"photoless"

I know the best part of a blog is getting to see lots of great pictures of what is happening in our lives. However, what is happening in our lives right now involves staying at "hotel" for three months while Scott does his internship at Mayo. So.... unfortunately, we don't have our camera cords and home computer to download pictures, and apparently Scott's lap-top does not have a card reader. So, for the next five weeks while we are here in Rochester, our blog will be photoless and we'll post some as soon as we return home to MPLS.

This week has provided us with many experiences. We attended church at our "new" ward on Sunday where I had to introduce myself as "not knew, nor visiting." I'm sure people think I'm weird and anti-social. Will got to attend Nursery for the first time ever - THANK YOU UNCLE WES (Nursery leader)!! He really enjoyed it, but most of all, he enjoyed the time with Uncle Wes.... and the snacks. On Monday, Will also got to enjoy some great quality time with Aunt Lorinda and Uncle Wes and cousins Caleb and Ivie. He spent most of the day at their house while Scott was home sick with the flu and I was trying to do my wifely duties and take care of him. Will had a great time, eating popsicles, playing in the water, and learning to say "caleb" and "ivie." He came home with a BIG bump on his head........? We're going to re-think our "all day" stays at Uncle Wes's, hahahaha, just kidding. He did fall and get a pretty big bruise while walking down their driveway. I guess it is to be expected with emerging walkers!

On Tuesday after Will spent the day with his cousins, we were at Barnes and Noble looking at books and he opened a book that had a girl and boy in it doing all sorts of fun summer activities. Will started laughing and pointed to the girl and said "Ivie!" clear as a bell, it was so cute. I'm beginning to think I need to pay more attention to what I say because Will remembers things. Yesterday I changed his diaper and he said "baby" pointing at the diaper package. I said "Yep, there's a baby on your diapers!" Well, about half hour later, we were eating breakfast and he pointed to his room and said "baby, diapers!" I couldn't believe it!

Well, we look forward to posting some pictures. Thanks to all our friends for staying in touch, we love hearing from you! Hope you stay tuned and check back often....

New Walking Shoes

Will LOVES walking around. He gets so excited and laughs and laughs the whole time he walks.... even though he's been walking for a couple weeks now. Ever since Grandpa Hopkins bought him some new summer shoes, he's been enfatuated with shoes. He's figuring out how to work velcro and tries over and over to get his shoes on his feet himself. What determination. Here are a few pictures of him with his new walkin' shoes.

If you notice, he's got Scott's cell phone in his left hand. He randomly calls people from our phones, so if you ever get a call from us, chances are it might have been Will. He likes to keep in touch! Also, he learned to walk holding both hands up in the air, the left one usually carrying something, and the right one in a tight fist. So funny.

This is the face Will makes when he's walking:

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins

After Will and I returned home from Utah, Grandma and Grandpa Hopkins came to visit us! We loved having them visit. They loved watching Will walk, talk, and be goofy with them. Not to mention they loved all the good food, and Culver's ice cream that they can't get in Uruguay. While they were here, we took a trip to Forestville state park. We had a picnic and played in the Zumbro River. We went with Scott's brothers Wes (and his wife and kids), Owen, and Tyler.



Will LOVED playing in the water. It was freezing, I could barely stick my toes in, but will was in all the way, sitting in the shallow. He splashed and splashed and put his hands in mud. Will is all boy, he loves sticks and rocks, and dirt. The park was beautiful, we are excited to go back soon!

Welcome to the world of blogging

Well, the day has finaly come.... the Mortensen Family has finally arrived in the world of blogs. I know for some, they thought the day would never come. Since we have great friends whose blogs we check frequently, we decided it is a great way to stay in touch.



This Summer began with an adventure and continues to keep us busy, happy, and enjoying new adventures. The day after Scott ended finals, we flew home to Utah to visit family. It was great! Scott started his internship at Mayo Clinic the end of May, and Will and I stayed in Utah for three more weeks. We got to go to the farm at Thanksgiving point where Will had his first pony ride! We attended my nieces wedding, played with all of his 24 cousins, had a family reunion, and got to enjoy a visit from Grandpa and Grandma Hopkins who live in Uruguay. I think the biggest event of our stay in Utah was that Will learned to walk! We video taped it so that Scott could see his first steps. Now, Will is walking everywhere, and got his first pair of walking shoes today, from Grandpa Hopkins.



We returned home to Minnesota tired, sick with colds, but SO EXCITED to see "daddy" Scott. So far, Rochester has had a lot to offer. We took a little trip to Forestville, where Will LOVED playing in the river. I thought he would be terrified, but he just crawled right in and sat in the freezing cold water for almost an hour. He loved looking at, and eating (sometimes) the rocks, sticks, and leaves floating by.



We hope you enjoy our blog and the pictures from the past few weeks of our lives. We continue to love living in Minnesota!