Christmas Letter 2006

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Beautiful...

Maddie and I were playing around taking pictures the other day, and some of hers were absolutely beautiful. Thought I would share the beauty!















Boy are we blessed - and in trouble!

Honesty rewarded

So, I am in my last week of school for the year. I had my last Anatomy & Physiology class today before our final on Thursday. Our professor is amazing. He is a retired cow Veterinarian who decided to retire, go into nursing at 50 y.o., then ended up becoming a community college teacher. Go figure. Regardless, he is intelligent and SO fun to listen to. I suppose if we have to listen to a lecture for two hours a day it should be funny at the very least, right.

Well, he is notorious for being extremely late with returning our tests and assignments to us. Sometimes it is WEEKS later that we actually find out our grade. So we wait with bated breath to find out our test results. Well, today was one of those days. At the beginning of class, I received my muscle anatomy test results. I was thrilled to see I received a 94%. Well, that is what the paper said anyway.

Upon showing a classmate who asked what I got, he quickly deduced the calculation of my grade was incorrect, and I had been "given" ten extra points. So instead of a 94% grade, my ACTUAL grade was 84% - huge difference. You can imagine my disappointment. You can also imagine the inner turmoil that ensued the entire two hours of class. I don't really remember what he lectured on today because I was so caught up with my struggle of whether to tell my professor about the error.

The inner conversation went something like:

"It's his fault. He did the math, not me. Besides, he already recorded the grades... what's the big deal?"

"Well, the big deal is that's not honest. They aren't your points. Yes, he made a mistake, but you can't have what's not yours. If a cashier gave you more money than you were supposed to get, you'd give it back, right? Same thing - they aren't your points, give them back."


And back and forth and back and forth.... for the entire class. Finally I realized the good side was right, and I needed to be honest. Yes it was his mistake, but they weren't my points to keep. Bummer.

So after the class was over, I went up front and looked him in the eye. "As much as I hate to tell you this, you made a mistake in your math and subtracted 10 instead of 20."

"I did, huh?" he said.

"Yep"

"Well," he smiled, "it is my policy that if I screw it up and it's in your favor, you keep the points."

"No freakin' way."

"Yes, it is. It's my mistake, you keep 'em."

Wow... I don't even know what to say to that but thank you, Doc. Erickson.

I am so glad I listened to my conscience. I know it would have eaten me alive. I certainly didn't expect him to give me the points, but I can't say I'm not happy about keeping them! So, kids... let this be a lesson: honesty is rewarding - even if it is only for piece of mind.

Blogging? New to me...

I have never been a big writer. But I love keeping in touch with old friends and family I don't get to see very often, if ever. So this will have to be the next best thing! I will post every once in a while of the "goings on" of the Norris fam.

For now, life is busy. I am finishing another class next week (5 down, 1 to go), and will enjoy a much needed winter break. Going back to work has been quite a challenge. It's only a few nights a week, but it's a lot of work and time away from the family.

Maddie is growing like crazy! She looks forward to preschool three times a week, and her imagination is huge. She loves to play dress up, she lines her "little ponies" up to watch tv or listen to her talk, and she thought all the snow we had last week was the best present ever!

Taylor is getting more "boy" every day. He knows what he wants and doesn't want, loves playing with his trains and listens to music in his room whenever he can. He likes to sit on our lap and spell out his name on his magnadoodle. He is really smart and loves to do his ABCs and 123s. Choo Choo Soul and Little Einsteins are his favorite cartoons, and Charlie Brown Christmas will be in our DVD player until Dec. 26th! Check out some of the great snapshots of him this summer!

Rick is very busy! Between working at the church and playing in his band, KALUS, he doesn't have a lot of free time on his hands. Being the lead singer of the band has been a big change from sitting behind the drums. He is looking forward to a week long sabbatical in a couple weeks. Time away that is MUCH needed!

We love to keep up with everyone, so please feel free to write or comment. Check back often - I will do my best to keep up. We pray you are doing well and are looking forward to enjoying this wonderful Christmas season. Remember the Reason we celebrate! God Bless.

First time doing this!

This is just a test of the Norri system!

I am new to the blogging world and this is the first post. Here are some cute pics of the kids at Halloween this year.

Maddie was "Genevieve" from Choo Choo Soul, and Taylor was the Conductor from Choo Choo Soul. Don't they make a great pair! (Yeah, Taylor wasn't too thrilled, as you can tell!)