Claire turns 12

I wasn't prepared for Claire to turn 12. It really made me feel like she is growing up and I'm getting older. Somehow we were talked into a sleepover party. So we had ten 12 year-old girls here. For some reason the Cyndi Lauper song "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" kept running through my mind. I thought--now I get it!! Claire also graduated Primary and earned her Faith in God award.

Tracey hosts the Minute to Win It game!

Claire showing her M&M balancing skills

This game was hilarious. They had to knock over water bottles with this legging contraption

Group shot

This pretty much sums it all up!

Self explanatory...

Group shot II

Claire invited her friend Jill to church with us

Beautiful Claire

Lilian's 9th Birthday

Lilian turned 9 this year and I like the fact that we get to share our birthday's in April. She really wanted a cruiser this year and she has definitely outgrown her previous bike. She loves her new bike. She is such a sweet girl. We love our Lily!!

Here is Lily on her cruiser!

I do make the girls wear shoes when they ride. This was just for the photo op. I always remind them of the "Uncle Bryon" story if they want to ride without shoes.

9 candles for 9 years! (of course Sophie is stands at-the-ready in case some additional candle-blowing help is needed!)

Our beautiful Lilian!

Tracey Jean Norris / By: Lilian Norris

Lilian was honored yesterday at the Placer County Library for a story she wrote in her third grade class. What an honor it was! They have the stories on display at the library and Lilian's was one of the stories chosen to be read. They brought in a story teller to read the stories. All of the writers were there with their families. They had some local companies sponsor the event. It was a lot of fun. Way to go Lilian! Here is her story:

Tracey Jean Norris

By: Lilian Norris

Tracey Jean Norris makes the best brownie sundae for dessert, but she didn't start out as a great cook. Tracey was born on February 18, 1970, in Stockton, California. She had one sister named Diana and one brother named Steven. Tracey's mom is named Kay. She is a homemaker. Her dad is named Mark and he  used to work for the I.R.S. Tracey's hobbies when she was a little girl were soccer, gymnastics and collecting stickers. She grew up in Rocklin. Tracey went to Parker Whitney Elementary School and Roseville High School. Later she went to Sacramento State University for college to become a nurse. She chose that job so she could stay home with her family. My family is lucky because Tracey is my mom and she is a good cook.

 Lilian and her teacher Ms. Ori

 Lilian with her award winning story (The stories with blue ribbons were chosen to be read)

 Family Photo op

 The writers

 The story teller and her puppet

Big Basin

For Spring Break we went camping in Big Basin which is just north of Santa Cruz. It is nestled inland from the coast and filled with giant redwoods. It was clear on the drive there but as soon as we got there it started raining--hard. By the time we had camp set up we were soaking wet. We were all sitting in out tent wondering what we were going to do. Tracey said, "I remember seeing a Round Table back in town." Within minutes we were all in the car headed for the shelter and warmth of Round Table. It was hilarious. Anyway, it was nice to get away and spend some time together as a family in the great outdoors.

 Here are the girls and the other two are friends we camped with.

 Sophie in a giant redwood

 The girls are on top of the roots from another giant redwood

 Lilian, Claire, Sophie

 Family shot by the campfire

Brody

Open House

Lilian with her teacher Ms. Ori. (She loves, loves, loves Lily, in case you can't tell. She says Lily is very intelligent AND a high achiever, which is a rare combination)

 Sophie with her teacher Mrs. Maris (Sophie is such a smartie and independent, she loves school and gets the most out of it!)

Here is Lilian waiting to lead us through her class

Lilian showing us her slide show

Lilian's Indian crafts

Sophie showing her geo-turkey art

Sophie with her lucky leprechaun

This is Sophie!


We had a lot of fun seeing the girls' progress in school and we are so proud of them!

An Amazingly Wicked Day

Yesterday was an amazing day. Tracey and I saw Wicked in San Francisco at the Orpheum Theatre. Before we drove to the city we filled up on sushi at MIZU for lunch. MIZU is a sushi buffet that we discovered recently. (Mikuni is still our favorite). When we arrived in the city we drove to the coast and hiked around the old Saruto bath houses and the Cliff House. The weather was perfect. The trail wraps around the back side of the golden gate bridge so the views are amazing.

After hiking a bit we headed back downtown in search of a suitable restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately the ones I researched were out of walking distance and the starting time was approaching so we settled for a Mexican restaurant in the food court at the mall on Market St. Super-romantic eh? The Orpheum Theatre is a stunning venue. It is well maintained and you never tire of looking at the intricate detail throughout the interior. Claire asked me what my favorite part of the show was and mine was the "Defying Gravity" performance. The show was amazing and it was so much fun to experience it with Tracey.

Sophie and Brody

These two are both growing up too fast!!! Sophie loves her little bro.