Norton News

How do you get good pictures of a 2 year old? I swear it's impossible!

Happy Birthday Isabelle!!!!

It's official, we have a 2 year old. She has filled our lives with so much joy I can't imagine life without her. She is so full of life, smiles, kisses, energy, love, and personality. We are so proud of her!



When we ask Izzy how old she is, she said "two" then gives her hand to us to make the "two" sign with her fingers. She's such a cutie!
We enjoyed some family over in our backyard for some cake & icecream!
Isabelle admiring her adorable birthday card from Grandma Norton!
Isabelle getting acquainted -kisses!-with her newest baby-one that comes with a "ponny" (potty), crib, and dress up clothes! The crib in inside a great new toy chest Izzy can roll around the entire house from Grandma Kunz!

Making her grand entrance to the party!

We were in Jackson Hole over the 4th of July and watched fireworks there. Here's Isabelle in her little patriotic gear thanks to one of our good friends, Jenny VanOrden-thank you!



She's got a little bit of a farmer tan to go with all her smiles!

For the first week of July, we headed north...again. This time to Jackson Hole, WY. We had a great time!! Isabelle slept really really well in the port-o-crib in the tent which was a big gamble, but I think we wore her out enough every day so she was super tired at night. We camped on the Boy Scout property. My older brother Dave is the Director at the camp this year so we had fun spending time with his family and his wife's family who also made a visit. We went to the Snow King Resort Alpine Slide, Bar-J Chuckwagon Dinner & Show, Jenny Lake Hike & Ferry ride, Granite Falls Hike, downtown Jackson Hole, Aaron got some fishing on the Snake with Dave, and we had an absolutely great time! Holly was a trooper to do all the hikes all the while being 9 months pregnant and we just heard word that she had her baby on July 9th-all the hikes paid off! Welcome baby cousin Samuel!

Isabelle enjoying one of her favorite summer-time foods, watermelon!
Isabelle and Daddy having a great time together.
The fam in Jackson Hole square.
Some of those antler are bigger than her!

Intermountain Suzuki String Institute-this has been something in my life since I can remember. Every June since I was a child (minus 1 or 2 years for a family wedding and a vacation) I've attended this institute. The Institute celebrated it's 30 year anniversary this year. First as a student, then a teacher trainee, and now faculty, this institute has truley enriched my life for many many years. It's been so much fun to see my own students enjoy their experience there as I did as a young violinist. I look forward to the world of Suzuki it brings to Utah every year with it's world-class faculty. Aaron was a great stay-at-home-Dad during the week and still squeezed in some weekend 12 hour shifts. I was so busy teaching computer music theory classes all week that I didn't take any photos-sorry-kind of a boring post-but it completely consumed me for a week so I had to blog about it!

This summer has been so much fun with Isabelle. She interacts and talks so much more than last summer. We love having a backyard for extra running and playing space for Izzy. I don't know what I would do without one! We feel so blessed to be in our home this summer-it's really paying off!

Kisses! Isabelle and her 10-month younger cousin Katelin Norton. We had a chance for them to get together while her family visited Utah. They were partners in crime chasing & playing together.
Katelin is such a doll-we enjoyed seeing how much she's grown since we saw her during the holiday season!

Can't get much better than this, clean from baths, jammies, binkees, and best buds-we had a great time together!

We headed north to Island Park, ID for a weekend camping trip with our friends Adam & Eleisha Rudd and their family. We had a lot of fun and we had a great time spending time with friends we haven't seen for a long time since they moved to Idaho. Adam Rudd & Aaron served their missions together in Guatemala. While we were there we visited West Yellowstone, Mesa Falls & kept toddlers entertained! Thanks Rudds!