Norris Notes 2009

"Home"

2011-10-01T01:46:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I've blogged. I can't believe February was my last post. So much has been going on and life is changing so fast. I had a friend tell me that my life was "cycling faster than a washing machine". I think that describes it pretty well.

There won't be any pictures with this post. . .so pretty boring, but I wanted to get some thoughts down before we move into this next phase in our lives.

The next post that should really be on this blog is Brody's birthday. My sweet baby turned 2 on February 28th. We had so much fun celebrating him. I also found out on his birthday that I was pregnant. HUGE suprise! We really hadn't planned on that. I don't have an easy time getting pregnant. . .which is why my kids are so far spaced. That really kind of threw us for a loop, but after the initial shock we were so excited to add to our family.

Tommy was still in school and not planning to graduate (as a BMW technician) for another year. He was in the midst of the Ford program though because BMW required it and with this news decided to graduate as a Ford Diesel Mechanic. He was hired by a dealership in a town called Big Spring, Texas about 3 months before graduation because of his grades and extended knowledge with Ford. I am so proud of him for how hard he has worked over the last couple of years. He had perfect attendance at school as well. We weren't thrilled about the location we were going to be moving to, but the offer was extremely good and we didn't feel like it was something we could pass up. We moved on June 20th. . .and the whirlwind began.

I have never moved so far away before. I think I'm a big sissy because I had a pretty hard time adjusting to our new town. Tommy was loving his work and my kids were loving being little Texans and all I could think about was "home". It was so hard to leave my home in Queen Creek and friends and family. I think I cried just about every day for the first couple of months. I of course blamed in on the hormones from the pregnancy, but I was extremely homesick. West Texas is oil country and those towns in that area are BOOMING! It was crazy to imagine how well everyone was doing there after coming from Arizona where jobs are hard to find and no one is selling their houses. Everyone was buying and selling and job postings were plentiful. Really crazy. Because of their good economy though, it made it extremely hard to find us a rental house. The people who had come to work the oil had saturated the housing and rentals are extremely hard to come by. Total different story than Arizona. We were so blessed to be able to get in contact with a family I had known since childhood. They offered us their guest house and we moved in hoping to find rental property as soon as possible. Little did I know I would spend about 4 months in a 1 bedroom guest house with my family of 5. Most of my time I spent looking for a place to rent, determing what school the kids would go to, finding new doctors to deliver the baby and maintaing some sort of order in our little home. We didn't have a washer and dryer so I also would be at the laundry mat on a regular basis. . .in the summer. . .with a big pregnant belly. . .something I've never had to do. Phew! All builds charachter right?!?

One Sunday as we were pulling into the church parking lot in Big Spring, I hear my sweet 6 year old daughter say: "Yeah! We're Home!" It's so funny, because I was thinking the exact same thing. . .maybe not quite like that, but it felt I could relate to her and how she was feeling. I think we both felt relief to be somewhere familiar that had been something constant and steady in our lives and admist all of our recent changes both of us couldn't wait to be "home".

That statement from her really got me to thinking. I thought about how much I had been missing my house in Queen Creek, my favorite restaraunts, friends, places to go and all of my material possessions that were still all packed away. Then I thought about how much we become attached to these material possessions that make us feel at "home". Its so silly really. We know that when we leave this life we don't take any of that with us. All of us really only have one "home", and its the same home, but we can become so focused on the things of this life that distracts us from remembering that. After experiencing that overwhelming relief of being at church that day, it really changed my perspective. It also made me think about how much our spirits will recongize that feeling of being "home" when we return to our Heavenly Father one day and that our focus needs to remain in living our lives so that we may do so. I know that our spirits will forever long to be "home" if we don't. I also remember feeling very loved by the people of Big Spring. They didn't know us very well, but they were so happy for us to be there and sweet to us in so many ways. I equated that to how our friends and family will feel when we are again joined with them someday when we return "home".

Since that time, we've ended up about 4 hours east of Big Spring in a town called Weatherford. There were so many reasons for us to leave Big Spring. Tommy's boss sold the dealership to new owners and there were many uncertainties it left us with. Also, although the amount Tommy was hired for was extremely good, after arriving, he learned that he would not be making 40 hours on a regular basis along with a lot of other issues that arose that are just too much to get into here. Rental properties are EXTREMELY expensive and hard to come by and his job there looked to not be as certain. Also, my pregnancy has been a little more complicated this time and the perinatologists I see were 4 hours away. So, on one trip to see my doctor's office he decided to apply at a dealership nearby. They pretty much hired him on the spot with a "guarantee" of 40 hours, also at a great rate. Finding a house was a cinch and it just made sense to be closer to my doctors.

So, we now call "Weatherford, Texas" home. Our temporary home at least. After the change of perspective I've had over the last few months I think I will forever view "home" a little differently. But, we absolutely love the town. It's the horse cutting capital of the world and as I have driven around town, I'm constantly drooling over the beautiful horse ranches. The town is so green and pretty with rolling hills and lots of trees. The schools where the kids will be attending have an "exempliary" status. I can't wait to get our house settled. It's on an acre and half on Lake Weatherford. Tommy will only have a 10 minute commute to work and although our house is in the "country", we are close enough to everything we need.

All in the nick of time. . .I found out today that the doctors want to do an amnioscentesis in 10 days to determine if my baby's lungs are developed enough to take him at 37 weeks. Because I've had some complications come up they think this will be best. Our house will not quite be ready by then, but I know if will all work out. I'm more concerned with getting my little guy here safe. I'm not even close to being ready though. So much to do, but I'm so excited and feel so blessed at the new opportunities we have been given here. I have been so blessed to stop working and truly be a "stay at home mom". . .something I have always longed for. It's been so nice to not have those worries over my head of always pleasing a boss or a client. I still have 3 (soon to be 4) little bosses that I try to keep happy. . .but I LOVE it this way much better! Through all of our recent struggles I have seen our family become stronger and more reliant upon each other. Tommy and I's relationship has been strengthened so much by this. I'm very excited to move into this next phase and meet this sweet baby and move into our new "home".

I could use any extra prayers you are able to say for my little guy to get here safely. I'm so thankful for the tender blessings that my Father in Heaven has given me over these last few months and know he has watched and taken care of me. I'm thankful he has led us here and that I'm able to be close to doctors that I am confident with. More than ever, I'm thankful for the gospel in my life and the guidance and direction it provides to us. . .no matter where we are.

Obsessed!

2011-02-17T07:56:00.000-08:00

Brody's has this awesome little obsession with HATS! Garrett never did keep a hat on as a little guy, in fact the hat Brody is most obsessed with was Garrett's old hat but it is still in perfect condition because Garrett never wore it.

I'm really kinda enjoying this. I love the little boyish look it gives him. This hat holds us up from leaving the house on time - seriously we go NOWHERE without it. It stays planted to his head during naptime - yep he'll scream at you if you dare take it off - (just ask Sis. Nelson). It goes everywhere Brody does. I love his little obsession!

After church a few weeks ago, he ran into the house and could not find or put on his hat fast enough! I snapped a few pictures of him looking so dang cute!

Not Cutting It!

2011-02-02T21:27:00.000-08:00

I hardly ever post the ugly on here. That's not so fun to read - not for me, not for you, not for anyone - which is why I never do. I'm breaking that rule, so feel free to skip on to a much better blog.

So. . .I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that most mom's feel this way, but I am definitely NOT cutting it lately, or, maybe. . .life is just CUTTING me! UGH!

I have so much to be thankful for. . .I already know this. If you want to hear my thankful post, jump back to November, 2010 and you can read all about it - and I still feel that way. Really, I do.

BUT. . .seriously I think I pile just way to much onto my "to do" list and then end up feeling overwhelmed with my own expectations of what I want to get done which ultimatally leads to disappointment and frustration.

One example. . .Garrett seriously wants to do IT ALL! IT ALL! There is nothing he won't attempt to do and I LOVE that about him. He is so great to try new things and put his little heart and soul into doing his best. But now, we are up to our neck in being over scheduled because we really are trying to do IT ALL! I have always taught him that we never stop something we start. We carry it through to the finish line, but this week. . .we stopped orchestra. He's already in piano lessons, the school choir and now won a lead part in the school play, Aladdin, as the Genie. Yeah for him! But seriously. . .how we gonna do it? He already goes to school an hour early a few times a week for either tutoring or ochestra and stays late for either choir or play practice. Something had to give. This isn't even including, piano lessons, scouts, homework (that seriously takes us at least 2 hours a day and now we even HAVE to do the stinkin' science fair that is simply craziness)! Oh yeah, baseball started this week with three practices a week as well. He's my oldest kid, so I must be getting my first dose of what it's like to have an older child involved in extra-curriculur activies, but seriously? (Thank heavens I talked him out of running for school historian at the first of the year!)

I wanted Taryn to play t-ball this year. I played softball from the time I was a little girl and wanted her to get her first taste of it. There was no way of even fitting that in. It will have to wait. :( She does get to continue with ballet, however.

So there's that side of life and trying to help my children to dabble in a little bit of everything to see what they like and give them some self-confidence and self-esteem for being proud of their accomplishments. I really do want to help them do good in school by practicing extra with phonograms or multiplication flash cards. I want to give them that little extra push to thrive in their studies.

BUT, then there's the BIG stuff in my opinon which is our family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, etc. I know this is the stuff that really matters. This is the stuff that will carry them through when they are older and the temptations and trials hit hard. This is the stuff they will rely on and will hopefully be their foundation for achieving real happiness and joy in their life. We have not done well lately in this area. This year's primary theme is centered around the scriptures, so I printed off a super cute bookmark for each of our scriptures that has a reward when we get to the end of each book in the B of M. Here it is Feburary 2nd and we should have been done with 1st Nephi by now! Sheesh. So much guilt over this.

What about the physical health of my family as well? What about preparing healthy meals each night to sit down and eat together and getting our exercise (okay. . .that one is mostly for me because I seriously need it). But I don't get it. . .like E.V.E.R. I know I need these endorphins to be a good mommy, yet I NEVER get them.

Then there's my work that I am so blessed to have. Really I am. I am so blessed to be able to supplement our income through my attorney's and clients, and really, right now, this ends up being what does take priority because of the financial stress we are under right now. But really, all I want to be doing is the above things I just finished talking about.

I'm trying to keep a clean organized house, but oh my goodness it is not what it used to be. I've found that after having my third child it has become a lot harder to keep up with laundry, cleaning, shopping. . .I have a few closets that need some serious attention.

Then, you all know, I have my little non-profit organization. Okay, actually. . .it's getting kinda big. I LOVE IT! I get so much happiness and fulfillment from this. . .what I don't get is a paycheck from doing it. So. . .sometimes I end up asking myself "is this justified"? And then I go to my e-mail and open up a message from a recipient mother who has received a box and I say "YES. . .of course it is". How could I even consider stopping?

What makes a woman happy? Spiritual, physical, mental and emotional fulfillment. Which one is more important? I do know that I need my emotional fulfillment which I primarily get from my Husband. Aside from our relationship with God, this is the second most important. I feel like it's not getting the attention it needs right now either. Tommy's just as stressed and busy as I am in his school work though. He leaves at 4:30 every morning and because of his car accident he was in in November, goes to physcial therapy 3 times a week putting him home after 7:00 every night. We did get a date night a couple of weeks ago and I think we spent the whole night in awww of what it was like to be alone together. . .just the two of us. We went to Deseret Book and talked, and caught a movie and dinner and then grocery shopped. Mostly we talked. It was really nice. Those date nights are so few and far between these days. In fact, it felt like a vacation.

I keep telling myself "if I can just make it past this year". Tommy will have graduated from school, I won't have to work so much and he will be home more. Taryn will be in full time school and I won't be running back and forth to the school three and four times a day - it should free up some time to actually exercise. I am working on delegating so much of my duties with Lanee's Legacy to those who want to serve, but right now I am busy training and detailing what those duties are. Hopefully, by next year, everything will be in place and running smoothly - by so many more people than me.

I don't want to spend the year wishing away 2011 - we've already been so blessed in this year, but I really am ready to slow down. There are days I wish to just grab my family and move to some little cabin in the mountains, forget all the responsibilities and just huddle them all in and do NOTHING! So, without actually doing that, what do I cut out? I don't have it figured out, but wish I could find balance within it all.

Did I mention we just got over the yucky flu and throwing up crud that has been going around? Oh yeah. . .and my washer broke last night. Which is probably the true reason behind this post.

What gives?

Rolling Right Along

2011-01-26T17:21:00.000-08:00

This is what happens in a year!

Taryn's Snow

2011-01-17T12:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was our family's annual snow trip. Taryn had been counting down the days until time to go. "5 days till we go up Taylor Mama", "4 days till we go up Taylor Mama" "3 days till we go up Taylor Mama". I'm not sure why she says "up Taylor", like it's a mountain we climb instead of the destination we are going to. Funny.

My poor little girl woke up sick on Friday. I debated what to do, but as the day went on, I could tell she was gonna be a really sick little girl and wouldn't end up getting to play in the snow anyway, so why drag her 3 hours up in the car just to have to stay inside (and risk getting everyone else sick too). There were so many tears when she was told she couldn't go. It broke my heart. Garrett rode up with Grandma and Grandpa, which just made it even harder for her to see Garrett go. I promised her I would paint her fingers and toes and do a craft with her, but she was still sad.

Before, Garrett left he promised her he would bring her back some snow and Grandma and Grandpa helped him to fulfill his promise. She still wasn't feeling good today, but she just had to play in her snow anyway.

Here's Taryn with her snow in Queen Creek. Do you like how I have them all bundled up like's it's freezing outside? It's 72 degrees today, but the pictures had to look chilly, right?

Taryn was sweet enough to share her snow with her brothers:

So, I have to compromise this year since I didn't get my January snow picture for

my calendar, I guess this one will have to do:

On a side note, when I took Taryn to the doctor, I got to witness this very funny conversation:

Doctor (to me): "Push fluids on her until she is ready to eat solids".

Taryn (enthusiastically): "OH, I LOVE SOLIDS"!

Doc (giggling): "Oh yeah, what kind do you like"?

Taryn: "The ones with olives and tomatoes".

The doc. started laughing so hard. She had an accent (not to mention her face mask). But considering she already missed the snow trip, I absolutely came through for her on the "SALAD"!

What's Happening on Wednesday?

2011-01-12T19:25:00.000-08:00

Some of this is typical Wednesday activities and some of it isn't, but all of it is what's going on in our lives right now. And true to my promise of being a better blogger, I am getting it blogged now before it turns into days, weeks and then months.

It was an early (5:30 a.m.) morning, but full of great stuff today! Garrett had to be out the door by 7:00 a.m. and the rest of us by 8:00 and we didn't stop running all day. I'm tired.

Garrett won his class spelling bee and got to advance to the school spelling bee. We worked real hard on the thousands (yes, thousands) of words they sent home only for them to give him a word we'd never seen. Lesson learned. He misspelled "novice" (novise) in the first round. But, if you ask him to spell something like "colloquial" he could totally do it! UGH!

I know he was dissapointed, but spelling is the subject he always aces and he should be proud of his hard work. It was so fun to watch him! Good job Gare!

Because we were done early at the school, Brody and I had extra time to hit the park before picking up Taryn from ballet. I loved having some one on one time with this sweet boy.

Here's my cute dancer this morning:

After running Taryn to school, one of my favorite friend's, Rayel, grabbed some Nielsen's sandwiches and brought it out for us to eat while we worked on Lanee's Legacy stuff. There's so much going on right now and I'm so excited about some of the changes we're implementing. We have a lot of goals set and we were anxious to start knocking them out. She's so funny, we were on a conference call and I guess I was totally engulfed in the conversation, because she snapped this picture without me even noticing and had it posted on facebook in lightening speed. She's a hoot! I love that we get to mix business with pleasure. It was a fun afternoon!

All of these pictures we're taken with the cell phone so I hate the quality, but here's our crazy mid-week fun!

All Caught Up!

2011-01-08T12:14:00.000-08:00

Hallelujah!!! 16 posts and I'm all caught up! In the next couple of months your gonna see a blog of how I got the last 3 years published. That'll keep me honest, right? I'll post a picture. Can't wait and I hope it motivates me to keep blogging because I've been such a slacker lately.

Tub Time

2011-01-08T12:07:00.001-08:00

This is the kind of silly fun stuff I want to remember.

Prayers with Taryn

2011-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

The other night Taryn came in and told me she was ready to say her prayers and asked if I would come in and say them with her? Well, when I went back to her room I discovered I wouldn't just be praying with Taryn, but also Pinkaliscious and various other stuffed animals.

She's so funny these days. I need to be better at my journaling to remember some of the funny stuff she does. This last week I dropped her off at ballet and as she got out (I really wish you could hear her voice), but she said: Goodbye Mother. . . .Mother. . .of. . .Angels! I turned around and was like what? And she said "Well. . .you are a mother of angels. . .DeLanee. . .DUH!"

Norris Family Video - 2010 Year in Review

2011-01-08T11:34:00.000-08:00

At our Sherwood Christmas Party, we were all supposed to bring a family video that showed our 2010 year in review. I am soooo not technical and it took me FOREVER to put this together but now am so happy to have it. The kids have LOVED watching it and it made a fun gift to send to our family in Texas. I think it may have inspired me to do one every year! We'll see.

Celebrating the New Year!

2011-01-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

We too had to get in on some fireworks now that they are legalized here in Arizona. The kids had fun. . .well. . .Garrett and Taryn did anyway. We were suprised to see Brody scared of them. He ran back in the house and didn't care that the rest of us were outside lighting them off. He usually wants to be in the middle of everything, but he wanted NO part of this. We celebrated by doing this, mexican food and a family movie. The kids of course left their shoes out for our Mother Goose tradition. It was a great way to end our winter break!

It's a Wrap!!

2010-12-25T10:51:00.000-08:00

I believe all wishes came true! HA! We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Here's some of the highlights!

Christmas Morning

The kids opening some family games:

Brody didn't have to be told what to do:

I LOVE that Taryn is still into her baby dolls. I love watching her play with them. She doesn't ever want the "fancy" ones. She insists on the little $10.00 ones that smell like baby powder and are soft. Her and Brody have logged countless hours playing with these dolls. She got a couple of new dolls and new stroller. She had really gone through her last stroller.

It was her "Hello Kitty" year as well. She got a new Hello Kitty backpack, Hello Kitty this. . .Hello Kitty that and YES. . .Hello Kitty panties! She was in heaven!

Garrett was DYING to have an Ipod. We decided this was the year for him. He was SOOOO excited! Can you see the look of disbelief on his face here?

Half time:
The kids loved their presents from their Nanny and Poppy in Texas too: The kids left "Santa Mouse" his cheese and he of course left them their presents by their LITTLE tree for them. We know it was from Santa Mouse because there is a yellow ribbon around them.

Pillow Pets were a big thing this year and Taryn and Brody were dying to have one. So why not Garrett too? I made the kids tied fleece blankets to go with them.

Garrett's was camoflauge with a Bear Pillow Pet:
Taryn's was Pinkaliscious with a pink unicorn:

Brody Toady's was of course frogs:

It was so cute to see them cuddling up with them on Christmas Day and throughout the Christmas break. We had a wonderful Christmas and feel so blessed!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T10:37:00.000-08:00

EXCITED! Holy Cow. . .they were full of it! We did our traditional PJ opening, cookies for Santa and cheese for Santa Mouse. I don't think Garrett even went to sleep all night. It brings back memories for me. I could hardly stand waiting for Christmas Day and Christmas Eve was magical.

We got a new Christmas ornament this year:

Brody was so cute trying to put his pajamas on by himself. He had both legs in one hole.

Mitzy insisted on being in the Christmas Eve picture. I love Brody's giggles in this picture:

Visiting an Angel

2010-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

I cannot remember a time that our visit to DeLanee's grave has been more spiritual or such a special time together as a family. We went on a Sunday afternoon. The Sunday before Christmas. We had listened to our Christmas program that morning in church and were already feeling the spirit from that. Taryn and I had gone and picked out some pretty stuff for her grave previously, and I had been wanting to get there during Christmas so bad.

For some reason my thoughts had turned to her so much this year. I'd struggled emotionally. I had been asked to speak at the Scottsdale Healthcare's candlelight ceremony this year and had done so earlier in the month. When I go and do boxes with Relief Societies, I have a set story that I share with the women before we start the boxes, but at the candlelight ceremony I had to open up a little more and go outside of my normal realm of speaking about her and that may have caused me to be a little more emotional this month. I'm not sure. Whatever it was, I was eager to get here and feel the peace that is here and reflect.

We cleaned off her grave and emptied her vase and filled it with new flowers. The kids had brought letters and pictures they had drawn for her. Garrett's nativity he had drawn was really good. We also brought hot chocolate and donuts to sit and eat. After a while though, it got really quiet. That's when Garrett started singing. I know I'm partial of course, but I just really feel like Garrett is such a special soul. He always sets such a good example for me. There's a song he had been learning in school called "Homeward Bound". It's an old folk tune, but the mormon tabernacle choir has done it as well as some others. The minute I heard it I fell in love! He went the extra mile and learned to play it on the piano for me too. Anyway, the lyrics are beautiful and talk about death, but when he started singing this song, I pretty much lost it. Garrett knew exactly what the moment needed and didn't hesitate to respond. Hearing my son sing this beautiful song to his sister filled my heart with gratitude for both of them and what they add to my life.

Here are the lyrics:

HOMEWARD BOUND

In the quiet misty morning, when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing and the sky is clear and red,
When the summer's ceased its gleaming, when the corn is past its prime,
When adventure's lost its meaning, I'll be homeward bound in time.

Bind me not to the pasture. Chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow.

If you find it's me you're missing, if you're hoping I'll return,
To your thought I'll soon be list'ning; in the road I'll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing as my journey nears its end,
And the path I'll be retracing when I'm homeward bound again.

Bind me not to the pasture. Chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling and I'll return to you somehow.

In the quiet misty morning when the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing, I'll be homeward bound again.

He brought the spirit into our evening as he sang that song and then we all sang some others. We ended with a family prayer. Words can't describe what my heart was feeling that night. I just feel so blessed for ALL my children.

We went on to the Temple to see the Christmas lights. It was such a beautiful night and my favorite of the Christmas season by far. I KNOW that our Heavenly Father wants us all to be "Homeward Bound" and that he has provided a way for us to do so. My heart has been so full and thankful to have this knowledge. I'm so grateful to my Father in Heaven and for my brother, Jesus Christ, who makes it possible. To me, this is what the Christmas season is about and I was thankful that this night brought the true spirit of Christmas into our lives.

I found this video on you tube if you'd like to hear the song:

Visit with Santa

2010-12-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

This was definitely Taryn's year for Santa. Garrett has grown out of it and Brody is still too little, but Taryn is IN LOVE with him! She drew him a picture and stood in anticipation waiting for her turn to give him her love note. It was the first thing she did when it was our turn to see him. It was so cute! She then went on to tell him how her Christmas wish was. . . . .Hello Kitty panties! Wow! Pretty sure Santa can cover that request, right?

Brody didn't quite know what to think and there wasn't a chance that Garrett was sitting on his lap! But at least he was still willing to get in on the photo. There was quite the line at Bass Pro the nigth we went, but the kids had fun playing all of the games while Dad stood in line. Fun night!

Sherwood Family Christmas Party

2010-12-19T07:36:00.000-08:00

Our Nativity was really good this year. Grandpa read the Christmas story by the fire (outside)while the kids acted out their parts. A lot of the kids are getting older, so they did well.

Garrett was one of the wisemen. Here he is before it got started.
And here's my little . . .ahem. . .angel?

Pretty resourceful don't you think? I wonder if a wagon would have been more comfortable for Mary back then. . .probably a toss up?

The entire crew:

We all brought a game for the kids to play. Here they had to stuff balloons into pantyhose (reindeer antlers) and sing "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" before the other team:

Brock and Garrett were stuck with a lot of the younger ones:

Dalton, Cole, Braden, Zane's and Sydney's team won:

I still had to get a picture of Garrett though:

Trish brought some bells for us to attempt playing some songs by numbers.

We were actually quite good!

Had to add a picture of Taryn. I just think she's looking so grown up these days.

We ate delicious Navajo Tacos and everyone brought a DVD to play that showed their family's year in pictures. It was a good night!

Christmas Crafts with the Kids

2010-12-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

Taryn is WAY into crafts and I feel like I don't spend enough time "honing" in on her craftiness with her. We accomplished a few crafts during their break before Christmas came though. Garrett and Brody got in on the craftiness as well. It was cute watching Brody think he was just as big as everyone else and could do just as much as they can.

We started with just some Christmas stickers to write Christmas cards with. Garrett has a pen pal up in Taylor he corresponds with and they each made cards for their teachers as well. I wish I would have taken a picture of Garrett's card to his teacher. It was super artistic and cute. He joked with her how he was her "favorite" student.

Brody can barely see over the table but he was determined to do his own craft too:

Showcasing his art:

We made these snowmen one evening:

Their favorite was making their own shrinky dink tree though. If you haven't done these with your kids you have to get some! So fun! They love coloring their pictures and then watching them shrink in the oven:

Watching them shrink:

Putting their tree together:

Their finished product!

I have to admit, it was fun crafting with them and need to try to do it more often.

Making A List

2010-12-17T17:08:00.000-08:00

This is serious stuff!

Can you tell?

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-15T16:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Norris Family!

Christmas Concerts

2010-12-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

We had a few recitals/concerts to attend this month. Garrett has been participating in the school choir and orchestra. He plays the violin in the orchestra.

So we began with attending his piano recital.

He played "Joy to the World" and "How Great Thou Art":

Next was the Legacy choir concert and orchestra performance:

I couldn't get any good shots of him playing his violin. He was way in the back and hard to see. So the next night we went back for the school concert. He stood next to his favorite "friend", Courtney, who's in his class:

Taryn was her usual enthusiastic self to be up in front of hundreds of people:

Christmas Pictures!

2010-12-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

My mom took these Christmas pictures for us this year. If you ask me I think she did so good for an amateur! Thanks for putting up with the craziness of family photo time with us Mom! I love them and to me there is nothing better than pictures of my kiddos. It's worth every complaint, whine and "is this the last one" question. I wish I could take credit for the idea of our "Arizona Snow" backdrop, but I can't. All that creativity goes to Kim Post.

Here's some of my favorites:

Messages from Santa to the Kids

2010-11-29T20:02:00.001-08:00

The kids were both shocked and suprised to see that Santa had sent them each a personalized message just for them. CUTEST THING EVER! I wish you could have seen the size of Taryn's eyes as she was watching and interacting with Santa as she talked back to him. . .nodding her head the whole time. LOVED it!

You can watch each of their messages below:

Brody's is here.

Taryn's is here.

Garrett's is here.

If you want to have some fun of your own, go here.

So Much to Be Thankful For!

2010-11-28T20:21:00.000-08:00

I have so much to catch up on. . .pretty much the entire month of November and then some. Not sure why I have become such a terrible blogger lately. I still very much prefer blogging to facebooking, because I have something to show for it. I will get it caught up before the end of the year though.

I had to get some of my feelings from the weekend down though.

The day before Thanksgiving (Wednesday), I was out running errands and swung by Lanee's Legacy's PO box. When I opened up the mail I was really suprised to see a check for $1,000. That is a huge donation for this time of year and in this economy! It was donated to us by a family who received a box themselves and are missing their baby this season. In the memo is said: "In memory of Gavin MacRae". A family who appreciated and valued their box enough to give back in such a generous way. At first, I began to calculate how many more boxes were going to become possible because of their donation. But as it settled in I remembered how EXACTLY this day 7 years ago, I went to an ultrasound where I learned that the baby I was carrying was a GIRL! Shortly thereafter I learned I would not get to keep that girl. . .at least not now. That year, those holidays were so terribly hard. I turned off the Christmas music, and pretty much was a scrooge throughout the rest of the season. Celebrating didn't feel right. When I realized that this donation was made possible through someone's grief it brought back so many emotions for me. The grief doesn't catch up with me much anymore. I used to have days that were extremely hard to get through without having a breakdown and having my thoughts consumed with it. I was really caught off guard of how receiving this donation effected me. I was caught reflecting back to 7 years ago and how being pregnant with a baby I knew I wasn't going to get to keep was breaking my heart. I was so thankful for the gift this family was passing on to others, but found my heart breaking for them at the same time. Not just for them but others who will struggle to get through the holidays. It's so many. . .and it makes me want to do more.

Anyway. . .I've found that although these moments are few and far between now, it is usually at these times that I feel DeLanee around me most. It's a good grief if you know what I mean. I felt like I had a day with her this day. We spent it reminiscing over the past 7 years.

So the next day was Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for so much in my life (in no particular order).

MY ANGEL BABY - I'm very thankful for what DeLanee has done for my life. I love that I get to participate in service a couple of times a month in her memory. I'm thankful that her life has been turned into something good for others. I'm thankful she's had that impact on my life that she has. I know I have such a long way to go, but I am thankful for what her life and death has taught me.

MY KIDS - I'm so thankful for my living children and the impact each of them have on me as well. They are the sunshine and laughter in my days and the force that pushes me on when times are hard. They bring so much tenderness into what would be a hard world without them. They have the sweetest little spirits. I'm thankful to have my great talks with my 10 year old, my silly laughs over my mischevious 5 year old and to end my days rocking and kissing my sweet baby to sleep.

THE GOSPEL - I'm so thankful for my knowlege and testimony of this church, eternal families, the atonement, and the blessings of a living prophet, scriptures, and church members that help my family along as we strive to return to Him. I'm so very thankful for my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I know that He knows me, loves me, understands my weaknesses and strengths and what I need most in my life.

MY HUSBAND - I'm not going to lie. We've had a rough couple of years. Especially financially. Financial struggles can be so tiring on a marriage. He is going to school 6 hours a day right now and then tries to make a living with what hours are left. I know he's working hard right now to turn things around and I know he will accomplish it. I'm thankful for his determination and efforts to do so. He set a goal to have perfect attendance and carry a 4.0 GPA. He's doing it!! That is a huge accomplishment when you are 33 years old, a dad to 3 kids, a husband and provider. I'm proud of him for doing what he has! I'm thankful for the Daddy he is to my kids. They are very blessed to have him in their lives. I'm thankful for the compliments he gives me every day and for the nice things he does for me. He ALWAYS takes time for the little things where I'm found rushing through it. I'm glad he makes me slow down to savor what's important.

MY PARENT'S AND IN-LAWS - I'm so thankful for the love and support that we receive from our parents. I don't want to think what life would be without them. Our children have wonderful grandparents and we are so very blessed in many different ways from our parents.

MY FRIENDS - I really don't know where I would be without them. I've been blessed to have such wonderful examples and friendships in my life. I'm thankful for their advice, shoulders, reinforcement, laughs and fun times I have had with them.

MY HOME - My kids love to go up North to Grandma's house, but everytime we come home at least one of them mentions how nice it is to come home. I feel the same way. I'm so thankful for my home and the love that is here. I'm sure it's not the most beautiful house, but it is "our" home and I'm so grateful for it.

This is obviously the "BIG" list. I also have the little list with things like: Dove Peppermint Bark Chocolates, the smell of my baby after a bath, listening to Garrett play the piano, Hatch green chili, riding horses, the calming and healing power of music, clean cars, Bumble and Bumble Shampoo and Conditioner, Pepsi, camping, Charming Charlie's, massages and pedicures, the smell of fresh cut grass and rain, Tommy's grilling, my camera, naps, a clean house, blogging, my itouch, Arriba's Picado Chicken, date night, listening to my kids laugh and sing, good books and warm quilts. . .

. . .so much to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving, 2010

2010-11-25T15:21:00.000-08:00

Ha! What says Thanksgiving better than this shot? Full mouths and stuffed bellies. Pretty sure we all got our fair share of what Brody has here at Grandma's on Thanksgiving day.

The kids table:

Garrett watching a little "How to Train Your Dragon" with his cousins after some football:

Taryn wanted to do the crafts and games that Aunt Kelly brought:

Thanksgiving Decor

2010-11-01T15:34:00.000-07:00

I have to say that I am always a little glad to have Halloween over and start the REAL holidays! I love Thanksgiving time and the whole idea of noticing our blessings and being thankful for them. I also think it's sets a mood for the Christmas season in recognizing how much we have and that we should look for those around us to share it with. I just really love it! I've never had a lot of Thanksgving decor, but over Fall break I made a few crafts to add this year and really enjoyed having my house adorned with gratitude!

This isn't everything, but a few of my favorites:

This is one of the crafts I made:

My mom gave these to me a few years back. They are my favorite!

I thought our tree was so pretty this year. I love how it starts in red at the bottom and changes as it goes up!

Halloween Hoopla!!

2010-10-31T14:38:00.000-07:00

Halloween was fun this year. A little different with it being on a Sunday. We didn't go out and trick-or treat that night and I was happy that the kids didn't even ask. There was plenty of partying going on though and I think they felt like they got their fair share of the treats! We had our annual Sherwood Halloween party the friday before Halloween. The kids always anticipate this and love seeing their cousins all dressed up at the party.

Here's my little spooks:

Taryn was "Dr. Taryn Norris",

Brody was our cute little puppy

(we haven't decided whether or not we're gonna keep him - maybe after we get him potty trained and break him from chewing on everything in sight)

Garrett is that big bad wolf you see here:

Okay, I lied. . .we're totallig keeping him. He's too cute to give away.

I thought the back of his costume was just too funny.

It wiggled when he walked:

Aside from me being totally partial about my cute puppy, I thought Aunt Trish and Jax took the prize with thier costumes. Aren't they adorable?

We all brought a game for the kids to participate in:

Slim Jim's are a huge hit at my house and Taryn was happy about her prize win:

Brody didn't leave the ball toss all night long. He didn't understand the concept of standing BEHIND the line though.

Aunt Trish made these amazing cakes for the winners of the musical chairs game:

Garrett was lucky enough to win one round:
Here's some of the boy cousins:

and here's the girls:

It was a fun year! Happy Halloween!!

Orangaliscious

2010-10-24T14:02:00.001-07:00

Pinkaliscious is one of Taryn's favorite books. In fact, this is the book she chose to do her book report on this past week. It's about a little girl who eats too many pink cupcakes and her skin turns pink because of it. It's a pretty cute book.

Our family has an ongoing joke with Taryn and her infatuation with Cutie Clementines. She will seriously eat them ALL DAY LONG! One day we counted that she had eaten eight of them! We started teasing her that she was going to turn orange if she kept it up. At first she had a real concerned look on her face and kept asking me "is it true, mama?" We kept it going for a while, but I finally had to tell her she could eat as many as she wanted and she would NOT turn orange! But now, we love calling her "Orangaliscious". We think she's pretty sweet!

School Pics, 2010

2010-10-24T13:45:00.000-07:00

As you know, I take about a billion pictures of my kids as it is. Why then can I NOT pass up the wonderful opportunity that the school offers with thier AMAZING pictures! I hate the ugly blue background that they provide and the picture quality itself, but I just can't seem to throw the form in the trash when it comes and be happy with the pictures I take all by myself. I don't know, but here's the school's pictures of my kids for this year.

Garrett - 4th Grade - Ms. Backus:

Taryn - Kindergarten - Ms. Issar

Pickin' our Pumpkins

2010-10-24T13:21:00.001-07:00

Going to Willis Farms is a Fall Break Snowflake tradition for us. The kids love it and I love it that we can get great big pumpkins, colorful ghords and indian corn for awesome prices.

Garrett's picked his pretty quick:

Now the trick will be getting it to the wagon:

Brody found his too and was determined to get it to the wagon himself: He tried. . .

and he tried. . .

But finally settled for a little help:

Besides picking pumpkins there was plenty of other fun things to do as well:

Garrett is using a big slingshot to throw corn to the other end of the field to hit a scarecrow:

Pumpkin Pickin' 2010:

Gaga for Grandma's Grapes

2010-10-24T13:12:00.000-07:00

Grandma has a TON of grapes at her Taylor house right now and it didn't take Brody long to find them. He loves all kinds of fruit, but especially grapes. He was in them the entire time! He would go and get some grapes and shove them in his mouth and run off and play and then come back for more. I wiped his purple face a lot while we were up there and came home with a lot of purple stained shirts too!

YUM!

A Day With Uncle Mike

2010-10-24T12:52:00.001-07:00

Uncle Mike is my mom's brother. My kid's think he's about the best thing around - maybe it's because he is still such a kid himself. He definitely knows how to make life fun! He is a school teacher and invited the kids to his classroom in Vernon to see his tarantulas. They had a lot of fun doing this and then having a picnic at the park with him.

One for Brody. . .one for Uncle Mike:

Playing at the park:

I had to add this photo in here. This is the little 2 bedroom house that my Mother grew up in and the house I remember visiting my grandma Beryl at as a child. In fact, the little bug car sitting in front was my grandpa Brady's car. My Uncle Mike has kept it maintenanced and running for 42 years! Uncle Mike my mom and I reminisced through memories after going to the park of my Grandma Beryl. I miss her. I often think of her and DeLanee in heaven together.

Fall Foilage Fotos

2010-10-24T12:30:00.000-07:00

When I left the valley to take the kids to Taylor for their fall break, it was still REALLY hot in the valley. No signs of fall here at all! It was so nice to get to experience the changing leaves and the crispness in the air up North. We went up near Sunrise one day to see the fall foilage and enjoy the pretty leaves.

Taryn's expression is a little funny here, but I just love this picture of Brody!
BRODY:

TARYN:

GARRETT:

The Moutains:

Interesting how in this picture there was just one lone tree at the base

of the moutain that had changed colors:

And Taryn insisted that her Halloween Hello Kitty needed photographed too:

My Tiny QC Bulldog Cheerleader

2010-10-23T00:18:00.000-07:00

I never was a cheerleader and played sports instead. I really never even had the desire to do cheer. Taryn on the other hand. . . .well, I already told you how "enthusiastic" she is! Cheerleading might fit her? I'm just not sure if I should encourage it? I really have my friend, Summer, to thank for her infatuation with this. We went to a school carnival where it had a sports theme and Summer taught her a cheer there. She's been hooked ever since. My sister told me about a cheer camp/fundraiser the Queen Creek high school was doing, so we decided it would be a fun thing for the girls to do together. Taryn had a blast! They went to a Saturday cheer camp and then did their cheer and dance in the following week's game.

I told you she's enthusiastic! She is explaining to Kaylan right here just

how much fun it's going to be:

Pretty cute girls! I can't believe how much taller Taryn is than Kaylan though. There is only a year difference but it looks like much more than that:

These "big" girls were so sweet and made it a lot of fun for the younger ones:

It was hard to get good pictures from where we were sitting.

So these aren't that great, but it's something:

Labor Day, 2010 - Green's Peak

2010-10-22T23:16:00.000-07:00

We had the best Labor Day! We got to go camping with Grandma and Grandpa Sherwood. When you go camping with Grandma and Grandpa. . .you camp in style!! It was so much fun!

As much work as it is to get us all packed to head up North, I really look forward to my trips to the mountains. It's kinda funny, because as soon as I start seeing pine trees and greener grass I can literally feel myself start to relax. Crazy! It's like I just feel all my daily pressures melt away. It is definitely slower paced in the mountains, but I think it's more than that. I think it's just the feeling of being "home", feeling my roots of where I grew up and getting back to basics. I'm not sure why everything seems so much clearer up here, but it does. I love it.

On our way up this time, as soon as we got through the canyon, we saw the biggest rainbow I have ever seen! We watched it all the way to Show Low. We could see it start to finish and it was like it was this huge welcome sign!

Isn't it pretty?

Couldn't resist this one:
When we pulled into our campground, Grandma and Grandpa had already prepared dinner and had camp and our trailer where we slept completely set up. It is so much work to do this and we really appreciated their efforts for us.

We got there kinda late, so we pretty much ate and went to bed. I had to take this picture of Brody. He still will sleep with his legs tucked up under him like when he was a "tiny" baby:

He was trying to figure out where he was waking up at:

Boy was he excited when he figured it out:

With no other distractions around, I got a glimpse of my kids actually treating each other with a thread of kindness and love? It was awesome to know that they actually "could" treat each other this way. I'm kidding, but during our day to day grind it seems they don't get these opportunities and I hear a lot of bickering and fighting:

They think their muscles have grown from all that pushing in the wagon:

They needed some "refreshment" after all that work!

For Garrett's birthday, he got a Rossi .22/.20 guage shotgun. He was so excited to take it up to the mountains and try it out. He spent much of the weekend shooting it and his bb gun:

He and grandma are having a challenge:

Oh my goodness. . .we ate well! Really well! The food was awesome!

I like pictures of my dad cooking. . .not sure why. Maybe because I have lots of memories of him this way? He's a great dutch oven cooker. . .the best!

He made us "almost pumpkin pie" for dessert one night:

I had to put a picture in here of Brody folding his arms for the blessing on the prayer. It is so cute to see him doing this at such a tiny age:

While the adults cooked dinner, Taryn and Brody occupied themselves by playing with playdoh. I brought it up with us in case it rained and we were stuck inside the trailer with nothing to do, but we didn't see a bit of rain all weekend. It was beautiful weather!

The quad rides were great fun. Brody really developed a love for them on this trip:

Taryn wanted to leave some bread for the blue jay we saw flying around, but Brody was eating it faster than she could put it out! Its was so funny.

There was still enough for her bird though:

The rest of these pictures are some of the treasures we found in the mountains this trip.

This one is of a natural spring. All of the kids had to drink the fresh mountain water:

This was a fun fort we found on one of our quad rides:

And this treehouse is AWESOME!!! I'm not sure who went to the time and effort to do this, but it was certainly very cool to play in and see. It was completely hollowed out and had a door (with hinges) and a window and everything. It wa super cool!

Brody was playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa here:

Taryn's Star Student of the Week

2010-10-22T22:53:00.001-07:00

If I were to pick one word to describe Taryn, it would be "enthusiastic". She had been anticipating the time when it would be her turn to be the "Star Student of the Week" in her kindergarten class. She was so excited when she brought me the note saying it was her turn. It's a good thing they didn't make her wait all year - I dont know that she would have been able to contain herself!! Her and I had fun doing her poster together. It was so cute to hear some of her answers to the questions they asked - they even suprised me!

What do you want to be when you grow up: A RODEO QUEEN.

What is your favorite food: CUTIE CLEMENTINES

What is your favorite color: PINK and PURPLE

What is your favorite thing to do at home: HOMEWORK

What is your favorite thing to do at school: GET GREEN CARDS

(which means have a good day with no disciplinary issues.)

Taryn has been such an awesome little student. The first thing she wants to do when she gets home everyday is complete her homework - not just to get it done, but to get it done PERFECTLY. She loves to get in the car and say to me "another green day mama". And so far, she has told me that everyday! To be honest here. . .if you've know my Taryn AT ALL, you can understand how I would not anticipate "green days" everyday. In fact, I expected the exact opposite. I thought I would have been in the principals office at least a handful of times by now. The one thing I know about her is that she is determined in whatever she decides to do. I am so thankful she has been determined in being an enthusiasticly good student!!

Swimming with Brody

2010-10-22T22:19:00.000-07:00

Brody had his first year of swim lessons this Summer. What a treat it was as a mom to experience this with him. I've been able to take all of my kids at this same age (give or take a few months) and I am always amazed at how good of swimmers they can become! It's crazy! I know I always post an over abundance of pictures, but I have the hardest time leaving any out, so here is what a swim lesson looks like when your 16 months old.

Looking cute before we start:

Mrs. Carolyn is telling him right here to use his "big arms" and "big legs" and kick, kick, kick.

But all she ever got was this. You see how he has his arms and legs straight out? We decided he definitely has a future in sky diving. We always cracked up at his non-effort. He was an expert floater instead. My other kids were not this way. So funny.

You see this look? It's as if he's saying "I know you'll rescue me no mater what":

What Brody did do VERY well was make his way to the side of the pool and reach high to grab the edge and then monkey crawl (hand over hand) until he got to the step:

After practicing big arms and legs she takes them to the deep end where they jump off the diving board and then make their way to the side to reach up. Here he is getting ready:

An underwater picture of him coming up. I think it's amazing that babies don't close their eyes underwater.

Phew. . .made it!

The end of the lesson was his favorite part. They got to go to the bottom of the pool and reach to pick up colored rings to bring back up. Here he is going under:

This particular day he just got one. . .and it's pink! HA!
It doesn't matter though. He knows he can exchange it for a piece of yummy licorice no matter what color it is! YUM!
And he sucks on it FOREVER like a popsicle!
It's quite a drive for me to go into Mesa with my kids for swim lessons with Mrs. Carolyn, but all of my kids have become great swimmers with her help. A lot of her students call her "Grandma Swim" and we sure have a great time learning from her!

Playtime with Brody

2010-09-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

Poor Brody! Poor, poor, Brody! He's going to be so mad at Taryn someday for playing dress up like this with him. For now, though, he loves it! I will hear them in Taryn's room playing and pretty soon they will come out and they both have looks of pure satisfaction on their faces. He looks up at me and giggles like he's saying "aren't I cute mom?" He just loves his sister and playing with her. But, I can bet that someday he'll look back at this and either be mad at her, or, mad at me for letting her do this to him. Seriously though. . .kinda makes me want another little girl!

Taryn's eyes are so weird in this, but Brody's face is so sweet.

He loves the dress up clothes and "picnic" Taryn prepared for him.
When Garrett plays dress up with him, it is much different! He put some of his swim clothes on him and a bunch of different hats. They like to take turns pushing each other on Brody's toys.

Tommy's Turn

2010-09-07T00:38:00.000-07:00

We had such a good Labor Day weekend camping in the mountains. It was just so beautiful! Brody just turned 18 months old and I thought I'd take a few quick shots of him while we had some beautiful green scenery to do it in. After I took the first few shots of him though, Tommy took some of me with my little guy. He didn't do too bad for an amateur! HA!

First Day at Legacy

2010-08-24T22:00:00.001-07:00

It has taken me so long to get caught up from our trip up North that I am just now posting the first day of school. This year, we are giving Legacy Traitional School a try. Garrett was not so thrilled about wearing the uniforms at first, but both kids seem to be very happy where they are and I haven't heard a peep about the dress code since.

Garrett's a big 4th grader this year:

He looks so little in this sea of kids even though he is in one of the older classes:

Who says uniforms aren't cute? I think Tate looks pretty cute on her first day! She could hardly contain herself in anticipation for kindergarten. She woke up at 5:00 a.m.! You would have thought it was Christmas! She's in afternoon kindergarten, so she kept asking me every five minutes if it was time to leave yet. She is doing so good so far and really loves it!

I think it took her all of about 30 seconds to make a new friend:

Lanee's Legacy Enrichment in Taylor

2010-08-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite nights of our stay in Taylor was getting to do an enrichment night with my good friend, Julie's, ward in Taylor. It was so great being in the building that I had grown up in and seeing familiar faces! It was also cool to know that some of these boxes were going to stay at the hospital in that area. . .Summit Healthcare Regional Medical Center. That makes 14 hospitals we now serve! Not only did Julie arrange a great night of service, but she showed us a great night on the town afterwards!! I won't divulge all the details, but I hadn't felt that young or laughed that much in a long time!! Thanks for the great time Julie!!

I really love this picture of my mom and HER best friend Sharon.

The support they show means so much!

Some of my bestest friends from old times, me, Tobi, Rayel and Julie:

Birthday Fishing at Nielsen's Reservoir

2010-08-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Garrett turned 10 while we were on our trip in the White Mountains. He was so torn about what to do. His primary class was going on a trip out on the lake as a reward for bringing their scriptures consistently. He almost wanted to come back, but he decided he'd go for fishing at Nielsen's Reservoir instead. It ended up being a muddy rainy day, but it didn't hold us back. Well. . .at least not Tommy and Garrett. We all fished together for quite a while, but after I got soaked I decided to take brody up to the car with me and Taryn came too. They fished a while longer. They all caught a lot of fish. It suits Garrett to want to go fishing for his birthday - it's just sooooo him. Anyway, I can't believe I have a kid in the double digits. I'll have to save that for another blog, but here's some good pics from that day.

The birthday boy seriously fishing:

A few of his catches:

It was soooo fun to watch Brody get to reel in some fish. I love looking into this baby's eyes and seeing everything for the first time. He is so happy here. . .and so his daddy!

Taryn was no exception either. She kept teasing Garrett that she was

going to "out fish" him. She almost did!

She's so proud of herself because she is "lipping" a fish just like her brother:

Giving her brother some birthday hugs:

Happy 10th birthday Garrett:

We headed up to the Lollipop Shoppe in Alpine, Arizona to dry out afterwards.

The kids obviously love coming here:

So many choices:

The "Big" One and the "Little" One

2010-08-12T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm referring to the two Sherwood reunions we attend each summer. We call them the "big" one and the "little" one. But what was funny was that this year, the "big" one ended up being the little one and the "little" one ended up being the big one.

My Dad's dad (Grandpa CJ) was a part of 14 children of the Dan J. Sherwood family. Typically, this is the really big reunion because there were 14 brothers and sisters and all of their posterity that would attend this reunion. In years past, the "little" Sherwood reunion would be when we attended the CJ Sherwood reunion with my dad and his 11 other brothers and sisters and their families. But as the CJ Shewood family has grown, we have now surpassed the Dan J. Sherwood Family in attendance

The first weekend we went to the CJ Sherwood reunion. I believe my Aunt Kathy said we had 286 people in attendance for our "little" reunion this year. I don't know what the count was at the "big" Dan J. Sherwood reunion but I'm pretty sure that the "little" one topped it! Ha! Did you get all that?

Grandma and Grandpa's headstone:

Friday night they started with dinner and a dance. My little Taryn could hardly contain herself in anticipation of dancing. She loves to dance with her aunt Kelly Jo! She is the fun one that knows all the new dance moves (and teaches dance as well). You can see how her eyes are just glued to her and copying her every movement:

Some of her own moves:

She kinda latched on to one of her older cousins, Jordan. He was so sweet to dance with Taryn and let her follow him around. Poor guy. After coming home, she told me she wanted to "dance with Jordan until the sun came up"! Oh boy!

The next day we played games, had lunch and names were drawn for prizes:

Taryn and Garrett were both lucky enough to walk away with something:

The next weekend was the not so "big" Dan J. Sherwood reunion. I have been going to this reunion since I was a tiny girl and have fond memories of my time at the lodge in Sherwood Forest in Nutrioso. It made me sad to see the numbers so small this year. It is the CJ Sherwood's family turn to host this reunion next year though, so it is time to beef up the numbers a bit!

Garrett's participating in the cherry pit spitting contest. We actually went to this reunion on the day of his 10th birthday. We gave him the option of coming back home to the valley, or, staying and doing this, and he chose this (along with fishing). I'm glad he enjoys these reunions like I did when I was a kid:

Taryn's making a bracelet:

Brody's chillin':

Snowflake's 24th of July Parade

2010-08-10T18:06:00.003-07:00

What can I say? My kids love celebrating pioneer days by going to the Snowflake parade.

Well. . . I know they at least love the candy!

This was my 7th grade home-economics teacher,

Mrs. Flake. I loved having her for a teacher:

My brother, Jason, is the cute one in the middle with the glasses. He rode on a float with his fellow classmates that graduated 20 years ago. Old fart!

Nearer My God To Thee

2010-08-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

I know there is so much evidence of the beauty all around me when I am at home in the desert, but for some reason when I get in the White Mountains and look at everything he created in that region I can't help but be in aw of His work. Especially if I can find a quiet moment to myself where I can "listen" as well. If I can steal a moment to sit and hear the trees swaying back and forth and hear the chatter of the birds and squirrels and look all around and see what beauty there is, I am reminded of what a great big thing I am a part of. He has created such a beautiful world for all of us, but in it he also created. . .me. So much to ponder with that! When you realize His power and everything he has done it is so humbling. There are many places here on earth where we can feel the spirit and feel closer to our Father in Heaven. For me, this is definitely one of them.

Brown Creek

2010-08-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

When we go to Taylor we always head further up into the mountains to explore. This year we found the best little spot in Brown Creek to play at. It was soooo clear and beautiful, but it also had a big slab of concrete for the bridge that went across the road that made it perfect for Brody to play on. It was great for the big kids and the little ones too! We started calling this place our White Mountain Splash Pad and came to this same spot with different friends 4 or 5 times. We took a lunch and would just spend the afternoon playing. These pictures are mostly from the first day we went. I took probably 300 pictures on this afternoon so consider this just a "snip-it" of what I really got. Geez. . .I really need to try to control myself.

Here's Garrett and Braden with thier homemade fishing poles trying for the "big" one:

Taryn's just happy finding the snails:

And Brody could have thrown rocks in the creek all day and all night:

The kids did a lot of exploring in the creek:

Have you seen a happier kid?

Uncle Mike helped Garrett make a river raft:

Taryn had to ride it too:

Garrett practiced his freestyle:

But then decided it was pretty darn cold:

When Brody got cold, there was plenty of snuggling goin' on:

By the creek, there was a whole bunch of pretty little yellow flowers, so Taryn needed some pictures in them, right?

She has to be silly too!

These are just some quick shots I took before they got in the water:

We've definitely dubbed Brown Creek as one of our favorite places this year! It had it all!

Summer Fun in Taylor

2010-08-09T09:56:00.000-07:00

I feel so blessed to be able to return to the home I grew up in and to take my own kids and spend a few weeks each summer. My kids could not have more fun than they do here. Their summer days are spent outside from sun up to sun down. It seems that when we are here at home in the valley, it is just so hot outside that the bulk of our time is spent indoors escaping the heat, so I love to see them get out and play. I love to go out in the early morning and evening and sit out on the back porch and watch the animals in the field and watch the kids play in the yard. It rained almost every single day we were there, so I enjoyed sitting out and watching the rain as well. One day, when we went outside, there was a rainbow that went right over our home. I thought it was so pretty. Here's just some of the random fun we had while we were there.

TAYLOR HOME

ANIMALS

When we were outside, the ONLY thing Brody wanted to do was be by the horses and cows. Of course, somebody had to watch him to make sure he didn't go under the fence and get stepped on, so when anyone would get tired of standing out there or wanted to come inside he would just cry, because he was NEVER done. He's making his "more" sign here and begging for me to stand by the fence a little longer.

I love this picture of Taryn, Kaylan and Brody. This was early one morning and they just sit out by the corrals and played in the dirt and watched the cows for a long time. It was so beautiful outside and none of them had ate breakfast, but none of them cared either.

Taryn and her red boots! The first thing she did when we pulled into Taylor was run inside put on her wranglers and red boots. . .and they NEVER came off. I think she wore them every single day and green swim suits were no exception.

Taryn taught Brody how to pick weeds and feed the horses. He loved doing this and she was so sweet in helping him and making sure he didn't get any fingers too close:

Riding Paint and 'ol Jet:

THE WAY WE ROLL
When the kids weren't jumping on the trampoline, they were riding the plasma cars. Garrett brought his rip stick up too so they spent a lot of time doing this:

WATER FUN

We loved the rain! It smelled so beautiful and was just as fun to play in as the sprinklers and water balloons!

RANDOM

The kids ate about a thousand popsicles from Grandma's freezer:

The quad rides were a huge hit as well:

Of course their were the little creatures that were caught. Taryn thought this lizard was her personal pet:

Brody's not too sure:I couldn't help but post these silly girls getting their heads stuck in the trampoline. I love the looks on their faces:

Just hanging out:

There is always so much dirt to get off of them after a hard day of playing! They are too cute together though:

Back to Blogging

2010-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Before I left for most of the month of July, I had previously taken a vow to do better at keeping my blog updated. I came across a website called www.blog2print.com. I put together my blog book for my first year of blogging (2008). After putting it together, I was reminded of why I started blogging in the first place! It was a reasonable price and I was happy with how easy it was to use. It gave me a renewed motivation in continuing with my journaling. Looking back over that year and remembering our fun times as a family made me want to keep up with it.

Anyway, here I am an entire month behind and I have sooooo much to catch up on. We had such a great time in the White Mountains this year. So many good memories were made. I feel so blessed to have a place to go with my kids and escape the heat and to watch them "be little". Garrett and Taryn both cried when it was time to leave. I wanted to cry too at the thought of coming back to 115 degree weather, but I thought two bawl babies were enough!

I'm hoping I can get my many pictures and memories recorded soon so I can stay caught up. So. . .stay tuned!

I'm a Bear - Hear Me ROAR!!

2010-08-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

So proud of my little scout and his dedication! He's earned his Bear and is now entering his last year in the cub scout program. He's now a webelo and has one more year! YEAH for Garrett!

Celebrating our Freedom

2010-07-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

While I was doing the Lanee's Legacy booth, the kids got to hang out with Dad and do all the fun stuff at the Celebration of Freedom Festival. You can tell my the kids flushed cheeks, that it was REALLY hot! We all came together later in the evening to enjoy the fireworks together. They endured it though and had a great time!

Before we left, I grabbed a few pics of my little sparklers!

Monster Trucks:

Car Show:
Birds, birds and more birds:

And water slides:

Thankful for Freedom

2010-07-03T09:56:00.000-07:00

I don't remember the last time I wasn't back home to celebrate America's birthday. It's been a long time since I've missed it. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. this morning and was thinking that this is the ONE year on the 4th of July that I could actually sleep in, but my internal clock was telling me I needed to be up getting the kids awake and loading them in the truck for the annual firing of the anvil parade in Taylor. Crazy! I'm sorry to miss my hometown traditions this year:

BUT, I'm so thankful to live in this great country where we are free to dream, create and pursue what makes us happy regardless of our race, gender, religion, etc. Lanee's Legacy is attending the Freedom Festival in Mesa this year. They have a TON of stuff going on and my kids, although sad to miss the festivities in Taylor, are excited about the fun they are going to get to have tonight. I'm excited to be doing this and feel blessed that I can!

Happy 4th of July no matter where you are! Be thankful for this great country and the freedoms we get to enjoy thanks to a lot of great men and women who have sacrified and made it possible for us to do whatever it is we want to do on this great day!

4th of July 2009:

Brothers!

2010-06-29T14:35:00.000-07:00

I have some pretty great brothers! 3 of them actually!

This is my very cute brother, Jason, who's birthday is today:

He was 4 years older than me growing up and he and I had some pretty fun times. We were both into the cowboy stuff and did a lot of rodeoing together so we were bonded for this reason. All my friends seemed to have a super big crushes on him too. For a "BIG" brother, he was actually pretty sweet to me. He didn't seem to ever mind me tagging along, or, even at times setting me up with his friends. Even after he graduated high school and living here in the valley he let me come along to concerts, lake trips and other fun stuff on the weekends! I remember one particular time for my birthday that he bought me a black leather jacket. I thought for a single guy in college who didn't have a lot of money to spare, that this was a pretty special thing to do for his lil' sis! I'll never forget that. . .because that is when leather jackets were really in style and he bought me a super nice one! I couldn't wait to show it off!

This is going to probably seem super lame, but the other night I had one of those dreams that seem so real that you wake up. I couldn't go back to sleep and wasn't sure if I wanted to because I thought the dream would just pick up where it left off, or, start over again. So. . .I got on the computer and logged onto facebook really hoping somebody was up. Somebody was up! I was so happy to see a little green dot by my brother's name. Thank Heavens!

I just wanted to let my sweet brother know how much I love him and think I'm pretty lucky to have been his little sister. I hope your day is a great one! Thanks for being so sweet to me. . .even when I make you talk to me at 3:00 in the morning over stupid dreams!!

The OTHER Splash Pad!

2010-06-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

What I am learning is how little it takes to make my younger kids happy. Garrett doesn't seem to be satisfied with little toys like this anymore - it has to be a REAL pool - or NOTHING! He gets to go with his friends a lot to the big pool while these two seem to be satisfied with the plain and simple. I love it and am going to enjoy it while it lasts!!

Splish Splash

2010-06-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Going to the splash pad is is one of our ways to cool off in our over 100 degree weather. My kids love going although Garrett tried to tell me he was too old. It looks like he's having fun to me! Brody wasn't sure what to think at first, but with a little help from his sister and brother, he got into it too!

Nice booger huh? This is where he wasn't quite sure what to think:

Drying out: YUM!

May Madness Catch Up

2010-06-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

June is almost over and I haven't even posted some of the crazy fun we had in May. Really what kept us the most busy was Garrett's little league schedule, but my camera wasn't working great and by the time I got my long lense out of the shop, baseball was over. I'm bummed I didnt' get any pictures of him. Both he and his team did really well and ended up taking 1st in the minors!! It was a great season for the Yankees! May was a time for recitals as well. Taryn had her spring ballet recital and Garrett played in his piano recital. Here's some pictures of our May madness.

Taryn and her cousin Kaylan had so much fun being in class together. I think sometimes they caused a bit of trouble together, but what do you expect right?

I thought this was so cute of them holding hands

as they were getting ready to perform:

In past years, Taryn has been mostly silly on stage. She would throw a few dance moves in too, but she would just giggle and shake and do some of the craziest things. This year I guess she had matured, because she was pretty serious about what she was doing up there. She did really good:

This was there second outfit that they danced the "Bare Necessities" to from Jungle Book. They ended the night with dancing to "You've got to Move It, Move It" from Madagascar as a group. It was so dang cute!!

Miss Sara:

Garrett did so well at his piano recital. He played a version of "Fur Elise" and "Spooks". He did both so well. He really put some feeling into his Fur Elise. Really cute.

He has just loved learning from his teacher Sis. Nevitt:

The kids were awarded with a statue of a famous musician.

His was Beethoven:

He also had a huge final project due before school got out. They had to write a research paper and give a presentation on an animal from the rainforest. This was actually right up Garrett's alley. If Garrett's watching TV, it's usually Animal Planet, so I'm not sure how much "studying" he actually had to do because he already has so many animal facts memorized. This was his project he submitted on Vampire Bats:

He got an A+:

My FAVORITE Motherly Duty!

2010-06-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

I had to capture my most favorite thing right now. Every day (and night) I most look forward to my cuddle time with Brody. He never fights me and I get the feeling that he looks forward to "our" time as much as I do. All I have to do is say "C'mon Brody let's go night night" and go into his bedroom. He then goes and gets his favorite blanket. . .his extra soft camo one and follows me into the bedroom, shuts the door behind us and then comes and climbs on my lap. It's so cute to watch HIM shut the door. We have our favorite music we rock to - right now it is the Reflections of Chirst CD. It is so peaceful and calming to cuddle with him. I can be having the most stressful day and just doing this makes everything better. I really cherish this time I have with him right now.

I know when it's gone, I will want to remember how he would drag

his blanket behind him as he shuts the world out for our time together.

I have so many pictures of Tommy rocking our kids to sleep. I guess that is because I'm the one always behind the camera. Even though I hate pictures of myself, I made him take a picture of me this time doing my motherly duties:

Brody's Best. . .Sunday Best!

2010-06-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

My little guy sure looks grown up going to church these days. I seriously LOVE seeing little boys in white shirts and ties so even though he is little, I can't help but put him in one. It doesn't matter how grown up he looks though, he is every bit my baby! Church is a challenge with him these days though. We have two and half months until he can go into nursery with the rest of the kiddos, so we are just enduring until then.

Here's my handsome boy before church today:

Happy Campers

2010-06-01T18:36:00.000-07:00

We have been waiting for a long weekend so that we could take advantage of the opportunity to go camping. Our kids love the outdoors and what made it even better was discovering our new favorite place. We ate like kings and queens and had so much fun as a family. We made some new memories and especially loved watching Brody discover everything new.

Our home for the weekend:

By day we played ball, went on hikes and bike rides, relaxed,

went fishing and Garrett practiced his bb gun skills:

Taryn loved this hammock. She was flipped out of it more than once though.

She also learned how to hit a ball this weekend:

The kids and I went on a hike behind our camp. Taryn was so happy when we found ourselves in A WHOLE BUNCH of yellow flowers. So she picked herself an arm load to decorate our camp with:

Taryn has been wanting to go fishing for a long time, so we were so happy when she and Brody both pulled some trout out of a nearby pond. Tommy teased Garrett that he got out fished by his baby brother and sister. He was okay though, he caught the crawdads:

So. . .Garrett got to take his bb gun and Tommy was teaching him about gun safety and whatnot. We let him set up some cans behind camp on a stump to shoot at. Well, while we were cleaning up breakfast, Garrett comes up holding a squirrel with the most pleased look on his face you have ever seen. Of course, Tommy was so proud while I was lecturing him about killing animals we have no intention of eating. Poor little squirrel!Evenings were fun by the fire and the dutch oven cooking was YUMMY! Brody was a little tough to watch around the fire, so we would end up in the trailer watching a movie, playing a game or putting our puzzle together:

Here's our puzzle that took all weekend to put together:
Pork chops, green chili gravy, potatoes and green beans:

This is Brody's sign language for "more". He did this after he caught his fish and then threw it back. I think we're going to have to go camping some "more"!

What Have I Done?

2010-05-28T12:38:00.000-07:00

I finally broke down and cut Brody's hair. Not gonna lie. . .it was a bit emotional for me. But, we're going camping this weekend and I didn't want to deal with it, so it finally happened. He's 15 months now, so I guess it was time. What a champ he was. He sat up there like a big boy letting his daddy cut it and did great! The next day he kept feeling his head with his hands - I'm sure it felt different to him. I think he looks super cute with his little boy cut.

Getting ready. He has a thing with sticking his tongue out right now.

I think he's feeling all the new teeth he's been getting.

We had to style it afterwards to see how it looked.

He's sporting the faux hawk:

The next day. You can see his new tooth in this picture too - bottom left.

In God's Holy Place

2010-05-26T10:16:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I was contacted by a talented songwriter from Idaho, Jenny McKinney, who wanted to include DeLanee's story in a book she is getting ready to publish (hopefully by the end of the year). She had also written many songs to compliment these stories. As I have worked with her, I have been so impressed with how much thought, sensitivity and inspiration she has put into this. After I sent her some of the information regarding DeLanee's life and death, she contacted me one morning and told me that this was the day she would be writing her story and to please say a prayer for her. I was so impressed and felt comforted that she was trying her best to portray DeLanee's story and her little life in a way that would be not only pleasing to me, but our Father in Heaven.

When she sent me the first draft of the story, I couldn't believe how spot on she was in portraying my feelings. There were things she wrote about that I didn't include in my information to her. She just knew my feelings somehow. I'm so excited to be a part of this and can't wait for the book to be released. Jenny has taken on this tremendous project in the hope that the stories and music she shares will bring knowledge and understanding that our precious children still live and, as parents, our human hearts can survive and grow in faith.

This coming Friday, she will be here in the valley and sharing these songs. I have many blogger friends who have lost children, grandchildren, neices or nephews and I wanted to share the details of this program:

In God's Holy Place

Friday, May 28, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.

LDS Chapel located at: 1852 N. Stapley Dr., Mesa, AZ

A musical performance celebrating the lives of children so very missed and so very loved. With original music written by Jenny Adams McKinney, performed by Jenny Adams McKinney, Raena McKinney Tellez, Robert Gunnell and Chanel Eggleston. Due to the sacredness of this program, we encourage you to leave small children at home.

If you know someone who may be interested in attending this program, please pass the word along. Thanks!

How I feel about HER!

2010-05-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

My baby girl turned 5 last week. She'll be starting kindergarten in a couple of months and we all know how fast it goes from there. Garrett started kindergarten yesterday and now he is a 4th grader! I'm really not ready for that to happen to her. While we celebrated her birthday last week, I was thinking back on her birth. Out of my 4 kids, her's is the one I remember the clearest. I remember the sequence of events plainly, but even more than that, I remember how I felt having her. She was my rainbow baby and holding her in my arms was a feeling I'll never forget. I felt so blessed to have been given a little girl to love and have in my life and I still feel that way. I remember that first year looking at her and thinking to myself "I really have a little girl". Because I had convinced myself I wouldn't have another girl after DeLanee, it was so surreal for me. After a loss your appreciation for your kids becomes even deeper, and ever since she came into my life I have just felt so happy, blessed and excited about her and the opportunity to raise her.

If you've kept up on my recent stories of Taryn, you know how much personality, stubborness and determination in getting her way she has. But, as she has neared her fifth birthday, I have seen her personality develop and some big changes occur in her. The more time she has had to attend primary, listen to family home evening lessons and also attend preschool, etc. she has become so proud of the things she now knows and that determination she has is now coming through in a different way. I have found her to be extremely loyal to the things she develops a testimony about and the things she knows to be right. As I have watched her lately I have become so extremely proud of her and know she'll be just fine as I "send her off".

Kim Skinner recently took our family pictures and I was especially excited over the ones we got of Taryn. Not only does her silly "over the top" personality come through, but you can also see the growing up she has done in this last year and it makes me proud.

Crazy girl:

I love her baby teeth she still has. It won't be long before she's starts loosing them:

Here’s my top five about Taryn:

1. She doesn't know a stranger. Everyone is Taryn’s friend. . .everyone! She loves to meet and make new friends and it comes very easily to her. She just walks right up, introduces herself and that’s that!

2. She is my best helper. I love having her around and all the help she gives me. . .especially with her baby brother. I dont even have to ask her. . .if she recognizes a need, she'll take care of it. She shares everything with both of her brothers and is very nurturing to them. I know she'll be a blessing in both of their lives in years to come.

3. I love how silly she is. She cracks us up constantly! There would not be as much humor in our lives without her.

4. She is very thoughtful and kind to those around her as well. If I am sitting down on the couch she'll come and rub my feet, or bring me a drink. She is very selfless for a little girl.

5. Last, but not least, she is very smart and resourceful. I have to tell a story of last fall when her and her cousin, Kaylan, were playing outside and Kaylan comes running in and telling us that Taryn peed in the sandbox. I was thinking, what?? Taryn's too old and knows better than that! I went out and asked her "Taryn, did you pee in the sandbox?" Her answer was "we needed mud". Ha! I know gross, but I think she knew we weren't going to let her take water from the kitchen, so she used what resources she had to make mud. She is constantly teased about this now from uncles and cousins and she'll duck her head and roll her eyes if anyone brings it up. I'm just saying she is very logical about things and knows how to "get it done". HA!

We love Taryn so much and what she adds to our family.

The Birthday Girl (and week)!

2010-05-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

Taryn turned 5 last monday (May 17th) and we partied it up. . .all week. Not really. We couldn't do much on her birthday because of baseball that evening, so we woke her up on her birthday to the birthday song, a couple of presents and a trip to Krispy Kreme. She was so cute trying to wake up, all with a BIG smile on her face.

Then on Saturday we had her party at Build-a-Bear Workshop. She had never been before and had been begging to go forever, but I kept telling her "on your birthday". Well, she made me make good on that promise this year! So, we waited until Saturday and then took some of her favorite girlfriends (and Landen) to Build-a-Bear. We had such a great time (and so low key too)! Perfect!

Zhu Zhu Pets have finally made way into our house. I understand the attraction now. All of my kids have had so much fun this week playing with them.

$5 for five:

She really liked watching how they made the donuts at Krispy Kreme:

I love this picture. I think they just might love each other:

Brody enjoyed the birthday breakfast too:

Tommy was at school, and Garrett had baseball, but later that evening, Grandma Sherwood and cousin Kaylan stopped by for a quick visit and to blow out some candles:

The next day was preschool, so we made some cupcakes to share with her preschool friends:

After coming home, she was suprised with a package from her Nanny and Poppy from Texas! This is always a big deal to the kids and they love to hear the knock at the door and then a package just for them!

She wanted a "Fur Real" pet really bad:

Then on Saturday, we gathered all of her friends and went to Build-a-Bear:

She's blowing on the heart to "warm" it up:

Playing games while everyone is getting their bear stuffed:

She wanted a unicorn on rollerskates. What?!? I thought that was a strange combination, but they actually have a unicorn on rollerskates!

So many choices:

Garrett got in on the fun too:

The whole crew.
Top row: Payten, Landen, Garrett, Sydney. Bottom row: Kaylan, Ashley, Taryn and Ava:

The Birthday bear:

Afterwards we got an ice cream cone from DQ and opened some presents.

She was way too spoiled:

Reptiles!

2010-04-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is Mr. Rich Ihle. He has a business called "Reptile Adventures". He was at cousin Kaylan's preschool last week and we were invited to come, have a picinic and see all of his interesting and exciting reptiles. We had a such a good time. Mr. Ihle is very animated and enthusiastic about his animals and had the kids captivated the entire time. Taryn felt so lucky that she got to go and experience this. Thanks Kaylan and Kelly for the fun afternoon!

Some of Taryn's faces were just priceless!

This is T-Bo and many of the kids favorite:

Apparently Aunt Kelly would rather cuddle with babies than reptiles.

What's up with that?

Here was the highlight of the show. A 16 foot python:

The kicker was watching Brody. I have another Garrett on my hands. He would just giggle and grab for all the snakes and reptiles. . .yes, even the 16 foot python. Not scared AT ALL. Crazy!

Can't Cut the Curls!

2010-04-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

I'm starting to get comments about Brody's hair and how long it is and the need to get it cut. He's getting real close to having a mullett. Garrett had his first haircut at 6 weeks old. Of course he was born with it hanging over his ears though. When I cut it, he just grew up so fast and he looked like a little man. With Brody possibly being my last baby, I just can't do it.

Besides, I would kill to have these shiny curls anyday!

Like Mother. . . like daughter?

2010-04-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me at about Taryn's age. Although I can see a few similarities between us, I've never been a very good judge of who takes after who and whatnot. Well. . .after my last post and how I talked about that my little girl does NOT get sneaking out of the house from me, I decided that I should admit that she does however take on a few others traits of mine.

My mom has always told me that when she would discipline me, that I would run to my room, slam the door and yell "I dont' love you anymore!" Taryn has done this. My dad tells about a time that he took me Christmas tree hunting with him on the horses and how he got so sick of me talking his ear off that he finally asked me to be quiet. When mom came to help me off the horse, I was sobbing and saying how "Daddy hurt my feelings" because he wanted to enjoy a little peace and quiet. Taryn NEVER stops talking either. My mom said I would always hide my toys and clothes under my bed when I was told to clean my room. Taryn does this AND finds other clever places to stash her belongings as well. I could go on. . . .

Today, Taryn really reminded me of me though! I recently bought Taryn and Garrett new wranglers to go riding in when we go to Grandpa and Grandma's. Today, she just HAD to wear her cowgirl clothes to school. She was so cute all dressed up. When I was doing her hair, she kept talking about cowgirls and what they did, how they acted, etc. So, even when she got home from school she was still on her cowgirl kick. She would do something nice for Brody and then say "cowgirls are friendly". After she got hurt she'd say "cowgirls are tough". It went like this all day. She was even calling Brody her "cowpoke" and Mitzy her "cowdog". I got a kick out of watching her and remembering how much I enjoyed being a cowgirl too.

So, since I was reminiscing about my younger days as a cowgirl, I thought I'd share a few pics. just for fun. They quality is pretty bad, but you can see the obsession started early:

It didn't end here though. I was obsessed with horses and anything cowgirl all through my childhood and into my teenage years and beyond. These pictures were from various rodeo queen titles I held. You guys just never knew you knew royalty did you? HA!

All the frustrations I endur with Taryn and her strong willed personality just about makes up for it just by her deciding to take after me by loving horses and cowgirl stuff. I love that I get to share this with her. If she doesn't decide to carry this into her teenage years and later, it'll be okay with me, but what fun it is to be cowgirls together now.

Here's some pics. we took before school today.

You'll notice the red hat she has is the same red hat from the pictures above:

She's a Little Runaway (aka D.E.T.E.R.M.I.N.A.T.I.O.N.)

2010-04-04T23:36:00.000-07:00

Well, I've debated even sharing this story, because I just know that I have you all fooled about what perfect angels I am raising. Ha! But, I've decided I need all of your prayers, and besides that it's going to make you feel so much better about your own children and the challenges you face in raising them, and if nothing else, you'll at least get a good laugh out of it. So. . .here's the story:

To preface the story, we have a set of twin girls that live behind us that Taryn gets to play with now and then. Garrett has played with his backyard friends forever (the Jones family who has 5 boys) so it's only natural that she gets to have backyard friends too, right? She loves to play at their house and vice versa.

A few weeks ago, Taryn ran in from outside barely able to breath and talk she was so full of excitement. She explained to me that it was the twins birthday and that Arial (the Little Mermaid) was there in the flesh! Yes, a real live Arial was attending the birthday party and "mommy, she has her white wedding dress on, and she's walking on her legs mommy, and has red hair and she is sooooooo pretty mommy." "I want to go see her and hug her and tell her hi"! By the way she was going on and on I could tell this was a BIG deal to her. She begged and begged me to go. I explained to her that we didn't get an invitation and that we HAVE to get an invitation to go. I told her their party was probably just for family. Yeah. . .there was no way she was relenting on this one and she just kept begging and begging. Well, she got so worked up that it turned into a full on fit and I told her "it looked like she needed a little bedroom time". So, after putting her in her bedroom, I went back to what I was doing in the kitchen.

Pretty soon, the phone rang. It was the twins mom. She told me that Taryn was at their house. The first thing that popped into my head was "how in the world could she be there" and I almost felt like asking her "are you sure". But. . .of course she's sure. She has seen Taryn plenty of times. But, because I was working in the kitchen, I knew she hadn't snuck by me to go out the back door again. Hmmmmmm. . .so as I walked outside to retrieve my daughter, the questions were racing inside my head. How in the world did she get to the twins house??? I helped Taryn back over the fence. By the way, she had a look of "I'm gonna get it" when she saw me and didn't bother asking to stay longer. I then went to where her window is (which is near the back of the house). Sure enough the window was open and there was a HOLE IN THE SCREEN! Just big enough for a 4 year old body to escape out of. Her window in her room has a night stand right beneath it, so she had stood on that and literally clawed her way out of her room by ripping a hole in the screen. She then rolled a barrel over to the back fence, stood on it and scaled it. . .all to see Arial!!

When I realized what she had done to get what she wanted it literally terrified me. Holy cow! I thought kids didn't sneak out of their bedrooms until they were teenagers (and for the record I never did!) It's true, ask my mom. So, this is not coming from me. Tommy on the other hand - well, that's another story. The rest of the story is that she did "get it" when we got home and I have just been spending a lot of time on my knees praying that we can channel her DETERMINATION in the right direction. Please join me, okay? I may also be organizing a neighborhood watch program very soon.

So, if you see Taryn and she looks to be an escapee,

you know where to bring her:

Easter Fun

2010-04-04T23:05:00.000-07:00

Our Easter weekend began on Saturday by attending our annual "Brady picnic" at the park that we do at Falcon Field. There was much fun to be had by everyone. Good food, crafts, games, airplanes, park and of course THE HUNT! It was a great start to a great weekend!

Thanks Aunt Kelly for the fun craft!

I was so lazy this morning with the camera and forgot all about getting pictures with the kids and their Easter Baskets. Sheesh. . .what am I becoming? This picture I actually took last night before I went to bed, and since I forgot to get the kids with them, it will just have to do. . .danget.Brody, however slept in and by the time he got up, I was fully awake and camera ready. He wasted no time diving into his basket:
This was the first thing he pulled out:

The trouble was keeping it in there:

We had a great Easter weekend and really enjoyed listening to conference as well. I was suprised at how well both of my older kids did this year at listening. They got their conference packets out and were very attentive. We all have much to be grateful for this season as we celebrate the Atonement, our Savior and the sacrifice he made for each of us that makes it possible to return to Him again. I'm thankful for Him in my life and the blessings he sends me every day.

Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium

2010-04-04T09:23:00.000-07:00

Right next door to the White Tanks Regional Mountain Park is the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium. We didn't have time to do the zoo, but we don't get to see an aquarium very often and they stay open at night, so the kids were super excited! You would have thought they were at Disneyland by the way they got excited. It was great to see how happy they were to get to do this. Taryn almost couldn't contain herself running from here to there seeing all of the different animals. She still wants to see her dolphins, but she was pretty satisfied with her experience. The birds in the above picture were right at the entrance when you walked in. They were so noisy, and Brody couldn't take his eyes off of them. He loved listening and looking at them.

Petting a starfish:

Petting a pencil point sea urchin:

Up close and personal with the baby Cayman alligators:
They all agreed that one of their favorite things was petting the stingrays. Taryn was a little scared at first, but once she found out how soft and squishy they were there was NO stopping her. She did NOT want to leave! She was trying to get as close to them as possible,

so we were just trying to make sure she didn't fall in:

The tip of the iceberg was Brody. Oh my goodness! He was enthralled with the stingrays and couldn't keep his hands off of them as well. We held him up just to look at them, but when he saw the other kids petting them, he had to too! He had absolutely no fear and didn't care if we were helping him or not, he was perfectly happy to lean over and grab them himself - with a big smile on his face the entire time. Soooooo cute!

Tommy turned around to grab more shrimp for him to feed

and a stingray came close so he just went after it all by himself:

Here's a few of the kids favorite things they saw:

Nile Monitor Lizard:

Snake-Necked turtle:

Bernice Python:

Giant Snapping Turtle:

Seahorse:

Penguins:
Green Tipped Macaws:

The highlight of the evening was getting to ride the log ride through the aquarium that ended with a big splash. Like I said, you would have thought they were at Disneyland they were so excited!

Life has been so crazy lately that we haven't go to do many things like this.

It was a super fun day with the kids!

White Tanks Hike

2010-04-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took the kids over to the west side of the valley where the White Tanks Mountain Regional Park is. We think this hike is worth the couple of hours it takes to get there. We took a picnic and ate before we headed up the mountain. They have many different hikes that range from 0.9 miles to 7.9 miles and range in difficulty as well. Our favorite is the waterfall trail which is a slow incline up the mountain that is easy for the kids to complete and ends with a waterfall. It wasn't running as much as years past, but the desert was so beautiful. We saw yellow, orange and purple flowers everywhere. Along the trail you can also see ancient petroglyphs left by the indians which the kids loved pointing out to us.

Starting out:

The desert: The petroglyphs:

The Hike:

The waterfall:

St. Patty's at the Tucson Zoo

2010-03-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Our St. Patty's Day Fun found us at the Tucson Zoo. I have a sweet brother and sis-in-law who has been wanting us to go with them and we're so glad we did! We have only been to this zoo once before, but we love it! The weather was beautiful and what a great day it was! You know me, I never can just post a couple of pictures. . .so here's more than enough pictures of the funwe had.

Before we left, Taryn packed her "camera" to take to the zoo. It made me wish I would have gotten her a disposable one, because she took pictures of EVERY animal. It was super cute. Do you think I've rubbed off on her at all?

She's been begging for so long to go to the zoo, and you can see her excitement over being here. The elephants were what she wanted to see most (along with dolphins). . .sorry no dolphins here, but we got a good look at the elephants and even watched them eat.

Brody was so fun to watch. I love how we can experience the world through these little one's eyes. His were so big and full of wonder.

If you know Garrett, you know he has about a million animal, reptile, snake and amphibian facts stored away in that brain of his. He spent the day educating Taryn as he impressed her with more than enough information about each and every animal. Seriously. . .he's like a walking encyclopedia! We love him for it!

Here's a few of our favorite's of the animals we saw today:

Tucson Zoo, 2010:

Partying with a 1 year old!

2010-03-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

Whoever says kids party's aren't fun hasn't had a 1 year old! I've enjoyed my kids first birthdays so much, but I don't think I've ever laughed as hard as I did at this little boy partying it up! He was a ball of fun on his birthday! I am just gonna blog about the fun we had, because if I blog about how fast this year has gone by or the possibility that he might be my last or how sad I am that he turned 1 on me so fast I'll probably turn into a big boob, so I'm just gonna focus on the fun!

On Friday, his Nanny and Poppy from Texas sent him a birthday package. The kids LOVE getting packages in the mail from Texas and know there is always fun stuff inside, so when they saw it, they knew exactly what it was and couldn't wait for Brody to open it.

He had a fun time playing with some new toys a couple of days before his birthday. Thanks Nanny and Poppy for all the cool stuff! You did great!

On Sunday, we had a little party with some family. We grilled hamburgers and made french fries and decorated the house for him. I swear he knew what was going on. He was all smiles before it even started:

He wasn't much into the "unwrapping" of presents, but he sure looked cute while trying:

All of my kids walk right around their first birthday. I have a picture of Taryn almost exactly like this on her first birthday. I'm sure I'll be chasing him around in no time at all.

Aunt Kelly got him this fire truck. He was so cute mimicking the sounds it made!

His big suprise was his quad. He loved it!

. . .almost as much as the bubbles!

Brody loves, loves, loves strawberries, so I made him a strawberry cake.

We cut him a HUGE piece of it and put his candle on top:

He loved the attention of everyone singing to him:

This is where I could not stop laughing. I have NEVER seen a kid dive into his cake as fast as this one did! He didn't waste a second shoveling it into his mouth. Not only that, but he ate the WHOLE THING!! We didn't think he would ever stop and he kept making the "mmmmmmm" sound.

I think this picture says it best. He was sooooooo into it:

Brody loves to share his food with everyone. Not that we really eat it, but we wanted to see if he'd share his birthday cake with us, and at first. he was NOT sharing ONE SINGLE BITE. Finally at the end when he started to get stuffed, he let Garrett have some. But when Garrett didn't say "mmmmmm", he quickly corrected Garrett and made him say "mmmm" too.

We had so much fun celebrating our little one year old and are so thankful for him and what he adds to our family.

Happy Birthday Brody!

We LOVE Jet!!

2010-02-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

Recently, our most gentle horse for the kids, "Jet", had a heart attack. When the kids heard, they were so concerned and worried about their favorite horsey friend. So, far he's doing good, but Jet is over 20 years old now, and. . .well. . .you know. . .

The weather has been so beautiful lately that we have been taking advantage of it by taking the kids riding at least once a week. All three of our kids LOVE the horses. Garrett is very good at riding by himself and making Jet mind. Taryn is just in love with the horses and is quite the cowgirl herself. And Brody. . .you wouldn't believe the horse addict he already is!! He has the cutest begging noise that he makes to go on a ride. We'll ask him "where's the horses?" and he'll point out Grandma's back window to where they are and start his begging noises. The other day when he was riding with Grandpa, it was time to get off, and he WOULD NOT come to me. He is the cutest little cowboy I know.

Here's Taryn giving Jet some loves. She told me to take pictures of her because she wanted pictures in her room of her and Jet together.

And here's our littlest cowboy going for a ride with his daddy:

We love Jet and hope he stays around much longer!

Boy Toy

2010-02-24T21:54:00.000-08:00

It's been almost a year since Brody was born and I guess I thought the newness and novelty of having a new baby brother would have worn off by now. But, even today I heard Taryn and Garrett fighting over who was going to play what with Brody. They both want him to themselves. But, they both are super good with him and you can tell how much Brody loves their attention. It's so cute to see the bonds they are forming between each other.

One day a few weeks ago, we were at Grandma's house and Garrett came in to the office where I was pushing Brody in Grandma's play stroller she has for the girls. What was funnier is that Brody was just laying there like it was no big deal - boots hanging over the end and everything. Then, yesterday, Taryn comes in with Brody strapped into her baby's stroller. Again, Brody was just as happy as could be.

Belated Valentine's Day Fun

2010-02-24T21:06:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to stay updated these days with blogging. Life just seems to get crazier and crazier. So. . .here I am nearly 10 days later just now blogging about the month of love in the Norris home. At least I got it on camera to be reminded that amidst the craziness was lots of love and fun!

I went to a "girl's day" with my sister and made some cute Valentine's Day crafts:

My mom bought me this one:

Taryn and I did a few cute Valentine's Day crafts too.

This one she was particularly proud of:

Then of course there are the valentine's that need to be done for school. Taryn and I looked online and found a cute Valentine's Day craft for her preschool friends. They were baggies with gummy bears and teady grahams in them that she couldn't wait to pass out:

We made heart shaped rice krispies to pass out at her party as well:

At preschool, they had been learning the song: "I Love You, a bushel and a peck. . .". She thought she needed to take her bunny that sings that same song with her for her party to show everyone. She was one excited girl going to school this day:

After Garrett saw Taryn's Bear Hug Valentines, he no longer wanted to take his store bought Bakugan ones. UGH! So. . .he and I stayed up doing all 31 for his class at school - which was a far cry from the 7 I did for Taryn for her class! He was a good helper though and stuck it out with me until the end to get it done.

Valentine's Day for me growing up meant that mom and dad would always get us a box of chocolates or a stuffed animal and leave it at the door and knock and run. It was always signed "from your biggest fans". We carry on the tradition with our kids. We have little red heart baskets we put goodies in and tie a balloon to for our kids. They anticipate it now and know it's going to happen, but it's still so fun to do for them. These were their prizes before the knock and run:

Brody's nickname of "Brody Toady" that Taryn gave him shortly after he was born has stuck. Everywhere we go she still introduces him to people as "Brody Toady Blake Norris". They always look at me with a funny look in their eye. Anyway, it was only fitting to get him a toady stuffed animal and balloon.

Valentine's Day 2010:

Nate the Great Field Trip

2010-02-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

I was able to chaperone Garrett's 3rd grade class to the Queen Creek Performing Arts Center where we saw the play "Nate the Great". I feel so blessed to be able to do things like this with my kids. Garrett is always a treat to hang out with and I always love one on one time with my kiddos. We had a great day!

This is probably one of the best field trips I have been on.

I love going to plays and this one was super cute!

I have always loved getting to sit by a cute boy on the bus!

The crew I chaperoned: Rylan, Garrett, Brennan and Isaac. They were all good boys.

My favorite part of the day was opening up my lunch at the park to find a

note that Garrett had snuck into MY lunch sack!

Roses are red, violets are blue. Your my mother and I love you.
Love, Garrett I love this little boy so much and feel very privileged to be his mom.
He makes me so proud!

Fun Friday - Picnic at the Park

2010-02-05T22:16:00.000-08:00

For today's fun friday we grabbed a sub from Ned's and some duck feed and spent a couple of hours at Freestone Park. Taryn loved feeding the ducks and Brody couldn't stand it that he couldn't be down in the middle of everything too. I finally let him out of the stroller where he didn't hesitate one second to go chasing after the ducks. He would have been right in the middle of them if I would've let him. It was beautiful weather to enjoy the park and the kids.

Have You Heard The Good News?

2010-02-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

Tommorrow is a big day for my brother and his family. It's a big day for our whole family actually. A couple of weeks ago, my brother and his wife were able to officially adopt their son and is now recognized by the state as the legal parents of Jaxon. Tomorrow, we will get to all accompany them to the Temple to witness them being sealed to their little boy for time and all eternity. I am so excited for my brother and my sweet sis-in-law. I know they have been waiting for this for a long time for this and it is going to be a very sweet experience for all of us. I wanted to tell them congratulations! By the way, he has a really cute blog that he has been keeping since Jax came into his life, you can visit it here.

Scott, Trish and Jax Sherwood:

I'm so thankful for temples and sealing ordinances that make it possible for us to be with our families forever.

The Many Faces of Brody

2010-02-02T07:29:00.000-08:00

I am totally sad over my little Brody turning 1 in a few weeks. Soooo sad. I'm not sure if he's my last baby, so I've been trying to just enjoy every little thing but it still seems like it's going by too fast. These last couple of months, we have REALLY seen his little personality come alive. He's a little tease and loves to make us laugh. And we laugh A LOT! He's started making this scrunched up face at us which we all love and adore about him. So. . .here's the many faces of my soon to be 1 year old. I know they are all kind of the same face, but I get a kick out of each one.

Fun Friday

2010-01-31T22:00:00.000-08:00

Today's fun friday was had with cousin Kaylan. We made Valentine's day snow globes, cupcakes and a little dressing up too! It's so great to have a girl cousin close to Taryn's age who is willing to join in on our "fun"! We're looking forward to having many more of our fun friday's together.

DeLanee's 6th Birthday Party

2010-01-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Last week was DeLanee's 6th birthday. It's hard to imagine that 6 years have gone by. Sometimes it feels like that long and others it seems like yesterday. With everything that has been happening with Lanee's Legacy over the past 6 months and working on the non-profit organization more than ever I have felt very close to her while doing this. I am so thankful for her and the way she has touched my life. There is so much to my life and who I am now because of her. My testimony has been constantly strengthened, I have met so many new friends that add so much to my life that I would not have ever met without her, and I've been able to particpate in service like never before that truly has brought me so much purpose and happiness into my life. I feel very blessed to have a daughter that has touched my life in this way. I can't wait to see her again and be able to squeeze her so tight and talk with her about everything - I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that she has had a hand in everything that has happened over the past 6 years and can't wait to talk with her about this and so much more. I am 6 years closer to doing this.

In years past, it has just been my own little family (and grandma) that goes to her grave on her birthday. Last year, Garrett had a very hard day. We went and took her flowers and ate a cupcake. As we were leaving, he laid down on her grave and kissed the ground. Then, when we got in the car, he began to cry and make comments like "we should be having a real party" and "why did this happen" and others all the way home. I have made those same comments in my head many, many times. It's hard not to have these feelings and I could definitely relate with him. Although our family discusses and we have tried to teach our kids about eternal families and the blessings of the Temple, you can't help but feel this way at times. But because of how Garrett reacted last year, Tommy and I debated even going to her grave at all this year. As a mom of an angel child, it is sometimes so hard to make decisions like these. I definitely don't want to cause further pain on my living children, but at the same time want to set an example of how to grieve in a healthy way and focus on the gospel plan and that we will see her again - and that is a reason to rejoice! So. . .we CAN be happy while remembering her at the same time. I know I don't always make the right decisions when it comes to this, but pray that I do.

Anyway, my very good friend, Rayel suggested making it more of a "party" this year. She said she would love to go and see DeLanee's headstone. She has 2 sons that are right around Garrett's age and they too have lost a sibling. She lost her son 3 years after we lost DeLanee. Garrett has something in common with her kids. As I thought about it more, I decided that this is what we would do. I also called the rest of my family and invited them to come as well. It was a party this year. I'm so thankful for the support we (and especially Garrett) were given this year. It was such a great day. Garrett was completely different. He played with the his cousins and Rayel's kids, ate cookies, wrote messages, released balloons and had a good time.

I had made butterflies and baby feet sugar cookies to take with us:

This is what the sky looked like driving to the cemetary.

I thought it was just beautiful:

We brought the helium tank to fill up pink and white balloons:

And we wrote messages on pink butterflies to tie to our balloons.

This is my cute neice Sydney. She and DeLanee would only be 6 months apart.

Grandma is helping Taryn to write her note:I thought what she wanted to write was so cute. It says:

Dear DeLanee, I love you so much. Wait for me to come to heaven and we will sleep in the same bed. Love Taryn.

Here's some pictures of some of the crew that came.

I'm so thankful for my mom. She has always helped me in keeping DeLanee's grave looking pretty.

Aunt Trish and Jax:

After Rayel lost her son, she had twins almost exactly a year later.

Aren't they precious?

Brody's enjoying a cookie. This is the first time he had been here:

I'm so thankful for good friends who love and support me:

Families are Forever