Check out my Slide Show!

Birthdays Birthdays!

My Birthday was the 26th. I had one of the best birthdays ever! Joshua took me and the kids out to breakfast, then we went shopping, then took Ethan to a birthday party, then we watched Joshua play in his elders quorum basketball game. We then drove to Salt Lake and I attended a baby shower for a long time friend, Noelle Lambert (It was so great to see her and her mom!) Then we drove through the canyon to Park City and went shopping for our dream home! We got to check out some of the houses that Joshua is working on. And then walked through some model homes for other builders. Unfortunately, they were just a little out of our price range (they start at 1.6 million and up). It was still fun and gave us tons of ideas and motivation to start building our own. After Park City, we drove to North Salt Lake to have dinner with Joshua's aunt and uncle, Larry and Yvonne. They were so sweet and made me a huge birthday dinner. You can see the cake has a 25 and then another 2 = 27! All throughout the day, I received great presents and phone calls from all the family that I miss so much- especially my Mom and Dad! Thank you everyone for making me feel so special!

Chocolate chip pancakes

We have started a new tradition since we moved to Spanish Fork. Joshua makes chocolate chip pancakes every Sunday morning. At first I wanted to pass on the stomach ache producing combo, but then soon discovered that they were so good, you don't even need syrup! After breakfast, he cleans up everything (including dishes that I have saved from Saturday for him). He even sweeps the floor. This is such a big deal at our house, because he has only cooked about 3 times since we were married. He also made brownies last Sunday and learned quickly what happens when you drop an egg, shell and all into a kitchenaid full of batter. After several minutes of picking tiny shell fragments from gooey chocolate, and thirty minutes in the oven, the entire family was impressed with his blooming culinary skills!

Our new house

okay, this picture is for those of you who continue to ask for pictures of our house...sorry it is only the outside. I have been waiting to get the Christmas decorations down first. Now that is done, so maybe this week I will hang some pictures and try to make it look homey!

Our little Dancer!

This is her first little dance performance. Her class performed in the studio, for the parents to see what they have been working on. This has been Adalyn's first time to take dance. She has only been to eight classes, but I think she did so great! The following are short video clips of a few of the dances that they did. She will have a big dance recital in the spring on a big stage. Can't wait for that!
Her dance class is actually on our street. Our neighbor finished her basement into a dance studio. Each week Adalyn and the neighbor girl walk down the street together in their snow boots with tights, and their little dance skirts barely showing under their big winter coats. It is the cutest thing ever! I will try to take a picture and post it next week.
The last video is of Adalyn's first solo. After her dance, some of the other moms asked me, "so Addy has had dance before?" I told them "Oh no! She just is imitating the movie- Barbie and the Nutcracker!" They loved her facial expressions-very dramatic! Next stop- acting class!

Wildlife Museum

We were able to go the the Wildlife Adventure museum while on vacation. The kids had a blast! They always love dressing up. Their favorite thing was the African lion display.

Our new nephew!

While we were in Denver, we were so lucky to get to see our new baby nephew, William Stuart Norris.
Ryan and Katie had number four on Dec. 29th! He is so cute! And we all couldn't believe how good Katie looked. You could hardly tell she had a baby! I now get weekly updates from my Mom. She says is just gets cuter and cuter.

Five year flashback!!

Okay, I was browsing pictures on my computer and came across this great picture! This was taken over five years ago. It is hard to believe! (For those of you who don't know, this is Joshua's fam- left to right: back row,Tara, Joshua, Adalyn,Gary (father), John, Shae(sister), Kyle(brother), Paige. Front Row, Garrett(brother), Lorelei(mother) Jason(brother)). We have now added five more people to the family. It is exciting to think what the new year will bring...maybe three new people, maybe four???

Sledding

My Dad and I took the kids sledding. They loved it! This pic is my Dad pulling them up the hill.

On our way to Grandma and Grandpa's

We were all so excited to go to my parent's house for Christmas (Santa came early to our house). The kids were excited for the plane ride, the bunkbeds, sledding, 80 candy canes (all natural with no artificial colors!) and more presents!

Christmas morning!

You don't need to say much about it! It was huge fun and a huge mess. It doesn't get any better than that!

First Big Snow Day!

Today is the first day that we woke up to everything covered in white. We have been outside sledding, shoveling, throwing snow balls and building snow men all day. Today is also the first day that Uncle Garrett has ever played in the snow or been sledding. We started him out on the ametuer hill behind our house so he wouldn't get scared. Even Ethan (our timid child) was getting in on the sledding action. The black explorer in the picture is Joshua's new ride. He has already taken it to the church parking lot to see how well it can do doughnuts. Turns out the four wheel drive is a little restrictive : )

Parade of Lights

We went to a parade of lights last weekend. It was a fun experience. There were some fantastic floats covered in lights, christmas trees on motorcylces, Grinch dolls on ponies and men running around covered in Christmas lights, and they threw light sticks instead of candy! Caleb's favorite part was the U.S. Army tank from the local national guard unit.

Just Playin

Our kids love to make faces for the camera! I think that character trait has been passed down from generation to generation in the Norris family.

Happy Birthday Janelle (Tara's Mom)

My Mom came to visit for her birthday (Nov. 7th)! We had a great time! We went to the BYU game, shopped and had a little party to celebrate. We had an awesome chocolate cake and Ron, Lisa and Kent and Dustin came over. Pictured left to right: Dustin, Joshua, Uncle Ron and my cousin Kent (single for any of you that might be interested). We had a great visit with my Mom and as always were sad to take her to the airport.