Christmas Week 2020

Now that we were back from the wedding it was time to get ready for Christmas. This year I decided to purchase a cat tree for the cats for Christmas, especially since we have Cocoa who is still a kitten and very active. I wasn't expecting it until between 23-29th so I was pleasantly surprised when it showed up on our door on the 21st! I was kind of taking a slow day that day and recovering from our Utah trip but by the time the package came I was kind of bored and wondering what I should do with myself. So Nikki and I built the cat tree together! Cocoa loved it and kept climbing on it while we were building it. We had to put Sage on the tree to get her to go but she got comfortable and stayed up there. It wasn't until night time that Star showed up and we tried putting her on it but she jumped right off. She didn't seem to like it as much. Good thing she's going back to Utah this weekend 😆 Funny enough, the instructions for the cat tree told us at the end of the book that we could convert the box this came in to a cat house...so we did! Nikki and I built it and Charlotte and Alice decorated it.

They seemed to like this box at first but I haven't seen them in it any more. It may be time to throw it out already.

Tuesday was Alice's real birthday and even though we had already celebrated it I still wanted her to have something she liked for breakfast and for dinner. I made her some French toast for breakfast and she said she wanted pizza for dinner. Curtis was happy because it was $10 Tuesday at Papa Murphy's so it was perfect, lol. The funny thing is, she didn't eat very much of her pizza. I'm honestly surprised she didn't ask for mac and cheese because that seems to be her favorite food right now. 

I also decided to get busy on Tuesday and bake some goodies to give to our neighbors and friends. Monday night I baked a bunch of mini loaves of white bread. Then Tuesday morning I went to the store for a few baking items and stocking stuffers. I spent the afternoon baking chocolate w/peanut butter chip cookies, regular chocolate chip cookies and no bake cookies. Nikki and her friend Angie made a batch of rice krispy treats for me. I knew a couple of our neighbors are gluten free so I wanted something that they could have (rice krispy treats and no bake cookies). After Curtis got home and we ate dinner we got the boys to help us put the plates together (Nikki was at work). I didn't get around to making picture cards this year so I just used extra Christmas cards from last year to go on each plate. I signed the cards while the boys built the plates.  Our last stop that night was to my friend Whitney. We didn't have enough bread for everyone to get a loaf but I wanted to make sure she got one. Funny enough, she ended up giving me some homemade jam that she made this year. It is really good. She called it raspberry jam but I think she meant strawberry because that's what it tastes like to me 😆 I also invited her to come over to my grandma's on Christmas for dinner if she didn't have anywhere to go. I was hoping she would come but she didn't. It looks like she was probably out in Emmett at the ranch she's been working at on Christmas.

Christmas Eve was fun. We invited family to our house for a potluck dinner and a game of Christmas Family Feud. It was a hit! Tamara's family, Stillman's family, Dad, Laverne and Grandma Norton all came. It was funny because Chris drove his truck separately than Tamara thinking he would leave early because he doesn't like crowds. He stayed the entire time because he was having such a good time! It's always good to know when you host a good party. Stillman said that's the best Christmas Eve party he's been to. Wow! 😁 Dad, Laverne and Grandma had to leave early around 7:00 to go celebrate Ellie's 18th birthday at Melissa's house. Everyone else ended up leaving our party around 8:30 and before they left we called Ellie and all sang happy birthday to her. We also did some gift exchanging before we played our game. 

Katie gave Alice these Minnie Mouse ears as a birthday gift.

After the party was over we cleaned up a bit and got to opening our pajama presents. It's fun to get to open a present a day early and then have new jammies to wear Christmas morning. After we all got our jammies on Curtis read The Night Before Christmas and the nativity Christmas story from Luke. Then it was time to get the girls and Jack in bed. Jack had already fallen asleep during the story reading so it was easy for him. Garrett was our Santa's Helper so he got to work helping dad bring in presents from the van. We had been hiding most of the gifts at my grandma's house and the two of them went and picked up the gifts earlier in the day when we knew we were done going anywhere. We had already wrapped them all a few weeks ago so it was bring them in and put them by the tree. Then filling the stockings.

Our silly picture

Garrett did a great job setting up the gifts, with a little help from Nikki. She had stayed up to wrap a few last minute gifts. We were in bed by 11pm.

I knew the kids were excited but man, 4 am is WAY TOO EARLY!! I woke around 4am hearing some walking around and someone trying to open our locked bedroom door, then a quiet knocking. I stayed in bed and ignored it until they stopped but then I heard more walking a little later and then meowing...by my door. Apparently, Stardust was ready to go outside around 5:15am. Since I got up to let her outside I decided to see if anyone was by the tree. Sure enough, both boys were awake in the family room by the tree. Garrett apparently was even up around 1am. I'm glad I didn't hear that one! I decided to let them play games quietly on the Switch so it would help pass time for them and keep them busy. Since I was up I knew it was going to be difficult for me to fall asleep again because I was starting to feel hungry. I didn't want any sweet cereal so I cooked myself a couple of eggs. Then I cooked one for Jack because he asked. Nikki even came out because she heard noise but as soon as she realized what time it was she went right back to bed. After I finished the eggs I went back to bed as well. Apparently after I had gone to bed again Jack woke up Charlotte and Alice. I was not happy about that. The kids came in our room a couple times after that since I didn't relock the door. They were so excited to open gifts but we kept telling them it wasn't time yet. We slowly started to get up around 7:30 I think and started with gift opening around 8am. First, Garrett passed out the gifts and we took some before pictures.

These are the family gifts.

We always start with stockings so of course those were first. Then we went around the room and each opened one present at a time. It makes it lasts longer and everyone gets to see what everyone else got. Curtis's parents showed up in the middle of our gift opening so they got to enjoying watching as well and then we opened gifts from them also. The three oldest kids received gifts from some of their friends also. Here are the after pictures.

Alice is wearing a hat that Gaya made. She made one for each of the kids.

This includes some family gifts, not just mine.

Now that Curtis has a gun it's easy to shop for him. Getting him accessories!

I'm glad my in laws were able to share part of our Christmas gift opening that morning. The shirt Nikki is wearing is a gag gift from her friend Angie. Nikki likes gag gifts.

Later we cooked up some deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, and stuffing and took them over to my grandma's to have Christmas dinner with her and Tamara's family. We didn't get there until about 3pm. Grandma cooked a roast and her garden green beans. They were so good! I can't remember everything that was brought but it was all delicious. We played some games afterwards while watching Christmas movies on the TV.  Some of the kids brought some of their Christmas presents to show. It was a fun day but man was I tired from not enough sleep! I think I better end this post for now since it's pretty long. I'll get some more later of the kids enjoying their gifts.

My Brother's Wedding

The last two weeks have been very busy as I'm sure it was for many others. Curtis and I travelled to Utah on Thursday the 17th to attend the wedding of my brother Colby to Cindy on Friday the 18th.  Originally we were going to take our whole family down to the wedding but decided it would be better to leave them at home because of Covid not allowing us to do much of anything. Nikki is nearly 17 and we felt she was ready to take on the responsibility. She too felt like she could handle it. We also had my mother in law check in on them a couple of times. Curtis and I decided to take our truck since it looked like there would be snow in southeastern Idaho and Northern Utah.  We did run into some slick roads and slush and a few semi trucks that slid off but we made it safely without trouble. I was unsure if I should be wearing my snow boots for the trip but thankfully I did because at one stop they came in handy with walking through the parking lot. 

We drove straight to our hotel and got checked in, then picked up Stillman and Michelle from their hotel and drove over to Olive Garden where the ladies went for dinner with Cindy as sort of a bachelorette party. After the party we drove Tamara to her hotel.

This is the gift that Tamara picked out that was from most of us Norton girls, including grandma. She included a little gift for Colby as well in there.

Michelle, Tamara and I were the only ones to make it from our side of the family to the restaurant. The rest were Cindy's family and friends.

                                      

Friday morning we had some extra time and went shopping to Walmart. We bought some groceries, a wedding card and some stocking stuffer items for our kids. We then went back to the hotel and relaxed and watched a movie on TV. Around 4:15 we headed over to the church where the wedding was to be held. Stillman was busy leading the car decorating group, or should I say truck? I jumped right in to help. They had decided it would be much better to decorate before the wedding when it was light out and warmer. Very smart decision!

The wedding ceremony was scheduled to start at 5pm but didn't start until about 15 or 20 min after. Thanks to Covid and technology many people were able to view it from their homes, including our daughter Nikki. It was a nice little ceremony and I'm so happy I was able to be there in person.

Colby and Cindy during the ceremony. They hope to get sealed in the temple soon.

This is how you celebrate a wedding Covid style.

Of course we had to take off masks for some pictures.

Cutting the cake. I think most people actually missed this event because many had left already and many there weren't paying attention. I was glad I was able to witness it.

They had fun smashing cake into each other's faces.

They are so cute!

Saturday we went to breakfast with Stillman, Michelle, Tamara and Katelynn after we picked them up from their hotels. Tamara was staying with grandma in a room at the same hotel as Melissa, Livvie, Dad and Laverne. They were all leaving to go home that morning but Tamara and Katelynn booked a room at our hotel for that night so that they could stay longer. Our plans were to go visit my mom that evening. After breakfast was over we drove Stillman and Michelle to the airport as they were flying home that afternoon. Since we were in Salt Lake we decided to drive by the Salt Lake Temple to view the temple renovations that are taking place. They are in the process of making the temple better to withstand earthquakes, etc. It is a 4 year project.

We just did a drive by since it's all closed up.

We decided to try going to the Planetarium but found that the only part of it open was the gift shop. So we walked around to the Gateway Mall and were trying to think of what we could do. The theater was there so we decided to see if it was open and it was! We were the only customers in there and there were only 2 employees. The movie we decided to watch was the 2nd Croods and it was pretty good. We thought we were going to have the theater to ourselves for awhile there but then a mother with a couple of kids walked in and sat way down below us. Those were the only other people who came in. However, after the show we did see a few more people coming in to watch movies. It was still pretty quiet compared to what it used to be.

Before we figured out about the theater being open we found these big teeter totters and had a little fun. 

After our fun at the mall we took Tamara and Katelynn to the hotel so they could check in to their room. They had to wait until 3pm. Then we headed out to Springville to visit our mom. We stopped at a sub sandwich shop right there in Springville and bought our mom a sandwich also. Then we drove over there to eat dinner, play Yahtzee and visit with mom. We wore our masks most of the evening to help prevent any spread of covid since aunt Karen's mom was staying there for a couple of months and she's older and has some health issues. Gilbert and Karen were downstairs but did come up to say hi and take a picture for us.  It was a great evening and I'm so glad we were able to visit. Katelynn was our winner that evening in her first ever game of Yahtzee. I say it was beginner's luck 😆 

We were all too tired when we got back to our hotel that we went straight to our rooms. Curtis and I fell asleep watching a movie. The next morning we were able to watch our ward's Sacrament meeting from our hotel room on the computer. Curtis was even able to bless the Sacrament for us. We had to use tortilla chips instead of bread because Tamara can't have gluten but it worked.  After the meeting we packed up and hit the road to go back home. On the ride home we were also able to listen/watch Tamara's ward meeting online at 11am. The weather for the ride home was much better and it was smooth sailing all the way home with some beautiful scenery.

There was snow around us as we crossed into Idaho but as you can see the roads were very clear. Thank goodness!

December Birthday Celebration

This year we decided to combine Curtis and Alice's birthday parties and celebrate them together. Curtis was on the 5th and Alice is on the 22nd so we basically met halfway in between by celebrating them yesterday on the 13th. We started out the day with half of our family going to church. We have the option to attend church in person or view from home. Curtis went because he's in the bishopric. He said Garrett should go to help pass the sacrament. Since I needed to drop off Garrett I decided I would attend as well. The other kids watched the meeting from home using my computer which was attached to the TV monitor. Nobody was feeling sick or anything. We just decided it would be easier and better for them to stay home if they chose to do so. Garrett decided he wanted to bake the birthday cake so right after church he got to work. He and Nikki frosted the cake after it cooled but Alice got to help put the sprinkles on. 

It decided to snow during the day and so by the afternoon I let the kids go out and play in it for a little while and had the boys shovel the driveway and walkway. I normally wouldn't let the kids play in the snow on Sunday but decided since it was a birthday celebration day and the first real snow fall of the season I would let them this time.

Meanwhile, Nikki was hard at work melting birthday candles together for the cake. Alice picked out a package of colorful regular sized candles at the store but we weren't quite sure what we were going to do for Curtis's candles so Nikki got the idea to melt some together to form a "4" and a "1". Then Alice decided she wanted the same for hers. So she made another "4". They turned out pretty cool.

A week ago we decided we would cook up the free turkey we had in our freezer (free because we bought $100 worth of groceries at Winco before Thanksgiving). I let Curtis be in charge of the turkey because I would rather not. He cooked up a brine Saturday night and had the turkey soaking in it all night. Then baked it in the oven. We basically ate another Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday with turkey, mashed potatoes (using golden potatoes), stuffing, and green bean casserole. Our dessert would be cake and ice cream sandwiches instead of pie though. Curtis even made gravy from the turkey juices again. It was all very good! It was a rush to clean up the kitchen and wash dishes before grandparents started coming over. We were able to get most of the dishes done by the time they came around 5:30. Then it was party time! Since we had the Christmas tree up we decided to do the birthday party in the family room this time.

Lots of goodies from G & G Butterfield. Stickers, a pony, a fun little box that had some crayons inside, chocolates, and lip balm.

Curtis's mom and dad gave him some of their homemade caramels. They have nuts in them too and they're SO good! And my parents gave him an awesome birthday card. Laverne is so good at making cards!

A veterinarian toy and cute card from G Vernie and G Tony.

I gave him these slippers but the funny part is he actually picked them out while we were Christmas shopping for the kids. He saw them and liked them and said maybe for his birthday so I said go ahead and grab them and we'll wrap them up.

Sit and spin toy from us.

Alice's first bike!

                                       

The only time she can ride her bike in the house.

My brother sent me a text right before Thanksgiving saying that Curtis really wants a shotgun for his birthday/Christmas. Then he showed me an ad for Sportsman's Warehouse for Black Friday deals and suggested this one. I bought this gun on Black Friday and some bullet shells for Curtis with the intention of giving them as a Christmas gift but changed my mind and did birthday instead. Now I can buy him accessories to go with it for Christmas! 

Laverne, Dad, and Grandma with the birthday girl. Dad just had his surgery on Dec 3rd for prostate cancer and is doing really well with recovery.