Wednesday, August 31, 2016

GCU Soccer is Back!

Last weekend we went to my sister's first home game for her last year at GCU. This was also their first game in the brand new soccer stadium on her campus so it was really fun. There is obviously a lot more seating and shade which is nice and I think they did a really good job with the stadium. The kids love going to the games and watching Katy play and it is usually free so it ends up being a fun thing to take them to. Aspen was napping at this time, so I took Ev by myself and met my mom and sisters there. Ev had lots of fun playing with her cousin Mae who scared the crap out of me on the concrete bleachers cus she is so dang clumsy! Thank god she is a tough little chunk cus she falls down all of the time. We will be back out there this Friday night to watch her play again and hopefully it will be a little cooler out!

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they lost 3-2 :(
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 the big kids!
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love these two!

Monday, August 29, 2016

As You Wish Pottery Painting!

Last month there was a sale at As You Wish on pieces of pottery to paint so I picked a couple up for Everly and Teddy to paint at a later time. We had some downtime this Saturday afternoon so I decided to take Everly and Teddy to finally paint those pieces. They were both very excited and actually did really well. Their pieces didn't break and I don't think either of them got paint on their clothes. They also both stuck to just a couple of colors each so I think their pieces might not turn out horrible. These two have so much fun spending time together:

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Friday, August 26, 2016

Nora's Baptism

Been a little MIA this week due to a nasty stomach bug but I wanted to pop in and share some pictures from my niece Nora's baptism last Sunday. Both my sister and I were sick that day so it was interesting for sure. Nora was a little angel though. I feel bad because we were not able to host everyone after for lunch but it was just too much. We barely even managed to get a group picture but thankfully we did get that. Nora is wearing the same gown we were baptized in that was my great Uncle's as well as Cameron, Everly, Teddy, and Aspen. This was our first baptism at St. Thomas More and it went well. Much faster than the last one at St. Paul's. I wish I had felt better that day but Justin and I are so happy to be Nora's godparents! Also, thanks to my mom and sister helping with the kids during mass. Could not have done it without you!
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Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Norris Family Reunion: Pinnacle Preserve Hike

One morning while in Lake George, a large group of my family went on a hike at Pinnacle Preserve in the town of Bolton which is like 15 minutes from Lake George. There was a little bit of rain when we started but there were so many trees on the hike that kind of kept the rain out. It was a quick short/steep hike but the views were totally worth it. We do a decent amount of hiking in AZ when it is not dangerously hot but this trail was much different than AZ hike. There were a few times where I wasn't even sure if we were going in the right direction. Most Arizona trails are extremely clear and well travel so the path is easy to follow. Once we got to the top the views of the lake were amazing. It was actually even a bit hot with the sun beating down since we were above the trees. All in all the hike was probably less than an hour but it was a lot of fun. When I was younger I never realized how active or not active my family was but now that I am older I realize just how active we are and I hope that sets a good example for the girls as they grow up.

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My sister, brother, and his girlfriend
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Kim hiked while wearing baby Nora
 
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so pretty!
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Amazing lake views!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Norris Family Reunion: Water Fun!

While up at Lake George for the family reunion we got in lots of water time. We actually got a decent amount of rain while we were there which maybe bummed other people out but us Arizonans love any rain we can get so it didn't bother me. The kids did a little swimming at the pool at the cottages which was convenient. Our family rented a boat for our time there that we all shared so we could take it out on the lake and go fishing. Also, we almost found out the hard way that you need fishing license to fish on Lake George. Tony talked us out of a ticket, thankfully. I don't fish but I had fun out on the boat exploring the lake. Some of the family also went out to Million Dollar Beach with the kids to let them swim and play in the sand. We obviously don't get a lot of beach time in Arizona so that was good for the kids. It was a really pretty lake and much bigger than Keuka is so I am really glad we got to experience that.
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Monday, August 15, 2016

Weekend in Review: Quick California Trip

Saturday morning Everly and I hopped in the car with my mom and sister's boyfriend Alex for a quick trip to California. My sister had been in Riverside for over a week with her soccer team and she had a game on Saturday night so we decided to drive out and watch her since it is only a 4 1/2 hour drive. Aspen is not as great as a traveler so Justin and her stayed home but Everly is really great to travel with. We stopped at the outlets in Palm Springs for a little shopping on the way out there. It was really hot in Palm Springs. Just as hot as Arizona. It actually was really nice and breezy when we watched her soccer game, though. It definitely cools off at night a lot more in California than in AZ. We didn't really mess around and left by like 8:30 Sunday morning so we got home by 1:30. Even though I didn't drive I was still tired from being in the car that much so both Evie and I took a nap when we got home. We both cannot wait until October when we get to go back to Disneyland for her birthday!
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Car ride snapchat fun
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love this girl!
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Ev watching Toy Story with Alex and Teddy's donuts in Blythe.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Norris Family Reunion: 5k

On our last family reunion at Keuka Lake, a big portion of our family ran in a small local 5k and we were able to find another one not too far from Lake George while we were up there. We ran in the Friends of Wilton Rec Parkfest 5k. I believe there were a total of 85 runners and our family reunion represented 22 of them, haha. That doesn't include the kids race, too. We lucked out and didn't get rain during the run and it wasn't overly humid. It was a fun little route through a very nice neighborhood in Saratoga Springs, NY. My cousin was the 2nd fastest female and her boyfriend was the 5th fastest male. I was happy to finish 17 seconds behind my 21 year old college soccer playing sister and before both of my much faster sisters (when they haven't just had a baby). Justin ran really fast too which is annoying because he is not nearly as consistent with his running as me (damn genetics). Hopefully he gave some of his quick genes to the girls. Everly had a bit of a meltdown due to shyness at the beginning of the kids run but finished strong and looked so cute running. My uncle helped sooo much with all of the little babies so that we could run and my brother-in-law kept Aspen which helped a ton too. She made it easy for him though and slept almost the entire time we were gone! I don't really know how it happened exactly, but this family ended up with a lot of runners. My aunt and cousin have run several marathons. I have run one but many more of us have run half marathons and a lot of us run regularly. I don't think that is normal but I do think it is really cool. Here are some pictures from the morning:

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Nice cool morning!
 
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waiting for the start
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Pre-run group picture!
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My cousin sprinted at the end to beat our uncle and my awesome aunt on the right
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My sisters boyfriend on the left (who ran a 10k with me a few days before) and my uncle on the right.
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My uncle on the left and mom and cousin on the right
 
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Uncle Jack and the babies
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Kids run time
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So cute once she stopped freaking out.
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our runner family!

Weekend in Review

Summer is basically here and we are already in full on pool season. On Friday I had the day off so I spent some time with Aspen and took he...