Very Patriotic

As we live pretty close to the mountains, we have canyons in our neighborhood. There is a man in our stake who loves those mountains and canyons. He regularly volunteers time and effort to maintain the trails in our area and he is an avid hiker. Well, Harold also does something pretty special. Every year at Christmastime, he puts a huge (no, really - HUGE) star up on the mountain behind one of the subdivisions in our stake. It is lit by propane and he hikes up each night (in the snow, wind and cold) to refill the propane tank. We LOVE it! As you drive, you see it - out of nowhere - just lit up on the mountain. To use a phrase from Christmas Vacation, it really adds to my enjoyment of the Christmas season. Others must feel the same way I do because its now a thing to meet Harold at the bottom of the hill and hike up with him to help him fill the propane tank. Anyway .....

The first week of July, we received a surprise from Harold. A big flag hanging from a line stretched across one of the canyons. It just hung there - beautifully. So so cool. A big shout out to Harold for doing that for all of us and for even thinking of it in the first place. I love driving to and from our house all day - most days ;) and seeing it. It makes me feel happy and patriotic and grateful for a neighbor like Harold. Oh - and a shout out to Kathy for taking this great pic of the flag (her house has the best view of it!!!).

Way to go Reagan and Cole!!!!!!

You'll remember that each year that Reagan and Cole have been in Primary, they have memorized all 13 Articles of Faith. Well, this year - just to make it interesting - we decided to try to memorize and pass off all 13 by the half year mark. We did it!!!! So did another child in our Primary, so, the Primary Presidency decided to use the three of them as an example and rewarded them with a big bag of treats and toys. The President said "Hopefully this is an incentive to the rest of the Primary children to memorize theirs by the end of the year."



 Way to go Reagan and Cole!!! We are so proud of you for memorizing all 13 Articles of Faith and for doing it in half the year. Not sure what we'll try next year, but we've got 6 months to think about it :)

Belt Tests

It's time again for Reagan and Cole to have a belt test in karate. This time, however, they had to test at different times. Reagan and Steve went to the "official" belt test for everyone. Cole had a very important soccer practice that night, so he had his belt test at his next, regular, karate class.

 

They have moved up to a new class in karate. Instead of being in Little Ninjas, they are now in Juniors. This complicated things at the belt test since the rest of the class has been working on moves and forms for three months. Reagan and Cole just moved into the class this month, so, they don't know all the new moves and forms. Their instructor decided to test them on what they were doing in Little Ninjas in order for them to get their next belt. Our friend Claire was in the same boat. So, Reagan and Claire were singled out at the belt test to do the moves and forms by themselves. They did great!



Likewise, since Cole had missed the belt test that everyone else did, he was singled out and tested on his own as well. They both performed very well and they both received their solid yellow belt. Unfortunately, moving up means they sort of are starting over. Although they had progressed through six or seven belts in Little Ninjas, those don't transfer over and they start into solid belts. They were able to test through the white belt, though, and go straight to solid yellow. Moving up to Juniors also means that we can no longer get by with the once a week schedule we've been following. They just wouldn't be able to keep up with the pace of the class, so, we are adding a second karate class each week - uggh! Oh well, they are liking it and now that their friends Eric and Claire are both in our class, we have fun each week .... twice!



Way to go Reagan and Cole - solid yellow belts ROCK!!!!
 

What the ........ ????????

Cole has turned into this little comedian lately. He is all boy and loves to run, hit and push. However, he also is super silly. I took off my shoes after church one day and made the mistake of leaving them in the family room. Well, Cole put them on and started walking around like he was me. He was putting on crazy faces and silly poses. What a crack up!!! All I could do was look at him and say "What the ..........?????"

 


FOR THE RECORD - I do NOT walk around like that or make those faces, so, I don't actually know whom Cole was imitating. Let's just say he was "creating a character that was a combination of lots of different people". Good? Good!

Happy Birthday to .... Me!!!

My birthday was a great day!! We started out the day with summer school (as usual), but I pulled Reagan and Cole out early because we went to our friend Claire's birthday party. It was a karate theme and was held at our karate studio - SWEET!!!!! Reagan and Cole had a great time. Mr. Page was awesome. He taught the kids kicks and forms and he showed them more advanced forms that he could do with weapons. The kids ran through obstacle courses and played games and Reagan and Cole loved it because, being students of Mr. Page, they totally knew many of the games, forms and moves. They ate pizza and Claire was able to cut the cake with a huge samurai sword - whoa!!!



That night, Shannon came over to watch Reagan and Cole while Steve and I headed out for a birthday dinner at La Caille (shocking I know - we are so boring to always go to the same place, but I love it!!!). We had a great dinner sitting outside and being visited by the peacocks. We reminisced of the first time we went there - also on my birthday - 17 years ago. Steve had offered to take me there and I had never even heard of it. I thought "French food? Great!" I had no idea how beautiful the grounds would be or what great food and wonderful ambiance we would have. Being the "charmer" that he is, after dinner but before dessert, he suggested we walk around and look at the grounds. When we returned to our table, they had made a perfect little birthday cake for me with spun sugar on it and a little firecracker - surprise!!! He actually remembered what I wore that night and where we sat. LOVE HIM!!!!! It was a wonderful night then and it is a wonderful night now. What a great birthday!!!!! I feel so blessed. Hey - another year older? I don't care - bring it on. With birthdays like this, who wants them to stop? Thanks to Steve, to Reagan and Cole and to Shannon for helping make my birthday perfect! xoxoxo

Home Alone????

So, I go to take some laundry downstairs and I run into this:

 

It is a bucket hanging in the stairwell. I followed the ribbon and rope up to see it anchored to the door in the playroom and across the playroom to the shelves on the other side.
 

I wondered what the what was going on. I figured I would ask Reagan and Cole after I finished taking my laundry downstairs. Well, I started down the hallway and saw this:
 

As I navigated this little obstacle course, I thought "Geez - they are going to kill someone if that can hits them or if someone steps on these toys and falls." Suddenly, I remembered how Reagan and Cole had watched Home Alone (yeah - it's not just a Christmas movie in our house) and I figured it out. They were trying to recreate the scene where Kevin tries to defend his home. I had to talk to them, though, because even though they think they are playing, if they throw that can over the edge of the balcony, someone could SERIOUSLY get hurt. Still, I'm fairly impressed that they could replicate this whole set up. Way to go guys! And potential burglars .... BEWARE of Reagan and Cole!!!!!

First Day of Summer School (Actually second day for Reagan)

We have actually missed the first week of summer school while we were in Jackson. Reagan goes five days a week while Cole goes four days a week. So, when we returned home from Jackson, Reagan went to her first day at the end of last week (uggh - mom forgot to take a pic). So, this week, both Reagan and Cole started.



Some of my friends have given me a hard time for having Reagan and Cole go to summer school. "What a mean mom" they say. However, when I read the studies of how much of what children have learned they lose over the summer break, it concerns me. Plus, it is only six weeks long for three hours a day. Not exactly enough to "ruin" the summer. Add to this that Reagan and Cole would be at the daycare at the gym each morning if they weren't in summer school and it was a no brainer for Steve and me. They don't have to wear uniforms during the summer and they don't have homework. They just learn for those three hours each day - love it!



They looked super cute. I had to laugh at Reagan who showed a peace sign while I took their pictures. I laughed and asked her what that meant. (She has occasionally done this in Hawaii after seeing others flash the peace sign while taking pics.) She replied "Because it is actually my SECOND day at school, not my first. So, I wanted to show a two in the pictures." Alrighty then - she knows what she wants to do. Oh well, Reagan and Cole were excited to meet their new teachers, to hook up with old friends and make some new friends. Yeah - summer school has started!!!!



Later that night, Steve's parents came over to celebrate his birthday which was last week and my birthday which is this week. We always love to see Grandma and Grandpa.
 

Rachel's Ragnar Finish

Steve's daughter Rachel has run the Ragnar race for the last couple of years. It is a relay race with each team having two vans and about 10 - 12 people. Over two days, they run 200 miles - Seriously! Well, this year, Rachel's team decided to race in Kevin's name. They named their team I Can Do Hard Things and ran with purple shirts and put "Team Norris" all over their vans. Well, they finished in Park City and Shannon brought Kevin up so that he could cross the finish line with them. It was awesome. I was bawling.

Kevin's friend Will pushed his wheelchair for the last little bit until they crossed the finish line. Then everyone, even Kevin, was given a medal and the whole team was exhausted - physically and emotionally. It was great to see the love and support they have for Kevin. It was so neat to be able to watch them cross the finish line and celebrate together. 

Thanks Team "I Can Do Hard Things"!!!!!! You guys are awesome!!!!

Jackson Hole/Yellowstone - Days 4 & 5

Up early this morning to have some breakfast and check out. We are driving to Yellowstone!! It is about 100 miles from Jackson to Old Faithful, so, we just turned on our walkie talkies and the kids had fun jabbering back and forth as we drove the couple of hours to the park. On our way, we saw buffalo walking across the road. So cool. We finally made it to the park and wow - Yellowstone has such beautiful scenery. We parked in the Old Faithful parking lot and walked over to the visitor's center. Walking through the parking lot was a buffalo - seriously! Our kids loved that!



We only had about a 40 minute wait until the geyser was set to erupt, so, we toured the visitor's center, watched a movie about the geyser (and the park) and then headed out to get our spot to watch. It was about 12 minutes "late", but we didn't mind. It is a must see if you are here. After that, the Pesci's considered their Yellowstone "box" to be checked off and they headed back out of the park to the hotel. We wanted to see some more, so, we kept driving. We saw the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with its huge canyons and majestic waterfalls. We saw more geysers and more hot pots. The smell of sulfur kind of puts a damper on the fun of seeing the geysers, but it's all part of the experience, right?



Best of all was the wildlife we saw. When we entered the park, they gave us a map and it showed possible wildlife that you could see in the park. Possible - that is the key word. Well, not for Cole. He was bound and determined to see every bird, animal and fish that was shown on that map. He had his binoculars and he was scouting for wildlife.

We had already seen buffalo before we entered the park, but we saw more. We happened upon a herd of buffalo with several babies. So cute!!! They were playful and energetic. We saw elk. We saw a mountain goat. I persuaded Cole to "check off" the animals and birds we had seen in Jackson, so, that helped. At one point, traffic on the road slowed to a halt. We couldn't move as the person in front of us wasn't moving. Then we realized why. Coming toward us on the opposite side of the road was a full grown buffalo with a baby buffalo tagging along. I handed Steve the camera and he leaned out the car window and started taking pics. The buffalo got right next to our car and turned to look at Steve - he wasn't happy. I'm thinking it might have been the flash from the camera that caught his attention. He was looking at Steve and started to turn our way. Right then, traffic moved and so did we! Whew!



We drove through a huge rainstorm. The rain was pelting our car and us as we tried to sightsee. We decided to call it a day and head to our hotel in West Yellowstone. We were about 4 miles from the park exit and it was dusk. Cole was really upset. He said "But I haven't seen a bear or a wolf." Steve tried to console him by telling him that he has never seen a wolf in the wild in all the years that he camped in Utah and all the times he had visited Yellowstone. He explained that when he was younger, bears in Yellowstone used to come right up to your car and you could feed them and see them up close. Cole's head just sunk and he said "I just wanted to see a bear and a wolf." Right then, traffic again stopped. We didn't know what was up ahead, but we guessed it was another buffalo. We saw people walking out of their cars toward our car. We looked over and right there was a bear!!!! It was huge, but other people said this was the baby and that the mother bear was just up over the ridge. Wow! What a awesome animal. He was light brown and looked super strong. He walked to a tree that had fallen to the ground. He ripped into the tree and started eating - bugs I guess. He would stop and look around and then eat some more. Eventually, he just walked away. Wow! Cole was pacified even though he would also have liked to see a wolf. As soon as we walked into our hotel, they had several animals that had been shot and stuffed and displayed. One was a wolf - bonus. We're calling that a "check" on our list :)



We met up with Pescis and we all decided to call it an early night. Today was a big day with a lot of driving and we were beat. Our plan was to stay one more day and tour Yellowstone more and then spend one more night and drive home the day after that. However, after coming out of the park (where we had no cell phone coverage), we learned that our son in law Kevin had been admitted to Huntsman Cancer Institute and was most likely going to require emergency surgery for brain swelling and bleeding. We decided to head home early to be able to be with Kevin and Rachel. Pescis already were planning on leaving the next morning, so, we cancelled our last night's reservation and caravanned home with them.
 

The next morning as we left West Yellowstone, it was 37 degrees and snowing. Steve said "Ahhhh - now THIS is my weather." As we drove south, the temps rose, but for a while, we were cold ... really cold! What a wonderful trip this has been. We have loved sharing Jackson and Yellowstone with Reagan and Cole. Plus, being with the Pesci family has been really fun. We will definitely be back - who knows, maybe next time we'll see that wolf.

Jackson Hole/Yellowstone - Day 3

Up not quite so early this morning and we had breakfast and headed back into Jackson. It is Steve's birthday, so, we had cards and gifts that we had brought from home. The Pescis went to the bird show at the hawk refuge while we went looking for scenic views of the Teton Mountains. We went the wrong way at first, but saw some beautiful views. Then, we found a great little pull off from the main road which had a gorgeous view of the entire mountain range. We took some pics and then stopped for some more along the way back to the hotel.



After that, we had lunch in the hotel restaurant which was a German restaurant. Joe liked it but the rest of us ... not so much. Then, we took the tram to the top of the Jackson Hole Ski Resort. It was so beautiful! There was some snow and it was cold up on top of the mountain but the views were breathtaking. We walked around for a while and took a ton of pics. Then, we caught the tram back down and returned to the hotel. Reagan, Cole and I gave Steve some more of his gifts and we just relaxed for a while until it was time to go to dinner.



We decided to go to the Bar J Wrangler's ranch. It is a working ranch that has a chuckwagon dinner and a show. Needless to say, the kids weren't thrilled about the chuckwagon dinner (beans, bbq beef, biscuit, etc.) but they liked the show. I guess this is a family run business and they have been hosting guests for 37 years. The father is no longer there on a daily basis, but comes by occasionally. There were several repeat visitors there when we were there and we had a good time.



Although we weren't home to celebrate Steve's birthday, we had a great day with lots of fun activities. Tomorrow we get up early, check out and head to Yellowstone!!!!!
  I had to put together a little video from our Bar J Wranglers experience. The show was cute. I'm not much of a country western fan, but these guys were so funny and they did sing well. My favorite part of the show was when they sang from a book of requests that people had made that they sing. They would turn the page and be in a totally different song, era and genre. Cole's favorite was "We will ... We will ... rock you!" Reagan's was a Christmas song and mine was when they sang the Sinatra song "Fly me to the moon". Check them out:

 

Jackson Hole/Yellowstone - Day 2

We were up early again today. Our hotel serves a full breakfast, so, we all met for some food and then we headed out to Jackson. As we drove down the road from Teton Village to the main road, I said "Look - another moose". I grabbed my camera and got ready to take a picture when Cole said "No Mama, it's just a sign." "What?" I said. "Yes - it's just a sign." Cole replied. Well, he was right. It was a lifesize metal cutout in the shape of a moose. I guess I hadn't looked long enough or hard enough to realize it wasn't real. Good thing we had Eagle Eye Cole to scout out the actual animals :)



We drove into Jackson and had to stop and take pictures in the town square. It is a square block and on each corner, the entrance to the square has an archway made of antlers. It is a must see (and must take pics) if anyone goes to Jackson. We walked around in the shops and saw so many fun things. Reagan found a pink and purple stuffed moose that she HAD to have and Cole found a stuffed grey wolf (he's totally into wolves right now). We had lunch and then headed to the river rafting place. They loaded us up on a bus and drove us to the Snake River. We had a quick safety briefing, donned our life vests and jumped into the rafts. There were three rafts in all, but our little party (the Pescis and the Petersens) were the only ones in our raft ... along with our guide. One of the other rafts was a family of 7 from Pleasant Grove. They were all decked out in BYU gear. Seriously - hats, sunglasses, shirts, pants. Everything said BYU. We talked with them some and agreed to share pics of each other's rafts. Our rafting tour was great! We floated for three hours and had a bit of white water, which was unexpected. We were required to take the "scenic" route as we had some members in our party who were under 8 years old. Oh well, it was beautiful. Our guide was awesome! He pointed out several eagles and their nests, cattle, pelicans, hawks, crane, and lots more. We had some bugs which was a problem for Claire, but we used our bug spray and we were good. The kids had a great time being with us and with each other. We also had a bit of cloud cover, which cooled things off a little.



The bus brought us back to Jackson and we headed for dinner at this Mexican place that one of the river guides recommended. We were thirsty, hungry and tired after our afternoon on the river. After dinner, we walked around and looked at some more shops. Then, we headed back to the town square for some ice cream. Just then, one corner of the town square was being roped off for a little shoot out show. They've been doing this show for years and we had front row seats ... er front sidewalk sitting on the ground. Before the "show", some of the characters walked around and talked with the crowds. There was one guy who was the town drunk or something. He was stumbling around with a bottle in his hands. All four of our kiddos were sitting on the sidewalk right next to the rope which marked the barrier to the "show area". Cole was holding this stuffed wolf he got from one of the little stores there. Well, the drunk guy came over and was freaking out. "There's a wolf by you!!!!" Cole explained that it was just "Wolfy" and that he was his friend and not a scary wolf. About 10 minutes later, the drunk guy came back by and glared. "Wolfy ..... we meet again." He said. Cole again tried to explain that it was a nice wolf and not a mean wolf. The guy acted like he understood and then stumbled away. I had to laugh at Cole just explaining away the stuffed wolf and informing this guy that it was a toy, not a real wolf, etc. Too funny. The shoot out was pretty cool although the shots were used with blanks and it was really loud! It would scare each of us when they would shoot.



After the "show", we headed back to the hotel and we let the kids swim for a while. Well, Steve and Joe actually went into the hot tub with the kids, but mostly the kids just swam. As is Reagan and Cole's MO, it was hot tub - pool - hot tub - pool ... back and forth. They were jumping in, diving in, swimming all around and chasing each other. They had a great time. By the time we were done swimming, it was way past bedtime. We hit the sack, tired from another great day in Jackson.
 

Jackson Hole/Yellowstone - Day 1

It's Father's Day and we are up and at 'em early to get a good start on our trip to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone. We left the house at about 8 and met up with our friends - the Pesci family - at the I-15, I-215 interchange. Joe Pesci (yep - that's right - Joe Pesci) is a pilot for Delta and we were trying to hook up to caravan up to Jackson. We had previously bought walkie talkies so that each child in each car had one. Well, the parents took over to figure out where our respective cars were. Jennifer Pesci was laughing that Joe (a previous Coast Guard pilot) was acting like we were coordinating a mid-air re-fuel. He was so excited. He would come on the walkie talkie and tell Steve "Maintain course and speed". Us ladies were giving them a hard time for not just driving until one of us caught up with the other. Oh well - gotta test out those walkie talkies, right?

What beautiful scenery we passed. Gorgeous verdant hills, beautiful rivers and majestic mountains. Cole kept asking when we were going to get to Michael Jackson. We had to keep reminding him that it was Jackson we were going to - not Michael Jackson. We stopped to eat lunch in Pocatello and then continued north. We told Reagan and Cole that they could watch one movie during our trip. The rest of the time, they needed to look at the scenery and talk to mom and dad. Well, after we stopped for lunch, they decided to watch their movie. Reagan pulled out her iPad and after a few minutes said "Mama - my Netflix isn't working." I laughed as I explained how we didn't have wifi on the road. They are so used to being able to pull up whatever they need wherever we are. Too funny. We also laughed because we drove past the Snake River several times before arriving in Jackson. We told Reagan and Cole that we will be going on a rafting trip on the Snake River. After talking about it for a while, Steve said that it looked like a snake how it winds in and out of the landscape. Cole said "Oh good. I thought you said it was the Snake River because it had snakes in it - like cobras." I've got to give him credit - he didn't put up a fight at all, just trusting us that we would keep him safe while rafting on a river full of cobras :) He was so relieved to hear that it was shaped like a snake, not that it had snakes in it. We arrived in Jackson around 3 and headed straight to Teton Village. Right after we pulled off the main road and started on the road to Teton Village, we looked over and there was a moose walking across the road. Just right there!!! Reagan and Cole were thrilled. We arrived at our hotel and checked in. It was pretty small, but it was ok. We decided to walk around Teton Village and look at some of the shops. We could see right up the mountain and the tram and the lifts were working. The kids wanted to jump on those trampolines with the hydraulic lifts on them. They were SO high - I couldn't believe that they weren't scared. After that, we headed to the Four Seasons hotel in Teton Village. They had a great looking restaurant with a yummy menu. We all sat down and started to decide what to eat when our waiter came over. He told us that since it was Father's Day, all dads eat free. What? Seriously? Steve and Joe had seafood and lobster. Jennifer and I had steak and it was great. We had a delicious, free for the dads, meal. What a trip this is starting out to be.



We finished dinner, found some ice cream to end our Father's Day celebration and hit the hay. We had a long day of driving and we have an adventure in store for tomorrow.

Our Father's Day

Since we are going to Jackson Hole and Yellowstone on Father's Day, Reagan and Cole decided that we should consider the day before Father's Day to be Father's Day. So, we got up early on Saturday and prepared everything for our Father's Day. Reagan and Cole went in to wake Steve up and he was already up and sitting in the bedroom chair, working on the computer. Reagan and Cole chastised him (as if he was supposed to know that today was the honorary Father's Day) and told him to get back into bed. He negotiated with them that he would be able to have "breakfast in bed" in his chair :)



Cole carried in the gifts while Reagan (in her little apron) had prepared a menu from which Steve ordered his breakfast. Reagan and Cole delivered his breakfast to him with their little cards and pictures.



We spent the rest of the day trying to honor Steve for our little makeshift Father's Day. We shopped (not that he likes to do that - except at the Apple Store) and we had a great day together. We really will just be in the car tomorrow, so, today was the perfect day to celebrate.

   

Summer Decor

Just have to document what my sis and I put together for our summer decor in the kitchen. You'll remember that we started in Halloween putting decorations up above the cabinets in the kitchen. Well, we've continued. We took down the Easter decorations (well, most of them) and put up some bright, flowery decor. Love it!

We had hot pink flowers with black and white polka dot ribbons in the windows with little votives in the shapes of daisies. We continued the black/white/pink theme with ribbons hanging from the kitchen chandelier.



Since we used the hot pink, white and black colors for Reagan's birthday party, we just left those up. They were bright and summery, so, why take them down? The green and purple above the cabinets were bright and summery as well. Not sure it all went together, but I liked each piece, so, it went together for me. In the dining room and entry way, we had hot pink and white. Love hot pink!!!!



When Steve came upstairs to see what Amber and I had put together, he said "Well, you can leave all of those up there until the 4th of July." Oh yeah!!! I had totally forgotten about the 4th of July. I'll need to shop for new stuff to put up above the cabinets for the 4th of July. Yep - it's hard to decorate this house, but someone has to do it, right? I think I'm just the person for this job  :)