BYU vs. ASU (Basketball)

We got decked out in our "Y" gear for the BYU game against ASU in University of Phoenix Stadium (Cardinal Stadium). Sadly, the attendance was poor. Not many BYU fans. The Dallas/Fort Worth area does much better for BYU games there. However, it was even more embarrasing for ASU fans (or lack thereof) for a ranked program. BYU was the better team and outplayed them the entire game despite some superstar treatment for ASU's star player. The game ended on a controversial last second shot, which unsurprisingly was decided in ASU's favor. I am very hoarse from yelling at the Pac-10 officials. We had fun and I did not embarass Kelly or the kids too badly. However, if there wasn't a railing in front of me, I probably would have gone after the officials.

We got home in time to see the football Cougars blow chunks in Vegas. I am glad that I stayed close to home for the basketball game. Bad day for Cougar fans. Although the basketball team seems pretty solid. Let the hope and hype begin for next year's football team.

Catching Up

We have been looking at all the nice Christmas cards and family pictures of our friends and family and thinking that we have not even sent Christmas cards this year or even updated our blog.

We will give you a quick update on the past few months.

On November 23, 2008, our little Camilla turned 6. She had a friend party before we left for Utah. She had a cooking party that included making pizzas and decorating cookies. The kids seemed to have a good time. The pizza was even good.

Kelly did a great job making the party great...not that she has had much practice. We have largely avoided having big birthday parties until this one. It usually ends up being a barbeque with our friends. I am sure Kelly will find a way to top this one next year.

For Thanksgiving we drove to Utah. Elizabeth did great on the trip (I think Kelly and the kids had a harder time than she did). I put them all in the back and cranked up the Ipod. We drove up the weekend before so that we would forget about the ride up before we had to return again.

At Grandma's, Camilla had a family birthday party with all the Norton cousins.







We had a great Thanksgiving will all my siblings except for Emily. We also had Uncle Paul and Aunt Sharon Norton over. Dad warned us (the boys and brothers-in-law) to be on our best behavior at least while Paul and Sharon were there. Of course, we tried extra hard to make sure the conversation veered of course to make my dad squirm a bit.

We had a great time staying up late talking in the front room with all my brothers and sisters just about every night.






Luke helped Grandpa fix some lights on the giant outdoor Christmas tree in the back yard. We had a tree lighting the night ceremony before everyone left home.



Yes, that tree is in my dad's back yard and it is huge. I think he rented a Genie lift last year to decorate it and the lights stay on the tree all year. The Griswold's have nothing on Big Steve.




The kids caught pink eye from the cousins while we were there. It took us two rounds of eye drops to get rid of that. Other than that, there were no casualties.

We were able to meet up with our good friends from law school--Peays and Michelis--at Temple Square for dinner and to see the lights. It was nice to visit with them and see the lights.

JSB Parking Incident II--I did have a brain-dead moment while looking for parking in downtown Salt Lake. To make room for all our stuff and another kid, we purchased a Thule cargo box for the SUV. I tried to park at the Joseph Smith Building, forgetting (or not knowing) my new heigth, I proceeded into the underground parking structure. I first struck a large metal pole hanging from chains indicating the maximum height. Luckily, it was on chains so it just slowly scraped across the top of the cargo box. However, what I faced next gave me great pause. There is a steep decent with cement beam at the bottom, which appeared as though it would shear my cargo rack right of the car. I stopped briefly right before the overhang to survey the imminent damage. Several other cars had followed me in and were watching with great amusement as I decided whether to proceed or not. Since there was no way I was backing out at this point, I kept going thinking there was no way to get under the ceiling. Somehow I made it under with out further damage. Each turn I made seemed more precarious, so I got out of there. The parking attendant said something like, "I would have stopped you if I would have noticed..." Other than some nice vacation battle scares on our new Thule, we made it out unscathed, which reminds me of another close encounter there.

JSB Parking Incident I--I am thinking I should not park there anymore. The last time I parked there, I was almost taken out by the LDS secret service...Let me explain. I was meeting a friend for lunch while I was in town. I was driving a rental Subaru Outback with a ski rack. I was following a black Lincoln (that how I remember it) into the JSB parking garage. I did not see any parking immediately but I did see a giant door open open with lots of parking on the other side so I followed that black Lincoln (okay so it was probably a Buick knowing the Church) not thinking a thing other than I was fortunate to find all these parking spaces. I found a nice spot and got out of my car, only to receive some strange looks from men in Mr. Mac-two-pant-suits. One man stared at me strangely, but I didn't care and proceeded to find a corridor that looked like it went to the JSB. I was being followed. He followed me like something out of a David Baldacci book. I later found out that the man stalking me was the driver of the black Buick with his VIP Church passengers. At the end of this long hall way, he finally got the stones to ask me what my business was there. I told him I was meeting a friend for lunch in the building. He told me I was in the private parking lot for the Church Offices and that I would have to move my car. At this point, it all started to make sense. The garage door had started to close on my rental car because I was not supposed to be following the car in front of me. The secret service dude was tailing me because he had unintentionally let me in (or failed to close the door before I got in also) and didn't want more than his tithing taken out of his next pay check. We walked together back to the rental car. It was surrounded by 4-5 more LDS secret service operatives with radio earbuds in their ears. I am sure they were puzzled by the Subaru with Colorado plates, which they were running by their superiors as we approached. Then I noticed I was parked on the front row in front of some doors that lead to Church offices, but not the Church office building but rather the office of the First Presidency. I also notice a placard hanging over "my" space indicating it was reserved, I assume, for someone who sits in one of the cushy red chairs a couple times a year. The driver was kind enough to explain to how it was that I had had infiltrated the super secret parking garage of those we revere. I was thankfully freed without even having to show my temple recommend. I don't know if it is the JSB or just the utter lack of parking that saps my brain when I enter, but I think I will try somewhere else to park.

Elizabeth's Blessing

We had both sets of grandparents in town at the same time, so we decided to bless Elizabeth while they were both here. Since the overlap did not occur on a Sunday, we received permission to bless her in our home. We threw together a meal and invited all our family to join us for burgers and a blessing. We missed not having many of our siblings in attendance, but we completely filled our home with our extended family here in Arizona. Courtney Court has never seen so many minivans and SUV's. It was a neat experience to do this in our home surrounded by so many that have taken care of us since we moved to Arizona.

Luke & Camilla cannot get enough of Elizabeth!

Lizzie's Hair

I was trying to get a picture of her grinning, but I just missed it. However, this is a good pic of her hair. It stands straight up in the air 24-7.

Camping in the desert

I took Camilla and Luke to our Ward Campout in the middle of the desert. It was actually a water skiing development that is still "developing." We camped in our tent on the bank. We left mom and Elizabeth home for a break from us. The kids were so excited to go fishing. We bought them a pole and they each caught their first fish. No...that is not bait on the the line. They each reeled in their "big catch" on their own.

I think nex time I will have them fish in Grandpa's Koi pond so they can catch something a little bigger. They could see the little fish swimming all around their bait. They also enjoyed a boat ride on the ski boat.

My Girls!



How did that one get in there??? Go Cougars...

Now that Luke and I are outnumbered, we will be following the Cougars all over the country, leaving the girls behind!

Official Hospital Photo

Link to Baby Bio at Gilbert Mercy

More Pics

Camilla got to run over to the hospital before school.  She was truly excited.

Luke took a minute to warm up to his new sister but he wanted to hold her all day.



Here they are making sure she is real.

Link to Online Nursery

Click here for her online nursery bio.

Elizabeth Pics

Elizabeth Kathleen Norton: 8lbs 11oz; 21 inches

We are at the hospital

We got the call from the hospital at about 5:30 this evening, saying they were ready for us to come in. I am now hooked up to the IV and they have started the potocin. I am 5.5-6 cm. dialated, so they think it should go pretty quickly. Here's to a baby girl arriving soon! Chris will keep you posted.

Update -- No Baby Yet

So, you've probably guessed that we haven't had our baby yet. We were all set for the induction yesterday morning at 5:30. We got a phone call at 4:00 AM from the hospital saying that they were too full and couldn't accommodate us yet, but hopefully by the afternoon or evening. Apparently they were busy all day, because we never got the phone call that we could come in. I did have some good contractions again yesterday, and they even built up to 4-6 minutes apart, lasting for at least a minute. I got in the tub to relax a little, and they slowed down. So I decided to try to get some rest, since I was exhausted. I continued to have some throughout the night, but they slowed down considerably, so no baby. I did call L&D this morning and apparently I am next on the list, but they don't know when that will be. Maybe the contractions will kick in again here and we can get things moving along. We will keep you all posted.

Ramblings of an insomniac pregnant lady

Well, since it is 4:30 AM, and I have already been awake for the last two hours, I thought now would be as good of a time as any other to update our blog. Yes the due date has now come and gone and still no little one. We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival. I have felt pretty good overall, with the exception of the heartburn, so really I can't complain too much. It is just reaching the end and not knowing when she will make her debut that is the frustrating part.

So when the doctor first checked me a few weeks ago, I was dilated to a 3. The past two visits I was dilated to a 4, so a good start. When I went on Wednesday, the doctor stripped my membranes, which immediately started the contractions going. I took Luke and did some shopping to keep them going and while eating lunch, they just kept getting stronger and stronger. So, I called Chris to see where he was and to warn him that we could be making a trip to the hospital. We headed home and decided we should go into L & D, since the contractions were pretty consistent and fairly strong. I was put in the little triage area and hooked up to the monitors, and unfortunately, not much was going on. I hadn't progressed at all from my morning appointment. The nurse asked if I wanted to walk to see if that would get things going, so Chris and I walked the entire hospital for about an hour and came back to get checked. Again, no progress, and the contractions seemed to be fizzling out some. So, they decided to send me home, but did set us up with an induction on Sunday morning at 5:30 AM, if I didn't have her before then. (Everyone saying that I would probably be back before than, but at least I had an "end date.") The contractions did continue fairly regularly and lasting between 45 and 75 seconds until about 11:00 PM that night. Since then, they have come sporadically, but nothing as strong or as regular as Wednesday. Maybe there was finally some change by the end of the night, and that will make laboring go even that much quicker when it actually does happen!

So, if she doesn't decide to come today, she should be in our arms sometime tomorrow. Camilla and Luke are so excited to meet their little sister and have been asking when she will get here. They were disappointed on Wednesday--not so much that the baby wasn't here yet, but more so that they weren't spending the night at the Golightly's. (Our dear friends who have been "on call" for the past several weeks, awaiting the arrival of our little one). We had dropped Luke off when we headed to the hospital and Kristina picked Camilla up from school, so they thought they were going to be there all night. We so appreciate Kristina and Shane (and their kiddos) being "on call" for the past several weeks. They have fed us, checked up on us, driven Camilla to school, etc. They are the greatest friends around and definitely part of our "Arizona Family."

P.S. Chris took a picture of me during my "fake labor" (as he likes to call it) and sent it to our parents. I am sure it will be posted eventually, and I will have to post my sister's commentary back to him.

A funny by Luke

So, I have this book Pregnancy Week by Week. It is really informative, especially for a first time mom. I pulled it out and have shown Camilla and Luke the drawings of what the baby looks like at different points in pregnancy. Early on, they were both disturbed by the umbilical cord drawings. I explained that that is how the baby eats and gets nutrients and that that is where the belly button is after the baby is born. They wondered if that was the case for them too, and I told them that everyone is fed that way in their mom's tummy. So, we haven't talked about it in a while and on Sunday, Luke was feeling my tummy and feeling the baby move and the hiccups. He notices my protruding belly button and asks, "Is the milk straw behind that?" Which, he was referring to the umbilical cord (now known as the "milk straw."). Chris and I had a good laugh.

School is back in session!

Camilla and Luke on the first day of school. Camilla picked out which uniform she wanted to wear.

Camilla posing in front of our bushes. She decided to buy lunch on the first day of school.

We walked Camilla to school. We knew the parking lot and streets would be packed. It was a hot morning, but she was excited to walk.

Camilla found her desk. She had her pencil box and her water bottle all ready.

Camilla with her buddy Tanner. They were both excited to start Kindergarten. The moms were both excited that they were in the same class. Of 19 students, 8 of them are from the ward! And there are probably about a dozen more spread out in the other classes.

Camilla just started her third week of school on Monday. Her first day was on July 28! Our district is on a modified year round schedule, so we have an early start date, but we also have some longer breaks during the year. She has been so excited to go to the school in our neighborhood and to start kindergarten. She goes all day and came home the first day and said, "Mom, that was a long day." I am so glad she did the Kindersteps program last year. It has definitely helped transition her for all day. She seems to have a great teacher, Mrs. Moore. A lot of what they are doing is pretty basic, but she is learning her phonograms and picking it up very quickly. She has also learned several little songs for writing numbers and letters correctly, days of the week, months in the year, etc. She loves going to computers, P.E., music, and library and is anxious to get to start checking books out. She likes eating lunch at school (and with her friends) and is excited by how many recesses she has. I know she will have a great year and learn a ton. Poor Luke, misses his sister. He asks every morning (after only about an hour of being home) when Camilla is going to be home. Maybe once the baby gets here, she will occupy him a little.

Busy Summer

Well, our summer flew by!! At the end of June, Chris decided last minute that he would get me and the kids up to Utah, so that we could spend as much time as possible with family. He told me that I had two hours to get everything together, and then we were hitting the road. Amazingly enough, we were able to get everything pulled together (even doing 2 loads of laundry) and drove to St. George, Utah. Jeff and Shauna were so great to let us invade their home (especially with it being last minute). Camilla and Luke were both excited to see Uncle Jeff and Aunt Shauna. Camilla even stayed up until about 2:00 AM, listening to the adults talk. In the morning Shauna made us yummy french toast, and we headed out for Logan. We spent a few days up in Logan visiting with Grandma Norton (Grandpa was in China). Camilla and Luke were able to play with their cousins and even got to go swimming at Aunt Mindy's. Alexa played her usual role and gave Camilla and me much needed haircuts.

On Tuesday, we headed down to Spanish Fork, to my sister, Alli's, home. She and her husband Jon just moved there from Boise to start Law School at BYU and Alli will be teaching in Payson (for the same principal I taught for). They were gracious enough to host the "Roberts Family Reunion" minus Spencer. Lindsay and her family came from Sandpoint, Idaho and my parents and Michael came from Casper, Wyoming. We were hoping Spencer would be back from his current deployment, but he won't return until September. Michael had just returned the month before from his mission to Mexico City, so it was great to get most of us together. Nana and Papa spoiled all of the grandkids. On Wednesday, they took us to the awesome dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point. All of the kids enjoyed going there and seeing the dinosaurs. They had quite a few interactive features as well that were great for all of the kids (aged 9 - 3). (Unfortunately, Jon and Chris had to work, so they didn't join us there).

On Thursday, Chris had to fly back to Phoenix for a scheduled hearing in Tucson. He got to our house and was brushing his teeth to head down to Tucson, when he got the call that the case was settled. So, he flew back to AZ pretty much for nothing. Luckily, he was able to get a flight back that same night, instead of late afternoon on July 4. My dad was great and got up early to drive him to the airport and he and Michael picked him up late that night. It was a long day for both of them. While Chris was in AZ, the rest of us enjoyed a day at Seven Peaks Water Park, in Provo. It was a fun day for most. Thankfully, we had reserved a pavillion, so we had some shade and a place to go eat some snacks and relax a little. My poor mom, spent most of the day under the pavillion, so she was quite warm. My dad and I had all of the little kids for most of the day. We spent a lot of time in the kiddie pools. After lunch, we all went on the "lazy river." Although, several of us weren't prepared for the little waterfalls. Those were a little shocking to the system. I thought that would be a really relaxing way to spend some time, but being pregnant and being stuck in an innertube was not all that fun. I made it around once in the tube and then had to get out and steer the tube. After the lazy river, my dad took Camilla and headed for the water slides. She had a great time hitting those with her Aunts and Uncles, Grandpa, and cousins Jackson and Parker. We spent all day there. While others could have stayed even longer, I was thankful for the park closing time. The day in the sun and water really wore me out.

Friday was the fourth of July. We played games and hung out at Alli and Jon's. It was good to visit and have a little down time. The kids enjoyed the little park in the neighborhood and blowing bubble outside. That night we took a picnic dinner (KFC) to a hill just beyond Seven Peaks to watch the fireworks overlooking Provo, from Stadium of Fire. The kids enjoyed seeing the fireworks, and it was nice not having to fight traffic to get home.

On Saturday, we all went to see Kung Foo Panda. It was a very cute show. Then we headed back up to Logan for our nephew's, Conner's, baptism. It was nice that it worked out that we could attend that special day. It was held in the Logan Tabernacle. We spent the night up in Logan and enjoyed some more time with the Norton clan.

On Sunday night, Chris grilled yummy steaks for everyone down at Alli's. He made his famous chimichurri sauce, which was a hit. I am so thankful to have a husband who likes to grill. Unfortunately, we didn't get any guacamole in for Michael (but if he comes to visit us, I will make him some).

Monday was our last day before we all headed out of town. My sisters and mom had decided to do an adult girl's day and do a little baby shower for me. Unfortunately, my mom came down with a nasty cold and was stuck in bed, so it turned into a Sibiling Day (since we dragged Michael along with us). We first went to a fun store in Springville called Rod Works. They have tons of cute things to decorate your home with. Then we headed over to the Art City Trolley, a great little restaurant in Springville, which was a favorite of ours when we lived there. Michael treated us all to lunch. I had the yummy Art City Salad. It is one I have craved often since moving. I know I could recreate a similar one, and now I will have to. After lunch, we went to go get pedicures (a first for each of us girls, Michael did not indulge). It was heavenly. It was a nice treat, especially for my sore pregnant feet. Thanks girls (and Michael) for a great day!

Chris was able to sneak in at least 3 golf games while we were in Utah. I know that was probably his favorite part. He took my dad out with him, but the early hours seemed to be too early for anyone else. They were usually home before most were out of bed.

We headed back home on Tuesday. We drove straight home (with only a few stops for food/bathroom breaks). We made really good time, and I commented on how much better the drive is by just shaving off the time from Logan to Spanish Fork. Those two hours make a difference on a long day. The kiddos did great in the car and had a great trip. It was great to see both of our families. It does make me wish we were all closer. I am thankful that Michael is now down here close. Hopefully, we can get him up here every once in a while.

Pictures of the Baby

I went in today for an ultrasound and appointment. We finally got a peek at her face (although she quickly moved her hands up to her face after the first few minutes). Chris had to go to El Paso, so he missed the ultrasound, but Camilla and Luke both were there. Chris thinks the profile shot looks like Camilla. The tech confirmed again that it is most definitely a girl. I was also measuring almost two weeks further along, so maybe we will have an August baby afterall.

Camilla's Last Day of School

Camilla with some classmates (Breslin, Cassidy, Hadley, and Camilla)

Camilla and her best bud Hadley (Notice the matching dresses--this was planned weeks in advance).

The Norton Family at the Celebration

Camilla and her sweet teacher Miss Misty Hansen (She's from Casper, where my parents are currently).
Camilla with Mrs. "H" (Miss Hansen's assistant)

Today was Camilla's last day of Kindersteps (a half day kindergarten program our district has for kids turning 5 between Sept. and Dec.). She is sad for school to end, but is excited to go to All Day Kindergarten at our neighborhood school (in only 2 short months, she starts on July 28!). She had a great year and learned so much. She mastered all of the requirements for kindergarten and was referred to 1st grade, but we are going to do kindergarten to give her the biggest advantage we can in school.

On Friday, Miss Hansen planned a "Celebration" for both the morning and afternoon classes. They sang a few songs, she gave a few remarks, and then they passed out certificates to all of the students. They served cake and juice after and Miss Hansen had made up little books for the students to get autographs of their friends. It was a sweet program. Chris got it on video, but I'll have to have him help me upload a link to the site.

We are so thankful for the interaction Camilla has had this year with her teachers and other students. She will miss Miss Hansen and Mrs. H and all of her classmates (only one of them will go to Camilla's school next year). I think Camilla will also miss being up at the high school and getting to do some fun things there (Pep Rallies, Rocket launch with ROTC, etc.). It was a great year!

Memorial Day Weekend

We were invited to head up to Uncle Doug's and Aunt Ann's ranch for the Memorial Day Weekend with the rest of the Forsgren family. We were excited to head up where it was "cooler." (Phoenix had an unusually wet and cool Memorial Weekend, so we really didn't need to head anywhere to escape the heat). We headed up on Saturday morning and encountered snow in the higher elevation (see 1st picture). We made it in under 2.5 hours, although with Camilla asking if we were there yet and asking to stretch every 3-5 minutes, you'd think we were headed across the country! We mad it up in time for lunch and let the kids loose to play with the cousins. I played games with the ladies and Chris headed out with the men to target practice. The kids just loved playing outside all day. It was cool enough up there that we all wore sweatshirts and long pants. Luke even had his winter coat on the first day. They also kept a fire going in the wood burning stove in the Ramada and in the fire pit outside. So, we were nice and cozy, even though the wind was howling. Josh and Candice were so gracious and opened up their "Pimp Palace" (as Josh refers to it) to us, so we didn't have to sleep in a tent. They even gave us the bed that their kiddos usually sleep in. (Thanks again!!) Camilla slept out in the living room with the cousins and loved having a "sleepover." Luke slept on the top bunk in our room. Camilla loved playing with all of the girls in the "clubhouse" and Luke just loved going for rides. I think just about everyone took Luke for a ride. Uncle Doug couldn't seem to escape without Luke seeing him leave and asking for a ride. If he wasn't on an actual ride, he was pretending on the Kempton's 4 Wheelers. He even had on Chance's helmet. Right before leaving on Sunday afternoon, Camilla was thrilled to discover a lizard. She tried to convince me to let her bring it home, but it is safely at its home on the ranch. Thanks Forsgrens for a great weekend and all the yummy food. We had a great time.

Luke Swimming Lessons

This is how Luke spent the first week (of two), crying and saying he was cold for the entire 30 minutes of lessons! Thankfully, the second week, he had warmed up to the idea of swimming lessons.
Pam was so great with Luke. She would calm him down when it was his turn and tell him to take a deep breath. She didn't let a lot of crying slow her down. Thanks Pam!
Luke getting ready to go under and kick his legs.
The favorite part of the lesson (maybe because it signaled the end)-diving for rings!
Luke finally relaxing enough to float. For the first week, he would clutch Pam's arms, but he learned to relax and put his arms out. He has told us he is going to be a big boy at swimming lessons. He might even be looking forward to some future lessons!!

I do have to say, if nothing else came out of swimming lessons, Luke got excited about potty training. He liked the idea of standing up and going in the weeds next to the house (so much so in fact that he would go before his lesson and usually once during his lesson). He is getting better about telling us when he has to go and will go sit on his little potty. We are going to hit it hard once Camilla is out of school next week and we can be home for longer periods of time. He wants to give his diapers to the baby, so we need to get him out of them before she gets here.