Sunday, February 26, 2012

From Nordic Skiing to Rugby!!!

Dear Lerhol Family and Friends,
Well since our last blog update…things have been relatively low-key at the Colehour homestead. 
Good-bye Nordic Skiing; Hello Rugby:
There is a saying in the US when someone is always on the “go”…that they are not “letting the grass grow underneath their feet”, which describes Sondre perfectly.  Now that Nordic skiing is over, he has started practice for Rugby.  Rugby is a sport I literally know nothing about other than I think it has Australian roots and is very physical.    Kevin Sundquist, a friend of Sondre’s, and the son of one of my best life-long friends (Annie Joyce), is the captain of the team and has played for years.  It is gaining popularity in Minnesota for both boys and girls.  I expect Anne and Kevin can teach us the ropes.  To keep in shape, Sondre continues to take long runs along Lake Minnetonka and has joined a Fitness Club near our house (that he can walk to). Active young man!

Below are a few picture of Kevin (Sundquist) playing Rugby.  I have known his Mom since we were 5 years old as neigbors and classmates at Christ-the-King Catholic school in Southwest Minneapolis.  I was also in his Mom and Dad's wedding many years ago!




School continues to go well…and Sondre is really studying hard, especially in his biometrics class.  It is a combination of science, mathematical equations and anatomy.  He seems to really enjoy these types of classes and while they are very challenging (in English) he is doing well.  
Go Skippers!
The Minnetonka Girls Hockey team won the state title last night, for the second year in a row.  They beat Roseville 3-0.  Congratulations girls.  The boy’s hockey team is also very good…and I expect they will make it to the finals as well.  That tournament is in a few weeks.

The Sweetheart Dance:
Sondre had a great time at the dance.  This is the dance where the girls ask the boys. You dress up on costumes and themes...looks like they chose sports jersey's as the theme.  Sondre and Emma went with 22 other kids and rented a party bus to transport them from place to place.   The group had dinner beforehand at BUCA…a wonderful Italian restaurant.  I think BUCA is Italian for “hole in the wall” or something like that but they serve excellent food “family style” which works really well for larger groups.   Here are a few pictures. (Jon and Sigrun…he does not give us any more details about stuff like this than our own kids did….so I really don’t have many details to share!) J






Welcome home Billy: the Stephens(Billy, Pam and Jackson) visit Minnesota:
There is nothing I enjoy more than when all three of our kids are all home (with their spouses) at the same time.  We had a party on Saturday night and then a big sleepover with all the kids and grandkids (plus Dave/Colleen and Greg/Brooke…Billy’s best buddies).  We had lots of laughs and were all able to catch up on almost a year’s worth of conversations.  Jackson and Amelia (or Jaxy and Yaya as they call each other) loved all of the activity around the house and especially playing with each other.  On Sunday, we all just hung around and watched the Super Bowl, which was a really good game with the NY Giants winning.  I think Sondre might be hooked on US sports… 
Another garage party success!
 The arrival home from 8 months at sea.
Just the simple things in life...reading a book to your son.
Annual trek to Florida--PLANNED:
Every year, for many years, we have joined several of our friends in Florida for a week on the beach to relax, enjoy the sun, walks, some good old-fashioned camaraderie with great friends and perhaps a margarita or two.  We just made our travel arrangements and will be heading to Vanderbilt Beach for a week.  It is in-between Fort Myers and Naples.  Normally, all of the kids come (Tore too) with us, but this year it won’t work for the Stephens and Dirks clans…so it will just be Scott, Sondre Alex and me.  I am sure Alex and Sondre will attract a few girls on the beach with their rugged good looks and charming personalities.  We shall see…I will make sure they have a curfew (at least Sondre anyway).  J

We will be there with the Stewart’s (Jim and Robin), Paulson’s (Tom and Ginny) and Lieb’s (Jim and Noonie).  We will be on the beach from April 7 – 13th and then we are going to…WAIT FOR IT….DISNEYWORLD and UNIVERSAL STUDIOs!!!!!  We figured that it would be crazy to be that close to it and not take Sondre up to Orlando for a few days.  Scott and I love, love, love scary rides.   We will soon see if Sondre can keep up with us…because there is not a ride we are too chicken to go on.  His American brother Alex…the big college quarterback… is still a tiny bit afraid of rides, even though he won’t admit it. 




Getting ready for Baby Boy Dirks’ arrival
Courtney is due at the end of March, but we think the baby will come sooner than that.  They are ready for him. It will be so fun to have a new baby in the family and Amelia is very excited to be a big sister.   We will keep you posted as things progress.  Courtney’s blood pressure is a bit elevated so the doctors are keeping an eye on her.  Thank goodness for medical technology and the ability to monitor Mom and Baby with such precision. 

Not sure...but I think they may be planning on the baby being into sports.  Just sayin....

Happy 21st Birthday Synne…we hope you had a wonderful day.  It was great to talk to you yesterday.   
That is about all for now…

Lots of Love from Minnesota,

Alix and Scott

    


Saturday, February 4, 2012

WOW……this blog is BIG. Really BIG. Yep…you gotta read this one for sure.


Dear Lerhol Family and Friends,
Sondre Lerhol: 2012 Lake Conference JV Boys Classic Champion
Sondre Lerhol is the Lake Conference JV Boys Classic Champion!!!  He came in first…by almost a minute and a half.  This is a huge accomplishment!  He set a goal at the beginning of the season to win this championship and he did it.   He worked very hard and really perfected his technique and strong endurance.  We could not be any prouder of him.  Here are some really fun pictures from the championship meet. 











THE SWEETHEART DANCE:
The other exciting news is that Sondre was asked to the “Sweetheart” dance by an adorable Nordic skier from the girl’s Nordic team named Emma.  In the United States, these dances are called “Sadie Hawkins” and are typically less formal dances sponsored by the high school, in which the girls ask the boys to the dance.  The normal custom is for the  boys to ask the girls.   

So…after Sondre finished his race, a bunch of the girls from the team, surrounded Sondre and put a blindfold on his eyes and then marched him out to the bridge at the Elm Creek Park Reserve (location of the race) and when he got there Emma was standing there with a plate of cupcakes that “spelled out” SADIE and when he took the blindfold off he said YES…once he figured out she wasn’t just giving him a plate of scrumptious cupcakes to eat.  Such a cute idea.   The dance is next Friday…



NORGE US SKI JUMP TOUR
Many of the elite Norge skiers (who are friends of Kristoffer’s) were on a tour of in the US and they had a stop in Minnesota.  What a fascinating sport…here are a few pictures of STIG at the Bloomington Ski Jump.   This is an impressive sport…not sure how you “try” it for the first time without “fainting”.   



NEW SEMESTER:
As I mentioned in our last BLOG that Sondre wrapped his first semester of classes  and has now started a new semester at Minnetonka High School. His classes are: Human Geography, Sports and Entertainment Marketing, Higher Algebra, Speech and Biomechanics (Physics and Anatomy).  He is really enjoying his new classes.  It is so weird to think that this is his last semester of classes in the US.  Time is going by so fast. 
BILLY IS HOME.
The other very exciting thing is that Billy got home from an 8 month deployment with the Navy last Friday.  He has been reunited with his wife and son after being away for 8 months.  Billy, Pam and Jackson are in Minnesota (from Norfolk) this weekend to visit family and friends.  Scott and I are having another “garage” party tonight night to celebrate.  I am pretty sure it will be fun…just kind of have a hunch.  J
On Sunday we will have a little Super Bowl party with the kids…we American’s love our football and especially the Super Bowl…It would  a lot more fun if it were the Vikings….but we will watch it anyway.



DULUTH MINNESOTA:
Two weekends ago Scott, Sondre and I went to Duluth for my Aunt Aileen’s 90th birthday party.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the unseasonably warm weather.  We all took a long walk along the shoreline while Sondre took a nice long run.    My extended family was very excited to meet Sondre and I learned that my cousin’s (the Amundsen’s are second generation Norwegians…their grandparents were from Norway).  Cool. 




MINI-VACATIONS FOR SCOTT AND ME:
Scott and I each had a wonderful time on our mini-vacations to Vail and Arizona respectfully.  I think Sondre had a nice time while we were gone.  He went to the University of Minnesota Hockey game on Friday night (they beat St. Cloud State University 2 to 1) and stayed at Amy and Ross’ and on Saturday night he went to Buelah and Frank’s for the night.  Then he came back to Amy and Ross’ until we got back in town on Tuesday evening.  I think he missed us.  J

MIRACLE ON ICE:
While Sondre is here we like to expose him to things we hold true as Minnesotans and watching the movie “Miracle on Ice” (the story of when the USA hockey team beat the Soviet Union to advance and eventually win the Gold medal in the 1980 Olympics).
The coach (Herb Brooks) and most of the players were from Minnesota and many of them played at the University of Minnesota…it is an unbelievable story of team work and perseverance.  Scott cries…EVERYTIME we watch it.  EVERYTIME…almost like he does not know how it ends.  Crazy.    
If you can find a link to watch it, I guarantee you will get a little emotional…there is even a scene in Norway. 

SPRING BREAK:
We are making our plans for our annual trip to Florida…more to come on that in our next blog.
Well…that is all for now.  Take Care and Lots of Love from Minnesota….

Alix and Scott Colehour