A New Addition

My brother Gene and his wife Saya had their baby this morning!!! Sophyia Sakura Norton was born in New York and we can't wait to meet her. Isn't she cute?

45 Speckled Trout

Julian catches a fish
Pa gets a big one
Tommy's first fishing trip
The boys at work

Pa's prize-winning trout
Exhausted after a rough day
An ice chest filled with fish

Kirk, Julian, his friend Tommy and Pa went fishing a few days after Christmas and came back with lots of speckeled trout for us to eat!! They spent the entire day on the boat and even made it through a few downpours. Their hard work paid off and we were able to enjoy lots of great fish.

Christmas Day!!!

What did we get???
A High School Musical game for the Nintendo DS!
A coat for snowboarding!!
Rock Band!!!!!
Morgan realizes she's going to the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert!!!!
A new leather coat for Kirk


New ski pants!!

Snowboarding Boots!!
A new ring from Tiffany's!! (too small though, so had to return for a bigger size)
Poydras got lots of goodies, too!!
A snowboard and bindings for Kirk!!!

We had a really great Christmas this year, even though the kids got us up at 6 a.m!! Everyone got lots of wonderful gifts...Kirk got a new coat, a snowboard and bindings, a sweater and some other great things. Julian got lots of video games, a skateboard, and money. Morgan got apparel for our snowboarding trip during Mardi Gras (she's never been so she needed lots of new things), a DS game, and tix to the Hannah Montana Concert (that was the highlight. The tix were sold out in about 2 minutes and Sherry, Mallory and I were equipped with multiple computers and phones when they went on sale. I was the only one to get through). She and Julian got some joint gifts, such as Rock Band for the Playstation (unbelieveable game that we spent many hours playing as a family...Kirk eventually got kicked out of the band and was replaced by Julian's friend Tommy) and a 6-in-1 game set, which includes chess, checkers, dominoes and backgammon. I received snowboarding boots, new ski pants, and a ring from Tiffany's. And finally, Poydras got lots of treats, bones and a stuffed chew toy that he absolutely loves. We throw it and he'll go fetch it and bring it back to us.

My parents came over for Christmas lunch/dinner since we had already spent Christmas Eve Eve(the 23rd) with Kirk's family. It was really just a laid back day and very enjoyable with lots of yummy food!!

Christmas Eve

Morgan and I
We got stinkin' socks!!

Julian being goofy before bedtime

Christmas Eve was really nice. I had work in the morning, but then we all went to Christmas Mass with my parents and sister. Afterwards, Kirk, Morgan, Julian and I headed to Macaroni Grille for a yummy dinner and then went home to get ready for Christmas to arrive. We are each allowed to open one gift on Christmas Eve, but it can't be any of the big gifts. Julian got a game for his Wii, Kirk got some shirts and Morgan and I got some ski socks. We were jokingly saying that all we got was some stinkin' socks!!

Julian Arrives in Time for Christmas

Sitting at the newsdesk in the WLAE studio
The Rain Forest Exhibit

Julian got into town on December 19th stayed with us until January 3rd. As usual, he had tons of fun with his friends and made his usual stop at the Aquarium. What's up with that long hair?? He told us he had just gotten his hair cut a few days before he arrived.

Guess Who's Having a Baby...

Emily and Jason!!!!!

Congrats to my cousin Emily and her husband Jason!! We can't wait to meet baby Boyet!

Birthday Party Time

The biggest slide in Mandeville
The girls hanging out
It's Katie!
Present time, present time, open a present and see what's inside

Mere decided to take a turn on the slide
Is that cake big enough?

Morgan and I sliding
The tent from Grammy and Grampy

This year Morgan wanted a party at the house. I had sworn off house parties since her 5th birthday party, but somehow she talked Kirk into having it at home. She wanted this huge inflatable slide, but of course the girls barely even used it. A lot of her friends came, along with family, and we had a great day with the slide and Kirk's barbecue. Somehow Mo also talked us into having all the girls spend the night. They were supposed to sleep in the tent that Grammy and Grampy bought, but after finally getting them settled in there, one girl mentioned something about a spider, so all 7 girls came back inside. I finally got them re-settled at about 1 a.m. and crawled into bed myself.

Time to Decorate the Tree

Putting the star on the top of the tree
Morgan and I decorating
Almost done
Our beautiful tree from outside

Jonas Brothers Concert

Finally almost inside House of Blues!!
We're in, we're upstairs and way in the back, and we're waiting for the concert
Souvenir time
Morgan's view from my shoulders

A more zoomed in view from my shoulders
A picture of Morgan ON my shoulders

Having fun at the concert
It's over...and we can finally see the stage!

As part of Morgan's birthday present, I took her to see the Jonas Brothers at House of Blues. I admit I had never even heard of them, but apparently they are popular with the tween crowd and became famous through Disney Channel. My old boss was able to help me score some tix to the sold-out show and Morgan was so excited about it. The only problem was that we could not see a thing other than what was playing on the big screen. It was general admission and completely packed. I felt bad she couldn't see, so I brought back my skills from my old cheerleading days and let Mo get on my shoulders. Let's just say my back was killing me after that. I don't know how I used to do that in High School.