Here are 2 pictures of Natalie. THe first one ..is it icing - no, whipped cream - no, it is hair paste (gel). It smells kinda of fruity and only natalie knows if it tastes fruity too..:) The other picture is natalie all ready for church with less stuff on her face. It is really fund seeing all of your posts. SOrry I haven't been too good lately. Love to all, Nathan and Family

Here are some pictures of Alexa and Brinley on the first day of school. The other picture is Brinley holding a huge Zucchini squash from our garden. She took it too school to share with her kindergarten class during a lesson on eating healthy.

Here are some pictures of our harvest. We pulled out 16 cucmbers that day. Thanks mom and dad for the trees. We planted an apple and a peach tree. Both were already producing, we hope we get some fruit next season.

I almost forgot my favorite picture of the kids. I thought it turned out great, especially considering I don't usually do that great with the camera. We were in Avignon, just along the river near the famous 'Pont d'Avignon' (bridge).
Well, I need my beauty sleep so I'm stopping here for tonight. Hope everyone has a nice Sabbath.
Jocelyn

Here are some family pictures we took while on vacation. Patrice called me the tin man from the wizard of oz because my nose was so burnt and my face was so pale. I didn't get the joke. Rudolph sounded more appropriate to me. I say look at Patrice's legs! Nice burn line!

Well, I thought I'd try once more by logging out and logging back in. Looks like it worked!
Sophie and Veronique are in the picture with Patrice and Veronique's husband. The other picture is of Nadine and two of her three kids. Again, we liked Sophie with the 6 kids the best, although everyone was very nice and glad to meet us.

Here are a few more pictures from our vacation. I just don't have time to do a whole travel log like I had wanted. Here are two of Patrice's cousins. Patrice's dad had two sisters. Jeanine had three girls (Nadine, Veronique and Sophie) and Josette had a girl (Corinne) and a boy (Marc). The only one we didn't meet was Corinne.
Well, I can't seem to get the pictures to upload so I can post them. Apparently it let's me do it once, but not twice. The same thing happened last time. I'll have to post more later.
Have a great Sunday. Wish it were really a day of rest!
Jocelyn

Thank you for the birthday wishes. Patrice surprized me by inviting his cousin Marc and his family over for my birthday dinner. We just met them on our tour de France vacation and they live in Metz which is only 45 minutes away, right between us and Patrice's parents' house. His wife Jocelyne is super friendly and they have 6 GREAT children ranging from 17-3 years old. They are an AWESOME family and it is so nice to be around such easy-going, nice people with such well-behaved children. They are even religious so it's nice to share common Christian beliefs. I just rave about them but it's because I realize we don't have many people that we know that we consider it a real pleasure to be around. Usually it's considered 'fellowshipping', or we like the parents but the kids are way too wild. So to find them was so nice.
I say to find because the cousins we met on our vacation are from the Duffort side and Patrice hasn't seen them in about 30 years. Most remember him as a 2 year old. The other cousin that we really loved was Sophie who also has 6 kids. She's the one in the photos. They are also a great family with great kids, but not as Christian as Marc and Jocelyne.

A very happy birthday to Jocelyn and Andy!

With love from the Nortons

Too funny Jeff. I´m laughing here at work and the girls are looking at me funny! Thanks for brightening my day.

Nathan, you need to post some pictures especially since Brandi hasn´t posted any for a long time AND because the pictures she posts of the girls now have the copyright thing and I can´t print any of them. Thank you.

Bobby, we haven´t seen Milena for a while!!

Andy, haven´t seen pics from you guys either for a while!!

Cristina (my sister-in-law) is getting married on the 30th so hopefully I´ll send some pictures soon too.

Love you all. Hugs and kisses. keep smiling.

I thought WE as a SCOUTING family might get a kick out of this...ENJOY!!!!!!

A letter from a scout, named Chris, to his parents:

Dear Mom & Dad,

Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and are worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and two sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because we were all up in the mountain looking for Adam when it happened. Oh yes, please call Adam's mother and tell her he is okay. He can't write because of the cast.

I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps. It was neat. We never would have found Adam in the dark if it hadn't been for the lightning. Scoutmaster Keith got mad at Adam for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Adam said he did tell him, but it was during the fire so he probably didn't hear him.

Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas will blow up? The wet wood didn't burn, but one of the tents did and also some of our clothes. Matthew is going to look weird until his hair grows back.

We will be home on Saturday if Scoutmaster Keith gets the bus fixed. It wasn't his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked okay when we left. Scoutmaster Keith said that with a bus that old you have to expect some things to break down; that's probably why he can't get insurance. We think it's a neat bus. He doesn't care if we get it dirty, and if it's hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the fenders. It gets pretty hot with 45 people in a bus. He also let us take turns riding in the trailer until the highway patrol man stopped and talked to us.

Scoutmaster Keith is a neat guy. Don't worry, he's a good driver. In fact, he is teaching Jesse how to drive on the mountain roads where there isn't any traffic. All we ever see up there are logging trucks.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Keith wouldn't let me because I can't swim and he can't either. Adam was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You can still see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Keith didn't even get mad about us not wearing life jackets. He has to spend a lot of time working on the bus so we are trying not to cause him any trouble.

Scoutmaster Keith isn't crabby like some Scoutmasters are or like he says his ex-wife is. He told us lots of stories around the campfire about how to deal with women and something called PMS. We even got to take turns and tell stories about our parent's best fights. He says it will help us get our Citizenship in the Home merit badge. He also wanted our ATM password for the Personal Finance badge but I didn't know it. Sorry. I probably won't earn that one.

Guess what? We have all passed our First Aid merit badges. When Andrew dived into the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Steven and I threw up, but Scoutmaster Keith said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick that way with food they ate in prison. I'm so glad he got out and became our Scoutmaster. He said he sure figured out how to get things done better while he was doing his time.

By the way, what is a pedal file? I have to go now.

We are going to town to mail our letters and buy some more beer. Don't worry about anything. We are fine.

Love, Chris

I didn't mean for my lack of a response to clog the blog, but life has been whirling too quickly for me to take time to respond.
Bobby, the Nortons are doing pretty well. Connie and Delmar downsized to a smaller home in South Jordan almost a year ago. They live right next door to the Jordan River Temple. They are working in the temple and seem to be enjoying that calling. Nick, the youngest Norton, is living in their unfinished basement. This statement speaks for itself. Chris and Katie are in L.A.. Chris is working hard at his law firm and serving as a memeber of the Bishopric of his ward. Chris and Katie are expecting their third child in February or March. Baby number three will join big sister Maddie who is 41/2 and Max who is 16 months. Wendy and Reggie live in Eagle Mountain and are building a new home that they plan to move into around October. Reggie left his job with Hamlet Homes to start is own contracting company and is as busy as ever. Wendy and Reggie have three children, Mitchell, 7, Rylee, 5, and Tess 2. No plans for any more right now that I know of. So that is Norton life in a nutshell. The blog can now be unclogged!

I've tried to post pictures twice now and both times it doesn't ever upload them. It just doesn't work. I'm frustrated and need to get to bed so I'll have to try again later.
Jocelyn

Guillaume sends a hug to Shawnna!

I found this photo while browsing through some pictures today and just had to post it. Guillaume has a soft spot for Shawnna - does it show?

Will post some pictures from our vacation once I get them off Patrice's laptop and on the computer.

School just started this week so things are in full swing again. Plus music and karate (and church callings, of course). A total juggling act. So far I'm holding up under the pressure!

Hope you are all doing well.
Love Jocelyn

Bobby
I don't know what it ws about that question but it sure froze the blog up tight.
So this is an effort to get it going again. PlEASE
love Dad

Marion,

Speaking about Del Mar....I am interested in what the other Norton's are doing these days? Can you fill us in? (Del Mar, Connie, Wendy, Chris, and ... I forgot his name)

Thanks for the mexican food and Del Mar...as if I´m not homesick enough!!

Homesick and sick, how about that. What was difficulty breathing has turned into a nasty cough and difficulty breathing. And the cough is ripping my throat apart. I went to the doctor yesterday and she gave me two inhailers (don´t know how to spell it in english?!?!) one to open my lungs the other to stop the inflamation (is that a word in english?).

Anyway, love the pictures of mom and dad and Shan and Ron. There are MANY days I wish I could be home or even just be with family. Oh, on Sunday I got Davids family together (i called everyone so we could meet and see eachother. we hadn´t all been together for a long time, and there are only three kids!!) Well, we started talking about Cristinas wedding (Davids sister, getting married the 30th of Sept.) and she was telling us who was going to be at our table. Of course Davids best friend Abinadi and his wife and then some of his cousins. When he heard his cousins were going to sit with us he said, "NO. Isn´t there anyone else that can sit at our table?" I thought that was kind of sad. It´s not that his cousins are bad just a little on the weird side!! Lucky for our family we´re all WEIRD, so we don´t have that problem!!

I love you all and am very grateful for the family (all family, cousins, aunts, uncles) I was sent to. Hope everyone is healthy and happy. LOVE the pictures and learning about what´s going on in everyones life. Hugs for everyone.

keep smiling

happt birthday Spencer!
no I don't sing
that will make your day better
eveb tho it is over now
love uncle ed

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY!!

TO SPENCER BRYAN NORTON

Was great to sing to you and to know

that you were having a fun time celebrating!!

YOU'RE A GREAT KID!!

LOVE YOU LOTS!!

Aunt Cassy

The last week of coaching has been frustrating, but good in other ways. Last week, we as coaches asked our players of their frustrations. And we were well pleasesd with all but one of them. As everything seemed to be the same as our concerns and frustrations. One boy, a local kid, replied that all 1op 10 reasons for frustration was due to coaching. As you can imagine, I was shocked. However, more humbled than anything. It was a gut check, our worst player on the team telling me I was not qualified. I took a step back and tried to figure stuff out. I am good now, but it was humbling. Anyway, the next day we gave his momoent. He played right back, 5 minutes and 2 goals later, the entire team was yelling at us to pull him off. We let him stay for another 5, if not for the GK it would have been bad.

Halftime rolled around. I am calming Mr. Creighton ( our Division 1 Transfer from Creighton) down and Bennett is talking to everyone else. All of the sudden I hear a blow up abaout us blankin mormons. The phrase is used a number of times! We get rid of the kid and then his mom comes over and sayd you Blankin mormons are a cancer to this community!

It was pretty brutal! It did not bather me intantly. As I contimplated the situation, I could only imagine the hardships of Joseph Smith and everyone else that helped restore the gospel. It has been fascinating that due to my faith I can be a good or bad coach. It is fascinating that people still can't get along. It is amazing that the people that help settle this city are not recognized as people of integrity and vision.

Being in the publics eye is amazing to me. Going to the grocery store and having people staop me to talk to me about club or college soccer is so frequent it is exhausting...I seriously go shopping late at night these days. I have been here for just over two years, not that it is anywhere as intense, but I start to have some compasion for the people in the gossip magazines. No matter what I do, it reflects on myself, my religion, my commitment to soccer etc. I never thought that this kind of stuff would happen to me. Due to ignorance and speculation, the world is truly a cruel place.

I just thought I would share my thoughts and events with you. I am growing and developing. And as crazy as life is her, I am enjoying it.

I love and miss you all!

We ended the day with Fidels Mexican food. This is to make Cindi hungry and want to return to Amerika!!!
It was a great weekend of rest study play and rest. Only it ended too soon, We sure do enjoy all of your posts and love to see our children and grand children. Keep on blogging to quote Abby Norton

Well all study and no play makes for a dull weekend. So off to the races we went. Hopefully this will jog some pleasant memories for all, The first race a hourse named cindago was running so mom picked her and mom won 10.80. The only winner we picked all day. I made mom go to the booth and collect her winnings.

Here is mom studying our route in France. She has the drive from Paris to Terrassa and I have the city of Paris. It takes a lot of reading and map reading to prepare.

We had a wonderful labor day weekend at Del Mar. The pool was cool but the sun was hot. Both mom and I got a little red.

Shawnna and Drew, Stacia and Landon, they´re all TOO CUTE!!

Bobby, Landon is going to Preschool too? Are they in the same class?

First day of Preschool Pictures of Stacia and Landon.

The Normand family just got back from another fun-filled trip from Chicago to Pennsylvania over the Labor day weekend. We left on Friday at 2 pm and it took us about 3 hours to drive to the Illinois-Indiana border, which is only about 35 miles. It was a fun start. Everything was fine until we hit the Pennsylvania border. It was there that we ran into the western border of Tropical Storm (whatever it was clsasified as) Ernesto. That didn't help things at 2 am driving through the back hills of PA and since it was all under construction, that didn't help either. Let's just say it took about 12 hours when it should have only taken about 8 or 9. The Normand family in PA was all about the county fair. It wasn't just the normal fair with rides, it's main attraction is the animals and the 4 H club. The cousins had entered goats and vegetables and were so busy with that. We still got our chance to go to a nearby city called Indiana, remember we're still in PA, and had the world's best wings ever made. Not that we don't enjoy the family visits, but the only reason we go there is to eat those wonderful wings! Just kidding! The drive home was ok until we hit the Indiana-Illinois border and we hit another horrible rain storm until we got to the house. All in all, it was a great weekend. The only problem with the whole weekend is that we did not know that there would be any cold weather so we only had shorts and flip-flops! Nothing that a quick trip to the local mall ( WALMART!) couldn't fix. About $40 later we were all outfitted with the shoes and jackets we needed!

Hello family!!

So, David and I were able to go up to see Jocelyn and family. It only took about two hours to get up to Perpignan from Terrassa. We arrived at about 5:15 and Patrice, Jocelyn and crew were all waiting for us just after the exit.

Since we had no place to go, we went to the beach. We had a great time! Of course the kids didn´t stay dry. After about 5 minutes they were all in their underwear playing in the water. So the kids were having fun and the "adults" were having a nice time chatting (sooo much fun to be able to "compare notes" with Joc about European living.) But the best is yet to come...

David had brought a soccer ball to play with and YUP it ended up in the water. At this point ONLY the KIDS were wet. Guillome (i don´t remember how to spell it, sorry) had kicked the ball into the water and now of course his parents told him that he would have to go get it. Now Guillome doesn´t exactly know how to swim. So Patrice blew up a floaty thingy so Guillome could go get the ball all by himself. The water got deep fast and every time Guillom couldn´t touch the ground he freaked out. So here we are four adults shouting out how he needs to swim and that he´ll be ok. Patrice is in the water getting almost as we as Guillome. And poor Guillome doing well and then freaking out, doing well and then freaking out... Finally Guillome started to swim and eventually got the ball. As he reached for the ball and threw it towards the beach we all started cheering and telling him what a wonderful job he´d done and his little face lit up with pride and satisfaction. He had gotten the ball all by himself.

We all went back to playing and talking enjoying the time together and all of the sudden Patrice screams out, "Guillome, not again!" I took a picture of Patrices face but because of the backlight it didn´t come out, but it was SOOOO good. This time it wasn´t the ball that had been thrown in the water but the floaty thingy!! So Guillome was standing there next to the water with that "oops I did it again" face and then Margot started SCREAMING/CRYING. Of course it was HER floaty thingy. (I have to admit at this point I starting peeing my paints, I was laghing so hard!!) Luckily they had another floaty thingy and Patrice blew it up, gave it to Guillome and sent him out for the other floaty thingy. Because of the success he had had with the ball at the beginning Guillome was all for going out in the water again, to be the hero again. But this time he had to go farther out. He ended up freaking out and coming back in (which was ok, because it really was too far out for him to go alone). There was a man out in the water, kind of far out, and he was nice enough to come in and help Guillome. Yup he passed the floaty thingy and came and got Guillome and took him out to get the floaty thingy with him. We all thought that was nice of him. So finally we had the TWO floaty thingy´s and Margot FINALLY stopped crying!! I was still peeing my pants.

So, after all this the "boys" (Patrice and David) decide that the kids are having all the fun and they put swimming suits on (Patrice lent David one of his) and went out in the water for a swim. (They could have done that a few floaty things and ball earlier don´t you think?) Joc and I got to talk some more and then came the showers, changing clothes and getting warm. The poor kids were cold after being in that cold water -- don´t worry Cassy they are ok. They don´t need swimsuits even though they were swiming in their undies and they don´t need jackets even though they were cold!! hahaha...

We went to a restaurant that was near by and ate pizza and muscles (for those that like those icky things). It was a great time. Of course it made me miss having family around even more, but we really enjoyed the few hours we did have together. Thanks Jocelyn and Patrice for making the effort to see us. We had a great time. And let´s just say, watching Jocelyn´s kids has been the best entertainment we´ve had in a LONG time! (And they gave us lots of hugs, which is better than anything.)

I do have to say that the ride home was hard. After a long day and a big dinner David and I were both tired. Neither of us remember much about the ride home!!

We love you all and hope everyone is happy happy happy. Hugs for all.
keepsmiling.

Just a note to let you know - We will be in Del Mar
for the weekend. If you need to reach us call
(858) 755-6666 room # 112. Hope to see a lot of weekend pictures
when we get back. i took my camera so there will be some from us
at the beginning of next week/
love mom and dad

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY!!
PERCEVAL ADRIAN DUFFORT
LOVE, GRANDMA CASS
(Hey, I did better this time,
today is actually the correct birthdate 9-1.
Along with Margot,
hope you had a special birthday
in a very special place
and hope we all get to see pictures
of both birthdays
SOON!!)