December {Adventures}

Life has been crazy busy in the Norton household!! In fact, it has been slightly overwhelming to try to juggle all that is on our plate this holiday season. This month we have been...

• Working our butts off!  ...no really...this month has been mainly dedicated to our intense work schedules, just this week Kenny got at least 10 hours of overtime! 
• Attending holiday parties! 
• Showing our apartment off to potential renters
• Sending petitions off to BYU 
• Christmas shopping
• Sending out our Christmas cards
• Planning for our move
• Visiting with family
• Teaching the sunbeams
• Watching Christmas movies
• Watching our Christmas tree slowly die (which I am very unhappy about, I suppose I jumped the gun on getting a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. Lesson learned - do not buy a real Christmas tree until 2 weeks before Christmas OR go with a fake tree.) 

Life is good right now, but life is very busy. We knew this was going to be a very busy time for us, but I don't think I understood just how stressful and busy it was actually going to be. This week is our last week of work; I am hoping that after work is over, we will be able to relax just enough to enjoy the holidays and gear up for our big move to Utah. 

A Christmas FHE

Tonight for FHE we listened to one of the talks from the Christmas Devotional that was broadcast last night (which we unfortunately missed) & then afterwards we made our gingerbread house (which you can see above - Kenny did a great job). We decided on listening to President Erying's talk for our lesson- which is exactly what I need to hear tonight, I loved it. It was a great talk about the Savior, about light, and about angels. It reminded me of the scripture, John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." I was reminded that with the Savior I never walk alone, I always have His light to guide my path. What a comfort that is, & what a gift the Savior is unto us! I am grateful for the Christmas season because it allows me to spend more time pondering the Saviors life, the magnificent gift He is to us, and the many blessings we enjoy because He lived and died for us. This time of year truly is special & there is a special spirit in our home as we spend more time this Christmas season thinking and talking about the Savior. I want the spirit to Christmas to last all throughout the year, because I hope that I never forget these precious truths.


I love Christmas! :] 

"It's begining to look a lot like Christmas!"

It is officially Christmas in the Norton household! Well, actually, it was officially the Christmas season in our house on November 25th - the day after Thanksgiving. What can I say?! I am just really excited for Christmas this year. {remember this post} The reason why Christmas began so early (besides because of my excitement), was because we hit the Black Friday sales for Christmas decorations. Before I started getting excited about Christmas, I wasn't sure if we were even going to decorate this year (with the pending move and all)....but once I started getting excited it was all downhill from there. We stocked up on decorations for very reasonable prices and the next thing you know, our whole house is decorated & ready for the holidays!

One of the things that I am most excited about this year (in regards to our decorations) is our Christmas tree. I grew up with fake Christmas trees, while Mr. Norton, on the other hand, grew up with real Christmas trees! It was not hard to convince me that we should get a real tree this year. (Although I may be regretting that decision when we are packing and there are still pine needles on the floor) The smell of the fresh Christmas tree when you walk in the door & seeing those pretty lights lit up at night make it all worth it for now!

To get in the Christmas spirit we have already added a Christmas music station to Pandora, we watched "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer" & we even bought a gingerbread house to decorate. Tonight we plan on watching "Santa Clause is 'Comen to Town" & reading about The Christmas Story in the scriptures. (PS. Can I just say that I love the new Christmas website that the church has?!)

As I have thought about how different this Christmas season is going to be from all the others of my 22 years of life, I hope that this year I can make it different because I spend more time pondering the true gift of Christmas - our Savior, our friend - Jesus Christ. It fills my heart with so much joy as I think about how He truly was a gift - the most wonderful gift. It is my hope that this Christmas Mr. Norton and I spend more time talking about the Savior than about Christmas gifts & holiday parties. Because I know that if we do, we will be blessed with a very special Christmas spirit in our home that will make everything that much more enjoyable.

Christmas is a-comen'!

Ok - so I am usually one of those people who does not appreciate people listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving has passed. I have always felt that Christmas is reserved for Christmas time, and I don't want to be sick of Christmas before it's even over! (That's how I justify my theory) However, this year something strange has happend! ...I find myself looking forward to Christmas more than ever.  (and it is not even Thanksgiving yet!!) Thoughts about decorations, christmas cards, and gifts have fluttered into my mind. I may or may not have been to Joanns craft store today to look at Christmas decorations, and I may or may not have put together and ordered our Christmas cards.

So excited!! (Don't let the old me know I have done this - I for sure have committed some sort of crime!)