Sondre is 18 years old!!!!

Dear Lerhol Family and Friends,

We have had a lot of exciting events in our family over the last few weeks including:

Sondre’s 18^th Birthday:

A note from his Mother Sigrun:  Sondre adjusted easily to reality and boundaries and was not hard to raise. With three elder siblings who were very fond of him, he might have been somewhat spoiled... At an age of 4 Sondre was spending a week alone with his aunt and uncle in Hjartdal, and their three children. On the third day he and his cousin Tor Sveinung went out to play as  usual, but Sondre came back in after a while - crying - and his aunt Bjørg Inger asked him, very concerned, what was wrong? He cried out that Tor Sveinung was treating him badly! His aunt wanted to know what her son had done and  then he uttered very much offended: "He won`t do what I want him to do!!!!!!!" A note from his American Mother: Well, Sondre is now officially an adult.  In Norway, he can now get his driver’s license, vote and have a beer, if he chooses.  To celebrate we took him to a fun Japanese restaurant.  At Osaka Seafood Steakhouse, we enjoyed a unique cuisine and a friendly atmosphere.  It really is a fun and entertaining dining experience.  We sat at a big hibachi grill and were entertained by a “Teppanyaki chef” who put on quite the show for us.  The chef makes each person’sindividualized food selection right on the hibachi grill for everyone to watch.  Sondre used chopsticks for the first time and had sushi too.  They knew it was Sondre’s birthday, so they had a little fun with him and teased him quite a  bit, as you will see by the pictures below.  After dinner it was off to the movie the AVENGERs…all and all we had a great night.  Today, Sondre is going to brunch over at Frank and Beulah's   to celebrate his birthday with all of his local Norwegian relatives.  Should be a fun day.

Alex’ graduation from Winona State:

Well after five years of school, football and a part-time job, Alex donned a cap and gown and received a diploma with a business degree.  He is now getting ready to move out of his house in Winona and will be moving to Minnetonka and moving in with us.  Now we will have two BIG eaters at our house.  Both Sondre and Alex can eat.    

We had a wonderful time at this graduation and he was very happy to have all of us there to celebrate with him.  Courtney, Ryan, Amelia and Maxwell were there too. 

Well done Alex, we are proud of you. 

"Is this really happening?"

 "Yep, I guess so"

 "Score"

It is official...unlike his Dad who when he graduated from Iowa State his diploma was "on-hold" until
he paid off $500 dollars in parking tickets. 

Prom, Graduation and Rugby:

Sondre has ordered his tuxedo for Prom.  It is a very classic black tuxedo and I am very certain he will look rather dashing in it.  He is going with a girl by the name of Kate Roy, who we have not met yet but look forward to meeting her.  As far as I understand, a large group of kids will be on a party bus (it is an easy way for all of the kids to ride together and safely) and then they are all going to dinner at the Macaroni Grill; then to the dance.  Prom is on Friday, May 18^th, so we will send pictures of the big event afterwards.

This is his date for Prom: Kate (btw..I had to look through his FB friends to steal this picture. He might kill me.  Oh well.)

This is an example of a party bus...not 100% sure of what their's will look like, but wanted to give you an idea. 

Graduation: 

Well we are getting closer to graduation and planning a graduation party and going away celebration.  We are going to do a party with two other families (Christian Roemhildt and Kevin Sundquist) at a house on Christmas Lake.  It should be a great time.  The party is planned for June 24th...the day before he leaves the US and back to Norway.  Today we have a planning meeting to pull together all of the details.   The best part of it is that I have been friends with Christian and Kevin’s mom’s since grade school and the house we are having it at is the cabin where I spent a great deal of time at when we were growing up.  Lots of great memories there.  More to come on the party. 

Rugby:

Well the boys lost their game on Friday, but it was close.   So far Sondre is injury-free except for a bloody nose.  The good news is that the boys wear month guards to protect their pearly whites from getting knocked out.  :)

Lots of Love,

Alix and Scott