Catch Up

Let me catch up since I took a blogging break the past few months....We LOVE our house! There's just something so great about doing sidewalk-chalk on your own sidewalk. And the first time I walked in from the garage with the groceries was SO EXCITING! SERIOUSLY! No more stairs for me!!!! Ha ha, actually now I probably climb stairs even more since they are inside, but hey, at least at the end of everyday I know I've done the equivalent of a stairmaster workout. J/K We have four bedrooms upstairs (laundry is also up which is a definite plus), with the kitchen, family room, and office on the main floor. 2 bathrooms upstairs and 1 down. We are on a corner lot with a horse pasture in the back, so we share sides with only one neighbor. We have been waiting on the landscaping for good weather so that the builder would come out and do the grading, and right now we are trying to level it to get ready for sprinklers and our garden. A GARDEN!!! I'm doing a few seedlings inside with Gwen and we're both excited as we watch them grow.

Our new ward is great, and you can also take that literally because we need a split. There are a lot of people in our same situation with similar interests. In fact, I couldn't believe it when I found out that WOMEN get together to play VOLLEYBALL once a week at the church. Year round. I LOVE IT! They already have us called as Relief Society Pianist and Ward Missionary. My parents gave me the piano I grew up on when we moved in, so now I have even more reason to practice it. YES!

Ebony is potty-trained! She has been kind of interested off and on the past month or so, and last week I showed her some Dora panties I bought for whenever the great day came and she refused to wear diapers from that day on. Well, okay, it wasn't THAT easy. She did get excited about the panties though, so I couldn't refuse to let her try. She had continual accidents for two days straight and I was about to call it quits, but she still seemed willing and refused the diapers, so we pushed forward and she has been accident-free for a few days now (except last night, but at least she made it through the other nights). I am so proud of her! I was ready to give up but she wouldn't let me.

Gwendolyn is very interested in words and frequently asks, "What does that say? What do those words mean?" She wants to know what day it is, what holiday is next, how old I am, and when she will see Millie next (her cousin who also lives in Springville). She is also trying to make jokes. "Mom, there's a zebra outside. Just kidding." "Mom, let's stop at Booger Cream (Burger King) on the way home." Wow, that sounds apetizing.

February/March 2009:
We celebrated Ebony's 2nd birthday on February 8th--I can't believe she's already two! We love you, Ebony!

Ebony's Favorites...
Character: Dora the Explorer
Disney Princess: Ariel
Color: Pink
Animal: Cow
Songs: Barney's "I Love You" and "I am a Child of God"
Foods: Oatmeal, Spaghetti, Grapes, Mac n' Cheese, Cereal, Milk
Place to Go: The Park!
Thing to Do: Play with princess polly pockets (she plays with them ALL DAY LONG!)
Playmate: Gwendolyn :) (how tender for a mother to hear that)

Rhett built our mailbox with some of the leftover bricks from our home. Rhett and the girls are sitting at our chosen location for the mailbox.

The foundation for the mailbox

Rhett working on the mailbox. Lots of leveling required! I just realized that I never took a picture of the completed mailbox, so I guess you'll just have to imagine it. :) Rhett has also drawn a custom landscaping plan for our yard and installed the garage door opener and water softener since move-in. I saw the instructions to the garage door opener and they weren't pretty. Another thing I have to mention about Rhett is that he received the Employee of the Quarter recognition from Omniture!Way to go, Rhett!

Experiencing the joys of our own backyard...and driveway. Unpacking. The "Smart Move" packaging tape really was a smart move in the end (thank you, Dalon). The tape was color-coded and descriptive of which room the box should be unpacked.

Precious Moments--I love finding my girls enjoying each other's company! It was a little too quiet so I went to see what they were doing and found them lying in Ebony's bed "reading" stories together.

April 2009:

We celebrated Gwendolyn's 4th birthday on April 9th! She asked for a special menu: blueberry muffins for breakfast, mac n' cheese for lunch, and a Little Caesar's pizza for dinner. She also requested a Tinkerbell cake with vanilla ice cream and a trip to Jumpin' Jacks! It's a place like Kangaroo Zoo with the big, inflatable slides and animals. She LOVES it.

Gwendolyn's Favorites:

Character: Tinkerbell

Disney Princess: Ariel

Color: Blue

Animal: Pig

Foods: MILK, ice cream, cereal, chicken

Place to Go: Millie's house

Thing to Do: Play with Mom and Dad

Song: I am a Child of God

Playmate: Millie...and Ebony (after a mother's prodding)

I forgot to take a picture of our Easter eggs this year, but I did get a shot of this spring craft we made.

My family gets together the Saturday before Easter to have lunch, hunt for eggs, and just play. The highlight is the traditional visit from the seagulls. We all bring hard-boiled eggs and throw them out on the grass and just wait. This time we had around 30 seagulls show up for the feeding frenzy. On Easter Sunday we visited Rhett's side for family dinner and another egg hunt.

I managed to get one picture of the girls before rushing off to church Easter Sunday morning.

Welcome to Springville

It's Happening

The kids had fun decorating the Christmas trees the weekend after Thanksgiving. I said "trees" because we are using three small fake trees this year. For our ornament tradition, this year Gwendolyn chose My Little Ponies and Ebony chose Dora the Explorer (Rhett and I chose ornaments while we were in Disneyland and SeaWorld).

It snowed this morning so the kids went out to play in it. We are all excited for the time when I can let them out into our backyard instead of our deck.

Here are some pictures of our house-in-progress:

Just beginning the foundation
Foundation with Cement
The foundation for our bay window. We went to the house site while they were laying the first round of cement and the subcontractors had forgotten our bay window! We were so glad we decided to go down that day so we could tell them about it!
Foundation is complete and the cement is drying

It's happening!
Our new neighbors
We can't wait!

Voting, Snowing, and House Hunting

On Voting Day, the kids waited with me for an hour for my chance to vote. I LOVE AMERICA! I got an idea from the Family Fun magazine to let the family vote for our meals so that everybody gets a chance to vote on Voting Day. So I wrote down the “candidates” and let everyone vote. I helped Ebony vote by showing her packages or pictures of the food, and then letting her point to which one she would rather have. Cute! I think we will turn this into a fun family tradition.We had snow earlier this month, and then the sun came out later that same day and dried it all up. Gwen was really excited and kept asking to go outside, so we suited up and had a blast playing in the snow before the sun came out. Ebony was a little scared at first, but then she figured out she liked eating it and was fine until she got too cold. It was so windy! One of my favorite things about having children is learning to love and enjoy simple things again--like fresh snow and making snow angels.
Our house hunt has finally come to an end--this month we signed a contract to build and purchase a house! After 5 years of renting we will finally own something! We are really excited to have a yard, a garden, and an attached garage! So we will be moving to Springville in a few months when it is finished. Here is a picture of our home so far. More home updates to come.

I know we are approaching Thanksgiving, but I just had to post Rhett’s final product of his Halloween costume.

Happy Halloween!

We usually carve our pumpkins for Family Night on the Monday before Halloween. Notice "Dora and Boots" by request of both Gwen and Ebony. (Rhett never ceases to amaze us with his carving skills--he doesn't use templates!).
Gwen and Ebony colored on their pumpkins, and then Grandma Kathy helped carve Gwendolyn's.

Omniture celebrates Halloween by decorating the office in different themes (Mario Bros, Candy Land, Gotham City, etc.). All of the employees dress up and their families come to Trick-or-Treat. Rhett, being the creative person he is, decided to make his own costume the night before Halloween.

Here is a partial finished product. Think Toy Story 2--Buzz Lightyear's nemesis, the Evil Emperor Zerg. Just a few of his ingredients: a backpack, flashlight, nylon, sleeping bag, random material, hoola hoop, several boxes, tin foil, etc. The surprising part is that Rhett stayed up ALL NIGHT to make his costume. I am not kidding. Rhett stayed up ALL NIGHT--he didn't go to sleep at all. This really surprised me because in our five years of marriage, Rhett has NEVER stayed up all night for anything! Except Emperor Zerg! The costume ended up being over 7 feet tall! A witch, a bumble bee, and a princess. When I asked Gwen what she wanted to be for Halloween, she chose a Sleeping Beauty outfit from our dress-up box, along with a few accessories that made people ask if she was a Hawaiian princess (lei, flower headband). She wore the shirt and pants underneath to keep her modest and warm.
On Halloween day we went to Trisha's for a little party, Grandma Lewis visit, and lunch. It was great to be with Trish, Karl and Buffy, Shauna and Brody, and their kids. And it's always fun for the kids to be with their cousins!

We met up with the Norton side at Omniture for trick-or-treating. Millie dressed up as Tinkerbell and now Gwen is asking to be Tinkerbell for Halloween. I told her she can ask me next year around Halloween, but she cried when we left Target earlier today because we didn't buy a Tinkerbell costume! She is very persistent and has a great memory--I won't be surprised if she remembers Tinkerbell all year long until next Halloween. Just like when her "Ariel" birthday was over she asked to have a "Belle Birthday" for her next one (she still asks about it and it's been over six months! The funny thing is, the only thing that made it an "Ariel" birthday was the cake that Rhett decorated. So I guess if he decorates a Belle cake she will have a Belle birthday).
Ebony can't have chocolate because most candies like that are made in a facility that also processes peanuts. So we let her eat the fruity stuff and I get the chocolate! Yum, yum!

Gardner Village and Utah State Fair

Last week we went to Gardner Village in West Jordan with Trish and "the boys." During the month of October they decorate it with haystacks, pumpkins, and witches everywhere (they will give you a cookie for 25 cents instead of $1 if you find all of the witches...or in our case, they will let you pay them 25 cents for a cookie even if you don't find all of the witches). There were probably over 20 witches but Gwen couldn't get over "Witchy-Poo" (a witch in an outhouse reading a newspaper--I would have taken a picture if I had known she was going to be so fascinated by it) and proceeded to tell Rhett about the "witch going poo" when he got home from work. Rhett didn't understand what was going on and told Gwen that "Mom wouldn't say that" so it was kind of funny.

In September we went to the Utah State Fair with Rhett's family for the third year in a row and they had a cute little farm area for kids. Gwen and Ebony got to milk a cow and carry a farmer's basket around. They even gave them a little treat at the end. Every year we walk around to see all of the animals. Rhett got excited about this goat kneeling down. "The praying goat! What a great object lesson." I'm not sure about that, but I'll post the picture so we can say we used it at least once. :)

We got more chocolate strawberries this year (YUM!) and we even purchased a set of "Smooooth Legs," a flex-crystal pad that removes hair. The salesperson said, "It lasts longer than shaving but not as long as waxing," so I thought I would give it a try. It works but not that well so I wouldn't recommend it; it does not last longer than shaving (and shaving is more accurate). Supposedly it's Europe's leading hair removal product--maybe that's why they are hairy in Europe! :)

Happy Anniversary!

1) What Date is your Anniversary? August 30, 2003

2) How did you meet?

Rhett and I met in the BYU Wilkinson Student Center. We were sitting about two tables away when a small girl dropped her Jamba Juice on the floor between us. This is when we first made eye contact, as the commotion of the mess drew our attention. Rhett ran to get another cup for the family to help salvage the smoothie, then sat back down. We exchanged a few "glances" which Rhett likes to describe as me staring at him, and then he approached my table and asked, “Hey, do you have any plans this weekend?” And that's what started it all. The funny thing is that I thought he told me his name was “Ray,” and that whole week I kept telling roommates, friends, and family that I was going out with “Ray.”

3) Where did you get Married? Salt Lake Temple, Utah

4) Who Proposed and How?

Rhett was working in Washington D.C. over the summer. I flew out there for the 4th of July weekend with his sister and Rhett called my Dad while I was on the plane to ask permission to marry me. We planned to see all the sights: Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonians, etc. In one of the Smithsonians, the Museum of Natural History, the Hope Diamond was on display. Right before the last room that had the Hope Diamond, I saw an exhibit with a diamond ring and an engraved plate that said:

Washington DC
"I Love You Diamond"
This is the very diamond that Rhett Norton
Used to propose to Brenda Paulson
On July 4, 2003
2003-Eternity

Then Rhett took the cover off the case, got the ring out, got down one knee and proposed. I was so surprised! The BEST 4th of July EVER!!!!!!

5) How long were you engaged?

He proposed on July 4th and we got married on August 30th, so we were only engaged a little over 7 weeks!

6) What was your favorite part of your Wedding Day?

Getting married! We got married, took pictures, and then had a wedding breakfast at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. I loved everything!

7) What would you change if you could?

I would have liked to have been together for our wedding announcement picture. Since Rhett was working in D.C., Rob and Connie used a different picture they already had of him. Then, using Rob (Rhett's Dad) as my prop, we took the picture in their backyard (which is the actual background in the photo). I think the picture turned out really great considering Rhett wasn't even there!

8) Do you remember anything special from you ceremony?

Having my entire immediate family in the sealing room was an amazing feeling. I remember the sealer used D&C 121:41 to tell us our marriage should build upon those qualities: persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, and love unfeigned.

9) Were you clean or messy when you cut your wedding cake?
We were clean. Rhett was especially thoughtful and waited for me to bite down, while I thought he was going to put the whole thing in my mouth...so we were just standing there for a few seconds with a piece of cake half-way through my mouth.

And now we've been married for FIVE years! Wow! I love you, Rhett! Happy Anniversary!