man (in this case, CA Attorney General Jerry Brown) and then flew up on Wednesday evening. Although Robin reported that the drive was long, the boys did pretty well and everyone made it there in time (12:30am) to collapse for the night.

My Mom & Dad have been running the Roseberry House, a four room bed & breakfast, with the Ernsts (Richard & Judi) for almost 4 years now. In that time, they have redone two of the rooms, built a craft/workshop building and completely remodeled the “cottage,” where the two of them live. All improvements are truly remarkable. We are very thankful that there is plenty of room for all of us to spread out when we make the trip up.

This year for Thanksgiving we had my Mom (Charmy) & Dad (Richard), Karin, the 4 of us (Evan, Robin, Andrew & Noah) and Robin’s Dad (Sam), as well as Mr. Rich Free (my parent’s old friend). As usual, my parents cooked up a major feast. I’ll have to see if I can get my Mom to release the document that lists out the various dishes of the Traditional Sorem Thanksgiving. Mom?

The morning of Thanksgiving, we ate Mom’s Special Cinnamon Rolls. Noah got the best of them!

Noah Giving Thanks for Nana's Homemade Cinnamon Roll

The cooks got the best of the food – by far! And everyone else who got to eat it were the winners. This year my favorite was the gravy. Is it ok to put gravy on cranberry sauce?

Nana and her Pumpkin Pie

Grampster and his Bird

Gathered Around for Thanksgiving Dinner (Sam, Noah, Robin, Andrew, Mr. Free, Charmy, Richard & Karin; I’m Taking the Darn Photo)

The boys played very well together during out stay. Andrew even snuggled up to Noah at one point while they were playing. I guess he is thankful for his little brother after all…

Andrew Snuggling up to Noah

Noah Wearing Auntie Karin's Jacket

The Boys Watching Ratatouille After Dinner

Noah and Daddy Relax with Full Tummies

Andrew Reading "One fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" to Nana

Grampster Watching Ratatouille - Looking for Some Cooking Tips for Next Year

On Friday morning, we went on a tree hunt. My parents bought three permits to go into Lassen National Forest and cut down three Christmas trees. My parents and sister went in Mr. Free’s monster truck and we went in Homer (our name for our Honda Odyssey) and headed out into the forest to chop down a couple trees. Fortunately Mr. Free brought along his chainsaw to make the job just a little easier. The boys had a marvelous time trudging all around and picking up pinecones and watching in amazement as Mr. Free fell three trees. And the rest of us had a good time watching the boys (big and small).

Noah and the Forest

Andrew Laughing in the Forest

"We're Going on a [Pinecone] Hunt! We're Gonna Catch a Big One! We're Gonna Catch a Big One!"

Noah Searching for Big Pinecones - A "big one, big one"

The Boys Watching Mr. Free Play Paul Bunyan with a Chainsaw

Noah Loves his Auntie Karin

Evan and Grampster Carrying the "Catch"

Timber... (What the Boys Were Watching)

Evan, Mr. Free's Truck and Trees Pilled High

Happy Sorems in Lassen National Forest

Happy Rosenbaums in Lassen National Forest - Sam Looks a Little Cold (Shirt, Sweater, Two Jackets and a Scarf)

My parents offered to let us take one of the trees home with us. We readily accepted. This is like an official tree. Something a little better than Home Depot’s $50 special. So, my Dad and I put down a yellow blanket (this will become important later), laid the tree on top of the blanket and then strapped it down to Homer. About 50 knots later, it was all ready to go. We got a nice picture (thank you Mom) of the four of us ready to drive 650 miles with our tree perched atop Homer.

Homer, the Tree and the Four of Us – Ready to Drive

The drive home was long, but the boys again did wonderfully. Our most exciting stop was in Bridgeport (about 60 miles north of Bishop on US – 395). The boys got out and ran around a little. I took a couple pictures of the boys running around. We had taken some pictures from our Memorial Day drive back in this same parking lot – here is the link to that blog.

Noah Running in Bridgeport – So Excited to be Out of the Car

Andrew Running with Glee

After we got the boys back in the car, Robin started to see and hear bees buzzing around the top of the car (by the tree). Either the yellow blanket protecting the car or the sap from the tree was a bee magnet. So we tried to get in the car as quick as possible, but one of the bees made it into the car. Robin is pretty fearful of bees. I usually tend to be the calmer one about them as I live by the mantra, “If you don’t bother the bees, the bees won’t bother you.” After a little insanity, I got the bee out of the car. Just then several started to swarm around my head. I swatted at them and hit one or two away from my head. Then of course I start to hear massive swarming so I run off as quickly as possible. At first Robin looked puzzled, but then she figured out that I had run from the bees. She started driving in my direction and then much like with the van in the movie, Little Miss Sunshine - I ran alongside the car, opened the door and jumped in as we were moving. I got in bee free! If you have not seen Little Miss Sunshine, rent it.

We made it home just fine, thankful as ever to spend a great holiday with the family and very thankful for our freshly cut forest tree.

Thirty Thirty Thirty

On March 4, 2007, Robin Sorem turned Thirty. Since I have already been there for SEVERAL years, I had been waiting for this day for quite some time. Fortunately for her, unlike me, she's never looked better!

Thankfully, my sister, Karin, came down to San Diego on Friday evening and stayed with the boys all weekend (March 2nd through 4th). Robin and I took this opportunity to enjoy a wonderful weekend. Where else? Vegas baby, Vegas!

We actually went to Vegas for my 30th birthday. That birthday was a surprise group affair - my parents, Sam Rosenbaum, Howard Rosenbaum & a number of his old high school and college buddies (who will remain nameless, but you know who you are!) and Carl & Cheryl Alberola all came out for that. This trip was a smaller, but no less enjoyable group - just me and Robin.

Surprise - It's Mom & Dad! - I Was Totally Surprised!

Evan and Carl Relaxing in a Parisian Lounge

We flew to Vegas on Friday night. I think Robin was really ready to enjoy some great meals, some sleeping in, some superb shows and to remember what it feels like to be a little footloose and fancy free.

After we got settled in at the Hard Rock Hotel, we headed over for dinner at Smith & Wollensky. Dinner was way too much, but fantastic.

After realizing that we had eaten so much that it hurt to walk, we headed back to the Hard Rock. Because our plane was a little delayed and we were pretty tired, we just called it a night! Sleep was welcome.

On Saturday morning, we woke up and Robin went down for a spa appointment (Hot Stone Massage) at the Rock Spa at the Hard Rock Hotel. Robin enjoyed the massage and was ready to tackle the day!

After the massage, we went shopping at the Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian. We loved Venice on our honeymoon and this Venice is much brighter with significantly fewer pigeons. Oh – and the water in the fake canal is much prettier than the water in Venice! After a little shopping, we headed back to the Hard Rock to change for a night out on the town.

We headed over to the Bellagio, which has to be my favorite place in Vegas. It is such a beautiful place. We picked out a nice little present for Robin at the shops there for her 30th birthday. We then headed over to the Fontana Bar - great spot overlooking the water show at the Bellagio, with the Eiffel Tower of the Paris in the background. We enjoyed some wonderful fruity drinks!

Beautiful Fountains, The Eiffel Tower and Robin at 30!

That Looks Like a Tasty Beverage

After a couple drinks, we headed over to dinner at Shintaro restaurant. The food was fantastic.

We then wandered over to the Mirage for the Love Cirque Du Soleil show. The show was full of astounding acrobatics and theatrical displays all fused with the brilliant music of the Beatles. If you are in Vegas and even like the Beatles a little bit - GO. It was a wonderful trip. After the show, both of us got nice T-shirts and the Love CD to remember the occasion.

All You Need Is Love

We then went back to the Hard Rock Hotel and did a little gambling. Mistake - we lost!

Sunday morning we woke up and had a great breakfast at Mr. Lucky’s 24/7 at the Hard Rock and headed home to San Diego! We arrived home early in the afternoon; Karin and the boys picked us up at the airport. Karin and the boys had a great weekend together – albeit tiring (for Karin).

Since Sunday was Robin’s actual 30th birthday, we (Evan, Robin, Andrew, Noah and Karin) went out to dinner at Fillippi's Pizza Grotto with the Pollock family (Theresa, Tony, Nathan and Lauren). Thanks to everyone else, we even remembered to sing Happy Birthday to Robin! Candle and all.

Robin and Noah - How About I Blow Out That Candle Mommy?

Happy Birthday Robin - Just a Little Over 9 Months Late....

Robin is pretty amazing for Thirty. Hopefully this was a birthday and a weekend she will remember forever. I know I will!

Chanukah 2006

Continuing our effort to catch up to last year, here is a window into our Chanukah fun from 2006. We usually have a gathering or two at our house, dish out some tasty chicken soup with matzo balls, enjoy some latkes (potato pancakes fried in oil) and I usually overindulge in jelly donuts. It turns out that I have no shortage of volunteers to help me out with that!

Last year, Andrew was in the Yellow Arieh room at Beth Am Preschool. His school had a Chanukah concert on December 14, 2006. Andrew is not much of a stage performer. Regardless, we all had fun going to watch him give it a shot. Here are a couple of cute pictures.

Andrew a Little Shy on Stage

Noah Clapping for His Brother

Andrew Loves Diana!

Andrew's Class Singing the Finale!

We usually make sure the first night is extra special. Both boys enjoyed lighting the candles with Robin.

Light the Chanukah Candles

Happy boys Helping Light the Candles

Just Like This Noah

The Shamash Lights the First Candle - Noah Exclaims "That One!"

How Many Chanukah Nights are There Andrew?

Andrew Loves His Fire Truck From Uncle Howard and Aunt Stacy (We Are Still Not Big Fans of the Sirens :)

Noah Loves Milo the Monkey from Aunt Stacy and Uncle Howard; Milo Sleeps With Noah to This Day

The Menorah Andrew Made at School

The fourth and fifth nights of Chanukah, we spent with the Pollocks (4th night) and the Patels (5th night). It was a lot of fun. The kids played, ran around like crazy, spun some dreidels and had a grand time together.

Getting Ready to Light the Menorahs

Noah and Lauren Lighting the Candles

3, 2, 1 Liftoff of the Space Shuttle Atlantis

Lena, Andrew, Annika, Noah - Getting Them All Together Sitting and Looking at the Camera is a Big Deal!

...That's Because They Knew Presents Were Coming

Andrew and Annika Hugging - Truly Darling!

Of course Chanukah 2007 has now come and gone. We’ve got some great new memories of this year – a nice Chanukah party; some special friends came to visit. Hopefully we will post on this soon. Someday I hope to properly sync real life with this blog.

Look Out for that School Photographer

Every year the school photographer comes around and takes pictures of the kids. It turns out that one of the guys in my college fraternity now owns a school photo company. Let’s just say that he used to be a bit of a party animal. Now he is the crazy guy behind the camera making funny faces and taking the picture of Junior for you. I have a picture of him playing poker, which was posted on the wall of the Chi Phi bar, indelibly etched into my memory.

Our school photographers came around over the last two months. We bought the pictures of the two boys – Andrew’s Kindergarten and Noah’s first year of preschool. Both were pretty good.

We also got a composite of Andrew’s class. It is just a small window into the eclectic demographic of the Del Mar Union School District. For us, it seems just right.

Brigitte Patel - Photographer

After Robin graduated from UCSD, she got a job with an upstart Biotech (that’s what we have here in San Diego) named Sequenom, Inc. There were two highlights of her time working there – all the money we failed to make and the good friends she met there.

As to the first highlight, in January 2000, while Robin was working there, Sequenom went public. We got the opportunity to buy a bunch of stock and we did so. We then watched as it went from our purchase price of $26/share to nearly $200/share and then all the way back down to $1/share. I think tax year 2007 is our last chance to reap the reward of all the capital losses we took from buying Sequenom high and selling it at rock bottom. But we learned an important lesson – when you buy low, sell high -- take your profit and move along.

As to the second highlight, during Robin’s time at Sequenom, she met Abby Devine, Brigitte Darnhofer (now Patel), Mayank Patel and Claus Hakenesch, amongst others. Amazingly, every one of the four families ended up having a baby in August of 2002 – Andrew Sorem (the 5th), Ansley Devine (the 18th), Anton Hakenesch (the 19th) & Annika Patel (29th). We called them all the A-Team. We still see the Devines and the Hakeneschs, but we see the Patels all of the time – we live a mile apart and Andrew and Annika go to Ocean Air School together.

For quite some time, Brigitte Patel has been a good photographer. She has a wonderful Nikon setup and she has a knack for catching just the right shot. She’s got a great eye! Over the past year or so, she has been taking photography classes and improving her skills. She has a new website - www.brigittepatel.com - to show off her pictures. Since we are good friends, she offered to take pictures of our family at the beach, in October, in order to further hone her skills and to get some good shots for her to post on her website. Boy did we win!

Before the beach shoot with Brigitte, we had some photos that we were planning on using for our holiday card this year (taken by yours truly). Once we got the pictures back from our beach trip with Brigitte, those pictures were out the window. Her shots were just so much better. We made a photo montage and just sent it out as our holiday card.

As an idea of the kind of thing Brigitte can do with her camera, below are just a couple of our favorite photos from the beach shoot. Check out her website to see more pictures of our family.

The Happy Thedell Couple - A Year Later

On Saturday, November 25, 2006, our long time friends and sometime babysitters and dogsitters, Lynn Armour and Greg Thedell, got married. Andrew was the ring bearer for their wedding ceremony. The little guy only added to the excitement by wandering all around the stage after proudly walking the rings up the aisle.

Andrew was very happy to be a part of the excitement and boy oh boy did he look good in his tuxedo!

Master Andrew in his Tux (With Red the Firetruck)

Heading out for Some Pictures

Andrew, Ashley (the Flower Girl) and the Happy Thedell Couple

So Handsome

Mommy and Andrew

Daddy and Andrew

Andrew and Ashley Did a Great Job Walking Down the Aisle (Both Ways)

Since the wedding, we have had several occasions to spend time with the Thedells. They just celebrated their one year anniversary by hanging out at our house watching over Sierra while we were up in Susanville for Thanksgiving. Thanks guys - we wish you many happy years of marriage!

Thankful for 2006 - A Year Late....

It is hard to imagine a more packed weekend than our Thanksgiving Weekend in 2006. We had a full Thanksgiving meal at our house in San Diego on Thanksgiving Day. On Saturday, we attended the wedding of Lynn Armour and Greg Thedell – Andrew was the ring bearer. On Sunday, we played movers all day up in LA for Grandma Dorfman. Indeed, we are very thankful that we have so many wonderful people in our lives to share special times with, to help when they are in need and to call upon when we are in need. We are blessed. Tired, but blessed.

For the third year in a row, we had a Thanksgiving feast at our house. It was a fantastic meal. Robin’s father, Sam Rosenbaum, was there with us as usual. Unfortunately, Robin’s brother and sister-in-law, Howard and Stacy Rosenbaum, were not able to make it out. But they did get to spend a very nice Thanksgiving with Stacy’s father and uncle up in Massachusetts. My parents, Richard and Charmy Sorem, lent a huge hand helping us make the Thanksgiving meal. My sister, Karin, now living in Brentwood, graciously agreed to head out to the San Fernando Valley and pick up Grandma Yetta Dorfman to allow her to come down to San Diego and enjoy Thanksgiving with us. As icing on the cake, my Uncle Alan also drove over from his place in Gilbert, Arizona. It was a great group, and everyone enjoyed their favorite dishes. Andrew and Noah’s favorite was the CRANBERRY SAUCE!

Robin Cooking

Karin Teaching Andrew & Noah How to Play Piano on the TV

Folks Over 60 Hanging Out

Turkey!

Richard and Alan Sorem!

Andrew is Very Thankful For Cranberries!!

Thanksgiving 2007 has just passed. We spent a wonderful Thanksgiving up in Susanville at the Roseberry House. We had a wonderful feast and some great family time. Pictures and story to follow - someday. But it is definitely something to be thankful for!

Andrewisms - Part Deux

About a year ago, I posted a few of Andrew’s funny sayings – here is the link. I called them Andrewisms. Now we are back with the second installment. Part of what makes these so wonderful for me is his deadpan delivery. The kid is working on an impression of Steven Wright that I’ve never been able to master.

I suspect we are not far from picking up on some Noahisms as well. For now though, he’s mostly in a question asking stage. Incessantly. It’s wonderful.

So, here are a few Andrewisms:

On March 7, 2007, Andrew picked up my Bluetooth headset. He asked me to help him put it on his ear, which I did. After walking around with it on his ear for a minute, Andrew proclaimed: “This is my iPod. I got it in France."

On March 21, 2007, Andrew ran out into the street after getting frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon. Robin took him back over to the curb and asked him, "Andrew, do we run out into the street?" He responded, "NO." Robin then asked him "What happens if we run into the street?" He responded, "A car might hit me." Robin then asked, "What happens if a car hits you?" Andrew responded, "I would die." At least it's clear!

On May 1, 2007, Robin and I were explaining to Andrew and Noah that we were going away for the weekend up to the Bay Area (for Jennifer Marshall and Scott Pesetsky's wedding) and that Lynn and Greg Thedell were coming over to watch them. Andrew's first comment after we told him the situation was: "Mommy, Daddy - I am going to miss you." He then added: "Mommy, Daddy - I am going to stay with Noah and I will protect him from the monsters."

On September 2, 2007, Andrew and I were up in Berkeley for the Cal v. Tennesee football game and had just finished dinner at Kips. I asked Andrew if he was still hungry. He said, "No, I'm full, but I want some ice cream." I responded, "But you are not hungry." To which he said: "That's OK Daddy, ice cream is not food, it's a treat." Amusingly, Andrew is not really an ice cream kid. He’ll eat a few bites, but rarely if ever finishes a whole scoop. Noah on the other hand, REALLY likes “ice fream.”

That same night, as Andrew and I were driving back up in the Berkeley Hills to Pierre Chew and Kristin Nolan's house, Andrew said, "Daddy, do you know what we are in?" I said, "No Andrew, what are we in?" He said, "The woods." I said, "Why are we in the woods?" He said, "Because there are a lot of big trees and when there are a lot of big trees, you are in the woods; Pierre's house is in the woods." That it is my son, that it is.

Call for Comedy From the Electorate

Is there ever enough comedy in life? I laugh plenty, especially with Robin and the boys. Yet, with all that is going on in the world around us, a little more comedy would sure help. It is humor that will save us - nobody ever died laughing.

So, send me your humor. If I get something great (a website, an email, or the like), I may just pass it along and attribute it to you.

In other news, if you want some help on figuring out whom you might want to consider voting for in the upcoming presidential primary elections, check out this website. I had a lot of fun with it. Suffice it to say that I am not voting for Fred Thompson or Mike Huckabee. Not sure whom of the Democratic field it will be yet. I however hear many of the candidates on Meet the Press. I would much rather spend an hour talking with Huckabee than with Thompson. Thompson barely has a pulse.

In still other news, it is my Mom's birthday today. So happy birthday Charmy Ann Sorem!