CALI-FUN-IA

It has been soooOOOOooooo long since we have updated this thang. We have been here there and everywhere the last few months. Here is a quick update and a lot of pictures. 

Readers digest version of what we have been up to = ENJOYING CALIFORNIA. :] This includes spending time with family, going to the San Diego Zoo with our zoo memberships, going to Padres games, picnicking in the oh so beautiful weather, going to weddings, going whale watching, and being awesome. 

That about sums it up. 

Anniversary #1

One year!! I can't believe it has already been ONE YEAR! Since our anniversary was on a Monday this year, (and we both had work and I had class AND a butt-load of homework) we decided to celebrate our anniversary the weekend before the "actual" anniversary. Whatevs, it worked for us! This was a much needed break from school, and it was the perfect "stay-cation" in Salt Lake City.

We headed up to Salt Lake City on Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel and walked around City Creek Mall. We love City Creek, especially The Red Iguana in the food court! :] They serve some pretty good Mexican food, and if you know Kenny you know that we eat Mexican food all the time. After dinner we went to my favorite Independent Movie theater in SLC that only shows Sundance Independent movies. We sure do love our Indie movies. After the movie we walked around town and wandered back to our hotel room. It was nice not having to worry about homework or chores.

Saturday we slept in, went to a farmers market, did some more walking, went to the Church History Museum, and did some more walking. Kenny had his Fantasy Football draft in the afternoon so we made sure to be back at the hotel for his draft. I was able to get some rest while he was "drafting." ...boys.... Saturday night we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. This was our big "celebratory dinner." Dinner was great, but the cheesecake was even better.

It was a great little trip away from Provo. It was hard to come back to reality. On our actual Anniversary we exchanged "happy anniversary" lovey-dovey stuff, and then I spent the rest of my non-work/school time writing a paper. Hah! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to us!

We have both learned a lot this past year. The most important lesson we learned this year is that WE ARE AWESOME. :] I can't wait for many, many, many more awesome years.

Making it FOREVER!

On April 19th, at 9:30 in the morning, Kenny and I finally made it forever in the House of the Lord. What a perfect moment that was. There were tears of pure joy and relief to know that we now have a forever family. :] I feel very blessed to have Kenny as my eternal companion. I am also grateful for all the love and support of our family and friends who were there to share that special day with us. Like I said, it was a perfect moment.

Forever Friends

I am grateful for friends. More specifically, I am grateful for wonderful friends who can get together and enjoy each others company as if no time has passed at all.

If there is one thing I know, it is that Kenny and I have been blessed with some pretty wonderful friends!

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.