Nott at All

So this is kinda an exciting post for me. In 2002 I graduated from Lehi High school... then went on to...

8 years, one husband, and two kids later... I WILL GET MY ASSOCIATES DEGREE! It is in general studies (I couldn't decide!) from SLCC and has been a long journey and taking one or two classes at at time in between life. It has been great. I feel pretty darn good about myself and I even bought a hoodie to commemorate the accomplishment. I will get my diploma in the mail in a few months... that will be cool too.

Anyway - I am proud of myself and just wanted to tell the world!

We sent out our own Christmas card this year... but I wanted to share this too!

On Monday, December 6th we took the kids up to Temple Square to see the lights...

Mark and Merrill tweaking our TV settings...

On a side note - I LOVE MY CUTE BOYS!!!

This is not a pity post... I think it is just an excuse to tell the blog world why I haven't blogged!

On November 3rd my little Eleanor turned 1!!!!!! Unfortunately there are not any pictures of her party because we were all running videos!! I might be able to get one later! We had her party on the 1st because on the 3rd and 4th we were swamped with her Uncle Adam's Wedding to Jamie! YEAH!!! But I am so happy for my darling little girl! She is getting so old and more adorable every day!

She continues to be my little miracle baby - after 6 weeks and 3 antibiotics -after a blessing her nasty ear infections cleared up right before we were going to have to put tubes in her ears!

Yeah for Nora!

I love you sweetie!!!

With my parent's out of town I took over the family tradition of Halloweenies for the Merrill clan! I had a lot of fun!

Merrill was Buzz Lightyear thanks to my sister-in-law having the perfect costume to borrow!

October also yield my birthday on the 23rd with no real pictures because it was just a nice day for me to not do anything. Mark took me shopping and then to our friend's Halloween party. It was great. The boys did make me an awesome breakfast with my favorites! Mark's eggs, cinnamon rolls, turkey bacon and hot chocolate. MMMMMMMM!

Merrill's birthday was celebrated a day early due to the Halloween on Sunday thing. So on Friday the 29th, we had a Buzz Lightyear Birthday!

Merrill helped with the cupcakes for everyone else and Aunt Mary brought him his own #3 Birthday cake form Dippidee - yummy!

Although my parents are in St. George, they got him some awesome Cars headphones for his ipod. (Mark picked them out.)

Grandma and Grandpa Nott gave Merrill waffle blocks in this awesome Buzz Lightyear bag!

Mark and I got him his own Buzz Lightyear with a flashlight. Happy Birthday Merrill. WE LOVE YOU BIG BOY!!!

October was a great month for us! On the weekend of the 8th we headed to Bear Lake with the extended Nott clan. We had so much fun we are going to make it a tradition! It was great to just hang around. We spend most of the time just in the cabin and relaxed together. But we did venture out a bit...

We took some family photos right by the lake... brrr!

Merrill and Zoey helping Grandma Nott bake cupcakes

We also hit a local park to get the kids out for a bit when it was a little warmer.

Nora loves to swing!

What is a trip to Bear Lake without Raspberry Shakes? Yes it was cold and we were eating ice cream!

Merrill asked us to take this one and then posed! What a ham!

There has been so much going on - most of which includes runny noses and the wonderful discovery of children's Advil... however - here are some of the Nott's happenings:

Nora loved Iceburg!

She is growing up so fast!

Merrill is having more and more fun being silly and developing a fun sense of humor.

We took our annual trip to the Healing Field and it was great.

My Grandparent planted peach trees years ago and I am loving discovering new ways to reap the benefits!

I just thought this would make for a cute Mommy and Nora moment...

Our long lost friends Danny and Heather came to Utah from Denver for a visit - they even braved the germs to see us with their adorable kids - Brookie and brand new Tanner!

Life goes on, school for me, work for Mark, and two adorable kids for us both to love.

Life is good!

This weekend was awesome!!! I went on a Girl's Retreat with my sisters! (Well most of the them are sisters-in-law, but honestly in my family we don't really count that!) One of our sisters was stuck in St. George with a sick family and we really missed her!

We started with dinner at Texas Roadhouse and the waiter flirted shamelessly with all of us! (Especially my single sister Sarah that it turned out he new from the gym!)

(Left: Julie, Jen, Sarah. Right: Me, Jenae, Cathy)

Thanksgiving Point is a fun place in August! $2 admission for any venue! We took the kids to the Dinosaur Museum. The mostly didn't care and Merrill ran around like crazy, but we all enjoyed the ice cream after!

Nora got her own cone (minus the ice cream) and yes that is a pony tail in her hair! It is long enough and I think she looks so cute and girly!

This was the best picture I could get of Merrill, as I mentioned he was running around like a hyper madman! But fit right in with the creepy skeletons try to take down the wooly mammoth!

He held so still!

And.... YES! This is the first time Merrill has really smiled for a picture! Isn't he handsome???? (Yes I am prejudiced!)

I did another 5K today in Sugarhouse. It was for Sarcoma Awareness so my money went to a good cause! I actually ran/jogged almost half this time and I met my goal of not finishing last - I am getting better!

Group shot of 70 participates that helped raise over $1600

Fixing my hair before the race

Merrill ran out to meet me right before the finish line and clapped for me! We crossed together!

Collapsing after

I did it!