Cole and Bear Encore

This video of Cole singing is a bit longer, but worth every penny!

Cole and Bear

You won't find a cuter songbird anywhere else! The songs are from Bear in the Big Blue House Live.

Santa Came to Town...Early

Santa with Sonja, Michael, Tiana, Olivia, Elisabet, Cole and Luke

 

Luke thinking "Open, Open, Open..."

Finally!  Toy Story action figures!

Santa is popular!

Working hard on ornaments



Sonja sharing a laugh with her cousins



Luke, Hans, Tiana, Theresa, Elisabet, Hans, me and Mom

Santa stopped by to visit the Stockstad household before getting back to his workshop to prepare for the big day!  He brought gifts for all the little cousins and friends, and didn't mind having his picture snapped either!  Cole kept asking "Where is Daddy?" when Santa was visiting and he really got upset when he saw mommy kissing Santa Claus!  Luke got to open the gift he's been waiting patiently to open...more Toy Story figurines to add to his 100+ collection.  The kids got to make ornaments and had fun hanging out with each other.  A good time was had by all!

Good Friend Luke

Luke and his good neighbor friend

It never fails.  Luke will always be there rain or shine.  This little guy surprises me with his thoughtfulness for others just in this actions.  It was a rainy day in Arizona today so Luke took the umbrella to go out and wait for the bus.  As usual, he walked down the street to go find his bus buddy, and came back with his friend under the umbrella.  Too cute!  So, of course, I ran to get my new camera (thanks hon!) to get a few shots of this.  Just to note:  Cole is not lacking in the empathy department either.  He will always be there if he sees someone fall or need help saying "Are you OK, are you alright?".  He ran across the park the other day when he saw a kid fall on his bike to help him...He saw even before the mom saw and he was booking it across the grass.  These kids make me smile!

Sonja Teams Up with AZ Cardinals

Big Red Checking Out Sonja's iPad

Sonja with AZ Cardinal Brandon Keith

Sonja had an appointment today at the St. Joe's orthopedic clinic and lo and behold who did we see?  Five Arizona Cardinals, two cheerleaders, and one red cardinal named Big Red!  Sonja got a cute stuffed bear and some of the players signed it, then Big Red took a liking to her iPad.  He also admired her Cinderella blanket too!  If we would've know we were going to meet celebrities, we would've dressed up and combed our hair!  Our mad dash to the appointment had Sonja with bed head and me in a hat, then we ended up waiting about an hour anyways to see the doctor!  The best part was that Sonja got the A-OK to go without her flexible casts and wedge during the day.  Yeahhhh!

Read more about the AZ Cards and their visit here:

 AZ Cards Teddy Bear Express

Seeing Old Friends

Sonja with Kaylene and daughter Laina

Sonja getting some love from Laina

Abbie and Luke

 Today we have some old friends stop by to see the kids.  Kaylene and her daughter came by to see Sonja.  Kaylene had been Sonja's teacher for the last two years.  Sonja really enjoyed seeing Laina running around, and Laina enjoyed checking Sonja out and showing her some toys.  Luke got to hang out at a pumpkin patch field trip with his friends from Chrysalis and Abbie, who also was his teacher for the last two years.  Sonja was also visited by Miss Connie and Miss Pam for some homeschooling.  Miss Connie taught all the kids during their preschool years (7 years of Stockstads!)  and Miss Pam is her OT from school.  All in all it was a great day!

Almost 2 Supermans

Sonja and Caitlin making Kermit Pumpkin

Cole getting upset with his costume

Cole as Angry Bird and Sonja as Rapunzel with Superman Luke

Caitlin and the kids

Luke helping himself

The boys ready to say Trick or Treat!



Cole with his favorite neighborhood ghost



Halloween came and went but the memories are here for all to see!  The day started with Caitlin helping Sonja make a Kermit pumpkin!  So cute!  Cole had told us all week he wanted to be Superman so we put him in Luke's costume from last year and bought Luke a new Superman outfit since he wanted to be that again.  But....the day of Halloween, Cole just didn't want to wear the Superman costume and you can see him stuggling with it and wanting it OFF!  Good thing we had the Angry Birds mask at the ready and he was A-OK with that.  He put it on only when he rang the doorbell, then took it off the rest of the time. We got loads of candy and the kids had a great time! 



Cole The Entertainer

Cole The Entertainer

Cole: I want to be Superman!

Me: I thought you wanted to be a pumpkin?

Cole: I want to be a skeleton!

Me: Um, we don't have a skeleton costume, but maybe you can wear your brother's costume from last year.

The result is what you see above (click on the link). Cole gives his 3 step guide to trick or treating...He is such a character!

Sonja's home as of Sunday and she is doing well...lots of snoozing and stuff like that...Still, there is pain from healing and she has two places to be...her wheelchair and bed...a bit boring for her, but she's a trouper!

Sonja's View

This is how Sonja will need to be for the next 6 weeks...while her hips heal up...at least it's not a hard cast, just a flexible one to keep her legs straight...And a sponge wedge to keep her legs separated...makes for a nice surface to place her iPad on!

A Room with a View

Our view is pretty cool here is Sonja's hospital room...Camelback Mtn. to the left and Papago on the right...It looks nice outside...too bad we are stuck inside.

Sonja will be leaving the ICU shortly and moved to the regular room where she will finish out her stay here at the hospital. Basically, a larger nurse to patient ratio, but we are always with her anyways, so if there is a problem and Sonja needs something, we will tell them.

She had a bit of a problem today holding her food down, but she got cleaned up and is sleeping again, but for awhile, she was pretty alert. Wish her flamingo had come out unscathed...he got slimed by Sonja so he is in the bathroom drying off after his bath.

Sonja's Recovery

Sonja is in the hospital recovering from a long planned hip surgery which is called Femoral Varus Derotational Osteotomy or VDRO. It was a major surgery for her that will keep her hips from becoming dislocated and to create a more functional hip joint. She will need at least 6 weeks to fully heal before we can do the usual standing or range of motion exercises that she is usually used to.

Sonja has been sleeping a lot since her surgery and mainly it is due to the amount of muscle relaxants and pain meds she is getting. Nothing like a good sleep! Especially after everything she has been through!

September means Wedding!

Erica and Shay

Troy and I with the happy couple

Enjoying the reception

The cousins being silly

Nephew Seth being Cookie Monster

Troy's sister, Mandy, the maker of those sweet cookies

Troy and I traveled to Fargo sans kids to attend his brother Shay's and Erica's wedding in early September.  It was a beautiful wedding and Fargo feels a lot better in September than January!  Sorry, Mandy! I really enjoyed your reception too, even if it was just 0 degrees!  Mandy is a great baker and made cookies as take-a-ways for the wedding!  I think I ate about five of those iced pumpkin cookies!  Yum-O! 

Luke's Birthday and Whooosh!

The month started out with a bang!  Luke's birthday and everyone had a great time!  Then where did the time go?  Just thought I'd do a quick post to make sure you didn't think I had forgotten you all!

Keep On Tugging!

Sometimes you just gotta keep at it! Apply this to almost any situation, but in Luke's case, that means keep tugging and it'll come out! His tooth, that is. Wasn't expecting him to hand over his tooth with a "There it is!". And he was done and off to his next challenge...like getting to the next level of Angry Birds or trying to find his Chex Mix. Luke is anything, but a multi-tasker. The world has enough of those...

Troy and me

so its been a whirlwind in august with school starting up, sonja getting ill, then better, caitlin getting engaged, me getting sick, school meetings, doctor appts., and a trip to the er...at least troy and i got to get out and enjoy a ballgame...this wasnt even my bday gift but, hey, right behind the visitors dugout may have well been...exclamation point...i am typing this on my phone and the qwerty keyboard doesnt register here on blogger...so thanks for understanding...exclamation point...

me and my hubby at the diamondbacks game

Disneyland and Friends

Sonja and I spent a few special days with some very good friends of ours, Lupe and Stephanie.  We all met years ago at a therapy clinic and have been friends ever since.  It was nice to spend some girl time together at the parks.  Sonja enjoys California Adventure a bit more because of the Muppet 3D Vision movie there.  We got to see the Aladdin show there which was super awesome.  The only downside was that it was really busy at both parks, so next time, we will go when its not vacation time for every kid in the world.

Checking in at the Disneyland Hotel

Relaxing after checking in...Lots of Pillows at Disney Hotel!

View from our window



Sonja and Stephanie



The girls


 

           

Getting some pizza

  

         

Sonja's Favorite:  Muppets in 3D

Fun Vacation Highlights

Our trip to San Diego was a blast!  The kids got to go to SeaWorld, Legoland, and the beach, multiple times!  I captured more than a few videos on my phone, which, surprisingly, are of pretty good quality.  Even though we took the video camera on the trip, it never came out of its case.  The phone is always handy...so, here are a few highlights...Stayed tuned for more pictures of Sonja and me on a trip to Disneyland with some special friends!:

The Gang is All Here...at least trying to be...

Sonja thrilled about Shamu

 Watch Video:  Sonja Whale Watching

Luke catching some waves

Watch Video: First Time Boogie Boarder

No one is safe with Cole on the road!

Watch Video: First Time Driver

Luke and Shows

Luke enjoyed the Cirque de la Mer show and the Shamu show....

Sonja and Shamu

Sonja enjoyed seeing Shamu at SeaWorld. Can't you tell?