Merry Christmas,
December 2013
I’ve debated all year whether to do yet
another Christmas letter; time flies so fast and the year is so filled with
trips and photos and memories that it’s hard to compress it into one letter
that’s interesting. Yet, every December
I want to reach out to my friends and family in one more way and chronicle the
passing of another year; so, here it goes…
Blake turned 15
in October and is looking forward to driving and getting a job. Somehow he’s got to fit that in between
football, homework, girlfriend(s), scouts, wrestling and school, so you’re
probably safe on the roads for a while longer.
He started 9th grade in September and attended his first
Homecoming dance, complete with photos, dinner and all the social knowledge his
mother could cram into his brain during transport to and from football
practices. Blake hiked over 100 miles in
August at Philmont with a group of other scouts from his troop, attended summer
camp and football camp. He’s also grown
five inches and three shoe sizes over the year – he is now taller than both his
father and I, and only a few inches shorter than his older brother.
James is working
two part-time jobs which keep him busy and flush with cash. He’s saving to move into his own place and
possibly take a couple of classes in the computer or gaming field. He hasn’t yet decided to drive, so he
capably gets to wherever he needs using our local transit system or the
mom-taxi if necessary. He’s done some
house- and pet-sitting over the year and has maintained his interest in
language and anime.
Russ oversaw a
major project at work this year as Snohomish County P.U.D. built a new data
center and moved their entire technology infrastructure from various buildings
into one space. He put in a lot of
overtime, weekends and sleepless nights, but the move went fairly smooth. He got to be the ‘casualty’ during Disaster
Recovery exercises, so he was left here in Washington while his co-workers
traveled to pretend to save the world (okay, just Snohomish County) from a
remote location. Russ also became Troop
550’s Scoutmaster this summer; following in the steps of his father who began
the troop almost 50 years ago. In his
spare time he’s almost completed the master bedroom and media room remodel and
put up with my attempts to take down the fence (I succeeded), build a new fence
(lumber in the drive-way – waiting until spring now), and the purchase of a
commercial freezer that doesn’t work (yet).
We still have two cats (Princess and
Callie), one bearded dragon (Jette) and our beloved boxer, Mustang. Mustang decided to test the theory of ‘Boxer
vs. Honda’ and came out a winner, but our cash flow suffered a major dent (pun
intentional). We are thankful that he
only suffered some cuts and bruises, a bruised lung and had to put up with
several x-rays, blood draws and vet visits.
It could have been much worse and we are grateful that he came through
the accident with little difficulty.
The older ‘kids’ are doing much the
same; we are blessed with our three grandkids – Jaine, age 9; Hayden, 4 on
Christmas Eve; and Bryson, 18 months. I
have the gift of watching all three of them every day while moms and dads go
off to their jobs. My kids have stable
jobs, happy households, a great church and a steadfast relationship with
God.
Paige spends her
time writing blogs, taking photos, playing on Facebook and filling up the
calendar with events and appointments.
My personal chef business is steady; I’ve held a few classes this year
and catered two events. I have five
children I nanny during the day and spend the rest of the time either cooking
or looking for recipes. I occasionally
sleep.
From our family to yours; we wish you a Merry
Christmas and a year of health and happiness.
“And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1Timothy 3:16)”
“And without controversy great is the mystery of Godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1Timothy 3:16)”
Russ, Paige, James &
Blake Norman
**Effective early 2014
(TBA), we will no longer have our home phone.
You can reach us via cell, email or snail-mail; we’re also on Facebook, blog
(http://paigesprattle.blogspot.com/) and my business website
(www.yourpersonalchefpaige.com)!
paigenor@outlook.com (NEW!!) on
Facebook: Paige Roper Norman
russell.norman@frontier.com on Facebook: Russ Norman
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