El fin de 2009...

Well, another year is coming to a close, and we have just returned from a visit to New York and Indiana surrounded by holiday lights, Christmas traditions and family and friends. It was nice to have a white Christmas, and the kids enjoyed snowball fights, ice-skating, sledding and much needed mugs of hot cocoa...things you just don't get down in Texas!

As we look back on 2009, we feel blessed. That, in a nutshell, could be our holiday letter--not because this year has been easy, but because we have realized this year, more than ever, that the most important thing is to be grateful. And so, like one of our favorite prayers, in which we give each day back to God (some with more haste and irritation than others!), we give this year back and we say gracias a dios.

We have now spent 1 1/2 years in Central Texas and have filled this year with a lot of exploring of the Lone Star State. Trips to Big Bend National Park, the Gulf Coast and Enchanted Rock have inspired our love of natural Texas, a state that has less public green space than most, but is nonetheless rich in biodiversity.Here are a few glimpses of the wild beauty of Texas--yes, Texas. No matter where we live, we love to stay connected to the natural world and help our children do the same.




I continue to teach as an Assistant Professor at the School of Social Work at Texas State University-San Marcos. I love teaching and am getting more adept at the research, grant writing and publishing aspects of academia as well. Still, my greatest accomplishment this year was being voted "Teacher of the Year" by the Organization of Student Social Workers. I think that's because I get my students out of the classroom and onto the ropes course! :) Here I am out on the ropes course "role-modeling" risk-taking (those of you who know me well, know I've been good at that my whole life!)


I miss direct practice social work in the community, and I am realizing how important it is in academia to use the resources I have to make a difference in the world. Recently, I have become active in a research project that is looking at ways of better supporting young people who have aged out of the foster care system succeed in college. I also continue my research on wilderness and adventure therapy and presented a paper at the 5th International Adventure Therapy Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland in September. Here I am at the top of Arthur's Seat, overlooking the city on a windy day!


Along with work, I've made sure to make time for things that feed my soul, like book club, live music in and around Austin, church, the Avon 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer and the all women's Sweet and Twisted Triathlon! Here I am at the finish line of the Avon Walk with Will and Mahalia! They were very proud of their mommy for walking 39 miles!


Billy has had a good year, adjusting to the highs and lows of the Texas public school system. He continues to challenge the status quo in a covert, but subversive way, challenging his students to find the deeper meaning in the literature they are reading and the world around them. He continues to play one part high school English teacher and one part cultural anthropologist, gathering unbelievable stories about his students who race stock cars or spend the summer at Christian girls hunting camp (as Dave Barry would say, "I am not making this up!"). In addition, to teaching English, Billy got to return to his experiential educator roots and is also teaching a leadership and team-building class this year and can be found gathering random objects from around the house, like tent poles and kids' toys, to play games with in his classroom!

Though he has been gone for a year, Billy was invited back to Denver this spring to speak at the graduation ceremony at his former high school (he and Ted Turner!). This, along with countless stories Billy shares with me in private, humble moments are a testimony to the kind of inspiring educator he is!(NOTE: This is the part of the letter Billy hates the most.)

Of course, all work and no play makes Billy a dull boy, so rest assured that this year has also been filled with ultimate frisbee summer league in Austin, bird watching, running and some creative writing endeavors as well. And after living with my mother (the whiskey drinker) for over 6 years, Billy has expanded his repertoire from cheap American shwill to the harder stuff. He can be seen here on our 10 year anniversary trip at the Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, KY, tasting some of Kentucky's finest in the bourbon capital of the world.


That's right...Billy and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this September with a trip to Kentucky. Random, to some; however, we went on a pilgrimage of sorts to the land of poet Wendell Berry and philosopher and theologian Thomas Merton. It was a magical trip, more like a couple's retreat (NOT like the movie), in which we looked back over our 10+ years together, celebrated and evaluated where we've been and where we want to go. We rediscovered, as Wendell Berry wrote, that "We are more together than we know, how else could we keep on discovering we are more together than we thought?" Here we are together at the Smith-Berry winery in Newcastle, KY.


Out of this union, the crazy little beings that we brought into this world, continue to amaze us and make us laugh. Mahalia is in 2nd grade and spent the year furiously wiggling her baby teeth loose, in order to hasten this important rite of passage.She loves school and is an adamant reader of Ivy and Bean and Judy Blume (don't worry-not the juicy adult stuff!). She claims her first love is science and is a bit of a naturalist, like her dad. Mahalia kept active this year in gymnastics and soccer, spanish classes, school plays and Brownies (yes, we'll be hitting you up for GS cookies very soon!). She also fell in love with surfing during our time on the Gulf coast! (Yes, she's a bit of a risk-taker, like her mom!)

Will, who we still refer to as Dubs, also had a busy year. He played soccer early on Saturday mornings too (did I mention I am not cut out to be a soccer mom?!), and he continued in his second year of pee wee hoops. Fortunately, his understanding of the flow of the game has improved to the point where we no longer need to yell "the other basket" at the top of our lungs. Will is in pre-K and will join his sister at our neighborhood public school next year. He is not quite as keen on school as Mahalia and would rather be running around with his light saber and Captain Rex helmet or riding his scooter in the back alley. Though not quite the risk taker his sister is, Will approaches things with both caution and tenacity, yet refuses to be outdone by Mahalia! He just learned how to ride his bike without training wheels and is feeling very proud of himself!

2009 has been filled with many other highs and lows. We had a wonderful family visit for Easter, took a special family trip to Colorado over the summer, and visited the Ozarks for Billy's 35th birthday. We were blessed with the birth of our niece, Najla Elena, but we were saddened by the loss of Billy' grandfather, Bill Lorenzo, and my grandmother, Jane Lynn. They were both blessed to live long, full lives and died surrounded by the love and respect of family and friends. Yet, life goes on...quite literally for us, as this fall also brought the surprise blessing of news that we are pregnant (oh, God, does this mean more youth soccer?!) with our third child, due July 5 (to be born on Texas soil-yeeeehah!)


As this news of our lives reaches you all, we hope it finds you healthy and happy, full of joy and wonder, and most of all grateful, as we are for the blessings in life that are so easy to take for granted. The world is a big place, but as we start 2010, let's celebrate the ways we are connected to one another. As Mahalia said about her new little brother or sister: "That baby is so lucky to be born into this big, beautiful world." Out of the mouth of babes... It's true. Remember: ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7D2g5v-Sg

2008

Nollag Shona! (That’s Happy Christmas in Gaelic!)

Happy Hanukah!

Season’s Greetings of Light and Love!

If we told you that it just doesn’t feel like Christmas down here in Texas, you might ask, “What the heck are you doing in Texas?!” That would be an astute question, one we often ask ourselves, actually. But, nonetheless, we find ourselves in the Lone Star State, doing our part to turn this red state blue (no offense to our more conservative friends).

I don’t mean to start off a holiday letter talking about politics, but when we look back on this year, we realize how much politics and the global situation has affected our lives. In 2008, we participated in our first Democratic Caucus in Denver. It was so moving to sit in a circle of people from all walks of life in the middle of an elementary school gymnasium, listening to their stories and ideas. It made me aware of how privileged we are in this country to freely participate in the political process. During our precinct caucus, I was elected to serve as a delegate at the County level; however, we moved to Texas before the national convention. Still, each of these moments, along with hearing President-elect Obama speak at the University of Denver, made us feel apart of something larger than ourselves.

While working for change on a political level, Billy and I were trying to figure out our own lives as well. I kept working as the Clinical Director at Byrne Urban Scholars, and was also teaching at DU, sending out CVs and flying to several different universities for interviews. While I had hoped to stay in Denver to teach, I realized that I was ready to take the leap into academia and was willing to move in order to do so. Thankfully, Billy, the kids and my mom were game, so I took a job as an Assistant Professor at Texas State University School of Social Work. Before starting my fall semester, however, I was invited to present a 2-day workshop on wilderness therapy with adolescents in Taiwan. I spent over a week there, and got to explore Taipei, one of the most beautiful cities on the planet, as well as go river-trekking (hiking UP the river and water falls!) with Outward Bound Taiwan! Now, I have a semester under my belt in academia, and I absolutely love it. I think I’m doing a good job, other than when I had to excuse myself from class when my new nose ring started bleeding! (Yes, I got my nose pierced when I went to a conference out in Portland, OR (see photo)—that city will make you do crazy things!) From then on, I started signing my emails, Dr. Nose Ring, instead of Dr. Norton. That should help with tenure.



Billy continued his teaching at RMSEL, and led his last Copper Canyon trip in March. His students were furious with me when they found out we were leaving Denver because of my job, and even though 21 high school students helped us load up our moving truck, looking back I wonder if they weren’t actually trying to sabotage the whole thing! Now, Billy is teaching sophomore English at Jack C. Hays High School one mile from our house in Kyle, Texas. The school is a big Texas public high school—think Friday Night Lights! It’s not the ideal system for this progressive educator, but he continues to touch the lives of many young people and wields his Frisbee deftly wherever he can! For Christmas, Gadie bought Billy a pair of boots at the Goodwill, no doubt, trying to help him fit in here in Texas. In true Billy fashion, he lovingly mocked this gift, saying something about hell freezing over.



For those of you who have been lucky enough to help us move, you know that we always have more stuff than we think we do--and probably more stuff than we need. And so moving has been a chance to let go of some of our material items, including our first home. Selling a house in the midst of the housing bust was not fun, and we are still left reeling from it a bit, but are trying to use the experience as a chance to simplify and clarify our values around money and property. Oh, joy.

How have Mahalia, Will, Gadie and Cha Cha weathered the transition? They spent their last days in Denver, swimming at the pool, hiking at the reservoir, marching their bikes in the neighborhood 4th of July parade (see photo!).



Mahalia finished Kindergarten and entered 1st grade at our new neighborhood elementary school. She has to say the Pledge of Allegiance every day twice—once to America and once to Texas. I am not making this up. I told her that was “ridiculous,” and she got very upset with me. Hopefully, she didn’t pass that on to her teacher. Despite these strange Texas ways, we really like the school and her teacher, and it’s very close to our house. Billy walks her two blocks to school every day, lugging her big pink Barbie backpack and Tinkerbelle lunchbox! Don’t worry; she still loves bugs and dirt! As a matter of fact, for Christmas Daddy got her a field guide to good and bad garden bugs of Texas—let me tell you, there’s a lot of creatures that bite here! Mahalia continues to do her gymnastics and was recently moved up to the intermediate class. She’s the kid that can climb that rope that hangs from the ceiling three times in a row. (I was never that kid.) She is also quite the budding artist, so we started a blog of her art which you can view at www.mahaliasol.blogspot.com.

Will is 4 now, and goes to pre-school at Wonderland School (yes, we just chose it for the name!). He has amazing gross motor skills, especially when it comes to whacking stuff. He now shows promise hitting a t-ball, shooting hoops, golfing, and just got a tennis racket for Christmas! Basically, he just really likes hitting things. He is also obsessed with light sabers, swords and pirates and superheroes in general. This fascination with good and evil, right and wrong does not always translate into good behavior. I have found myself asking ridiculous questions like, “Would Superman throw a tantrum about that?!” For better or worse, parenting is total improv. Will recently had his Christmas concert and sang with gusto. Gadie dressed him up for his photo shoot (see photo).



Gadie (my mom) is LOVING Texas. She transferred to our local Home Depot, where she continues her job as a kitchen designer. She has reconnected with some old friends here, and is getting back into riding horses. She recently signed up for a Cowgirl Weekend, which involves a cowgirl contest complete with barrel racing, calf-roping, etc. I made sure her health insurance is up to date. Gadie still helps with the kids and generally makes all of our lives easier! I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again—everyone needs a Gadie!

Cha Cha doesn't like the fact that she now has to contend with red ants in the yard, fleas and ticks and HOT weather; however, she loves Texas rivers, and even got to enjoy a flurry of snow the other night!

Life has been full of transition, and sometimes of sadness this year. We lost several people who are dear to us, including my Uncle Charlie, and the pastor of our former church in Denver. These losses make life harder, but also remind us of how sweet and fragile it all is.

So you can see, dear reader, that we have much to be thankful for, and in the midst of the hard times, life is still good. We find home in each other, in the Texas Hill Country, and in our friendships with all of you. No matter where you find yourself this holiday season, please do two things: (1) read “The Tale of Despereaux” (we just finished reading it together as a family); and (2) practice seeking the Light in yourself and others. Because as Roscuro, the misguided rat in the story, said “the meaning of life is light.”

2007

Happy New Year! We just returned from spending two weeks with our family in NY for Christmas. We love NYC at Christmastime, and we enjoyed visiting the Museum of Natural History, eating hot dogs and pretzels in Central Park, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge and most of all, spending time with family and friends!

Last year at this time, we were blanketed with tons of snow out here in Denver! The snow brought everyone in the neighborhood together and made for some epic snowball fights! It also provided lots of mountain fun, and afforded Mahalia a chance to hit the slopes for the first time!

Winter was a busy time in the Norton household…Billy traveled back down for his second trip to Copper Canyon in Mexico with his RMSEL students. I made time for my job as a case manager for the Byrne Foundation (now named Byrne Urban Scholars), and continued to teach as an adjunct faculty member at DU. I also spent more time in Prescott, Arizona, serving as a Graduate Advisor for Prescott College. Billy and I also spent several days in Eldorado Canyon getting recertified as Wilderness First Responders.

Mainly, I was running around like a crazy person trying to finish my PhD, which I did! I graduated on Mother’s Day weekend in Chicago from Loyola University. The whole family road-tripped there, and had a wonderful reunion with friends and family. At one point in my doc program, Mahalia and Will said, “Mommy, will you ever be done with school?!”

After having a crazy winter and spring, summer couldn’t have come at a better time. Billy, the kids and I took the most amazing road trip to Montana and Idaho (Are you noticing a travel theme here? Thank God, for portable DVD players and Disney movies!). In July, Billy instructed an OB course for Expeditionary Learning teachers from all over the country. He paddled down the Missouri River, through the “breaks,” retracing pieces of Lewis and Clark’s trip. In August, I was invited to go to Croatia to assist Outward Bound Croatia in getting their program with high risk youth up and running. It was a life-changing experience, and a wonderful way to celebrate my 10 year anniversary working for OB. It made me realize how small and precious our world is. I fell in love with Croatia and it’s people, and learned the best curses in the world, which for the sake of not going straight to hell, will NOT be mentioned in this holiday letter.

Mahalia and Will are growing up so fast (did I just say that?!) and it is amazing to watch them learn, laugh and make their way in this world. Mahalia is in kindergarten, learning to read and write. A lover of details, she loves homework and can tell you exactly who is on green, yellow or red light in her class. She absolutely loves art--drawing, painting, you name it, and says she wants to be an artist when she grows up. This has led to discussions regarding the difference between a hobby and a career, to which she replied, “No, I want to do art for my JOB!”(I think my parents may have had the same talk with me about social work!) When she’s not drawing princesses, she is busy with soccer, gymnastics, and the church choir. She recently played an angel (bit part, if I’ve ever seen one!) in the church Christmas pageant. She hardly sang, but she still made her Gadie proud!

Will is in preschool, and whenever I ask him what he did in school on a given day, he breaks into a huge grin and says, “I PLAYED.” We should all be so lucky! He is still our “uncarved block” in many ways, but now he is so verbal and his mouth can’t keep up with his brain (I don’t know where he gets that!). He loves his big sister and his dog (Cha Cha), and he is never without a ball in his hands. He is starting a Little Nuggets Jr. Hoopsters basketball league in January, which should be highly entertaining. Look, if he’s going to play in the NBA, he’s gotta start early! I think he’s ready…don’t worry, though he’s wearing Carolina gear, he is fiercely loyal to the Jayhawks!

Billy and I have done our best to raise good, Colorado children thus far. We expose them to mountain hikes and walks through the tall prairie grass at the nearby reservoir. We’ve taken them to the stock show, skiing, to Rockies baseball games, and to the annual Rockygrass bluegrass festival.

After our summer of adventures, fall was highlighted by the birth of our nephew, Sammy, bringing all of so much joy. Billy and I also did our first triathlon, and had a ball. This fall has been the first time we’ve contemplated leaving these parts, as I am looking for tenure-track jobs in social work all over the country. Don’t really want to leave all of this behind, but we’ll see what happens…

As I reflect on our year, I am reminded of how blessed our lives have been. It’s felt chaotic and stressful at times managing work, school and a family, but through it all, we continue to enjoy life’s crazy adventures. While there have been many things we are grateful for this year, we have also had several friends and family members experience personal difficulties or tragedy. It has been a wake-up call to the fragility of life, and, yet, we have been so inspired by the courage and faith of so many of you (YOU know who you are!).

In these uncertain times, when war continues to rage on, and a presidential election looms on the horizon, many people feel the need to pick between optimism and pessimism. However, we aspire to be like Cornell West, who said, “I’m a blues man. The categories of optimism and pessimism don’t exist. I’m a prisoner of hope.” What a thing to be held captive by!

May this New Year be a time filled with joy, peace, and most of all HOPE.

Love, Christine, Billy, Mahalia, Will (Gadie & Cha Cha too!)

2006

Happy Holidays Everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy New Year to all of you!

I still remember when 2006 began…Billy and I woke up in the wee morning hours, hung over from New Year’s Eve, and walked down the still dark, cold streets of Dublin, Ireland to a 7:30am mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. As we stumbled to church, drunken Irishmen stumbled home from the bars. What were we thinking?!

After spending a week in Ireland, Billy and I headed back home to Colorado via New York and Indiana to see family. January was filled with Billy’s travels with his students from RMSEL down to the Rio Grande and Copper Canyon in Mexico. He brought home more rocks, and new recipes for homemade refried beans and enchiladas.

While plugging away at my dissertation and teaching, I continued my work with the Byrne Foundation, working to try and undo some of the educational inequalities in the Denver inner-city area. We experienced a historic time in Denver with large scale immigration rights protests, many of which were attended by my clients and families. While not an easy issue, we were amazed to be surrounded by people taking to the streets for a cause they believe in.

The spring and summer brought out the full enjoyment of living in Colorado: skiing, skiing and more skiing! My dad came out and we got a cabin at Vail and Billy’s sisters and their husbands came out for a sibling ski weekend at Breckenridge, where I somehow found myself singing John Cougar’s “Little Pink Houses” backed up by an 80s metal live karaoke band. Yeah, bet you’re sad you missed that one.

As summer rolled around, I did some more training for Outward Bound, this time up in Montana, and Billy, the kids and I made our annual trip up to the Northwoods of Minnesota. We also attended a western themed costume wedding of some Outward Bound friends up in Walden, Colorado. Think gentleman and floozy. The red boa made all the difference. We took in some good bluegrass at the Rockygrass Festival in Lyons, Colorado where we heard another good OB friend, Robert Greer, and his band Town Mountain, open the festival. We sat in the creek, drank cold Skinny Dip (New Belgium Brewery’s delicious summer ale) and heard a very young at heart Earl Scruggs tear it up on the banjo. May we all live that fully until we die!

This summer we added a new member to our family, Muchacha, a black lab puppy. Needless to say, Mahalia picked her out and named her. While she used to knock Dubs over and chew on his neck, the roles are now reversed. She is a terror on the leash and destroys anything she can get her teeth on, but since she chews up my mom’s cigarettes and bit the head off of Mahalia’s Barbie, we don’t think she’s all bad, and may even be highly intelligent.

November brought more travels… to a Northwood’s wedding on the shores of Lake Superior for some more Outward Bound friends, and to Indiana for a Thanksgiving family reunion to celebrate the 90th birthdays of both of my grandparents. Both were amazing times of celebrating love, friends and family!

Surprisingly, December also brought travels to New York City, a gift from my sister and brother in-laws! New York at Christmastime is the best, and we got to spend more quality time with family, which is always special.

The kids have obviously been along on many of these adventures, and take to travel and new experiences with gusto. Mahalia is in pre-school, totally into princesses and barbies and all things girly, yet still a lover of bugs and dirt and all things outdoors. She takes gymnastics and spent endless hours at our community pool this summer. She is so funny and verbal, and keeps us on our toes for sure! Dubs is two now and is so expressive himself. Their love-hate relationship is fueled by her flair for the dramatic and his antagonistic tendencies…a brilliant combo! He loves dressing up in Mahalia’s Tinkerbelle dress and trying to commandeer her dolls. He is also obsessed with balls, and currently sleeps with a regulation sized football, basketball and volleyball in his crib with him. So you can see, both of our kids are balanced in all the right ways! He is in pre-school one day a week, and is learning the difference between red and blue (though rather unsuccessfully).

As I write this letter, the streets in our neighborhood are quiet, and the Christmas tree lights fill our house with such peace. I can hardly believe that we are a world at war, and that so many people are suffering right now. For some reason, I count my blessings even more this year. Life seems so precious and fragile, relationships come and go, but in the end, I truly believe that every act of kindness is also an act of hope. Somehow it symbolizes that we, as a human community, haven’t quite given up on each other. I hope you are reminded of that this holiday season, as you drive through your neighborhoods and see the decorative lights, when you hear a carol that makes your heart leap, or when you receive a card from a loved one far away. These are the miracles of the season…yes, even the cheesy, over-indulgent holiday letters of those blathering on about the insignificant aspects of their lives!

All of our love to you and yours in this season of emergent Light…

Billy, Christine, Mahalia and Will

P.S. For all those of you who have been keeping track, YES, it was Billy’s turn to write the holiday letter, but he’s upstairs grading papers, so you’re stuck with the velveeta. Hasta el ano que viene.

2005

Happy Holidays everyone! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Happy New Year to all! As we do each year, it’s time to send our family and friends the annual “holiday letter,” both dreaded and anticipated in the Norton household, we opt to take turns. This year, it is my turn (Christine), so expect more sap, less sarcasm and an orderly flow!

2005 started off with adjusting to two little monkeys, instead of one. “Dubs,” as we have grown to call him (nothing like giving your infant a fraternity beer drinking name!) entered our lives just before Christmas, and made his presence known through late night feedings for most of the winter.

During this time, Billy decided to head off to Mexico with his school (don’t worry-he came back). Working for an ELOB (Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound) school, he took several different trips this year: the Rio Grande, Great Sand Dunes National Park, backpacking in Utah. While I missed him when he was gone, he’d always return with a smile on his face, rocks in his pockets, stories of new birds he saw, and tales of his eccentric students. As you can tell, he continues to love the niche he has found in this progressive, experiential learning community, and I am constantly amazed at the hours of planning, grading, and personal contact with students that he puts in.

Billy spent more time in the wilderness this year instructing a parent-child course for Outward Bound up in Northern Minnesota. This was his 5th year working for OB, as a wilderness instructor, and he was honored for this commitment. While he wasn’t grading papers or lesson planning this year, Billy was taking our kids to the reservoir to feed the birds, walk through the reeds and soak in the sun. I got him out on the slopes a few times, but I still think he prefers his games of ultimate Frisbee or a long, solo run. One thing’s for sure, he has taken to Colorado and the West in general, full of its trails and peaks and outdoor adventures.

I feel the same way, though there’s never enough time to explore it all. I was happy to get out and do a backpacking trip this summer with some of the kids I work with. It was the first time Billy and I got to work together with kids that aren’t are own. We had a great time, and at the end of the trip, we were even happier to go home to our own kids!

My year has been filled with a lot of professional challenges and opportunities, as well as the personal joys and despair of parenting! Billy teases me because I literally have four part-time jobs now. I am still a case manager/counselor for the Byrne Foundation (www.byrnefoundation.org), which gives me direct contact with challenging teenagers WHICH I LOVE! I taught Social Work again at DU, and I also teach for Naropa University in Boulder and am a graduate advisor for Prescott College in Arizona. I advise several students in the adventure-based psychotherapy program, and they fly me down four times a year for weekend colloquiums. I traveled there in February, August and November and have fallen in love with the place and my students! In the midst of my forays into academia, I have presented at several conferences and trainings on the topic of wilderness therapy and adolescent development and continue to work on my dissertation.

Billy, my mom and the kids keep me sane (though they also drive me insane too!), and hikes, skiing, tubing down Boulder Creek, HOT yoga, book club, ESPRESSO, and good friends and family all help a lot too! I think I do all the work I do because I truly love it ALL. I am being prayerful about God’s plan and purpose in it all, and try and stay mindful. A la Thich Nhat Hanh.

Let me tell you, our children have that mindfulness thing down to an art. Mahalia (who is 3 now!) can be IN THE MOMENT more than anyone I know. The joys and sorrows of such small things cause the greatest reaction in her. To say that she is a little “me” is not fair to her, because Kahlil Gibran was right. She came through me, but she is not from me, and every day I have to remind myself that she belongs to God. This helps me let go…ok, try to let go. For those of you who have met Mahalia, you know that she is effervescent, verbal, stubborn, in the limelight, funny, kind and incredibly sensitive. She loves to dance, watch cartoons, and make snow angels. She talks to plants and digs for grubs in the old stump out back in one moment, and puts on make-up in front of the bathroom mirror the next. She is learning to read and count and is FINALLY potty trained. (That was not fun…can you say anal retentive?!) Anyhoo, I digress. This kid is FUN, and it's such a kick to watch her grow and wonder (yes, that’s the perfect word!) what she’ll grow up to be/do. I already know WHO she’ll be, because she’s 100% herself already, if that makes sense.

Dubs, who is 1, is a funny little soul as well. He has lots of mismatched teeth, and looks like a fat, happy jackolantern. He’s VERY expressive, and has four words thus far. Mama was his first word, followed by ball, up and dada. Some guys could get through life on those words alone, but I think he’ll add a few in the years to come. Dubs likes to crawl and laugh and play with his sister. She gives him raspberries on his tummy and he pulls her hair and tries to bite her (he actually does this to all of us and is really akin to having a puppy at this point). The sibling love/hate relationship begins early on! Watching them interact is such a joyful experience and a constant miracle. Sometimes we’re even smart enough not to take it all for granted.

Gadie, my mom, still lives with us, and is the best nanny and friend to our children you could ask for! They learn so much from her, and we don’t know what we’d do without her. She is a kitchen designer at Home Depot, and has also become a mentor for a youth in the program I work for…I actually signed up all of us, so we all mentor kids in the Denver community which has been a really cool experience. There’s so much going on in the world today that it feels empowering to do something local. Sigh.

As we send this letter out to you all, we hope you will receive with it our love and many blessings. We would love to have visitors and have the space for it! Call, email, and get in touch!

And consider the words of Walt Whitman this holy-day season:

“Every hour of light and dark is a miracle. Every cubic inch
of space is a miracle. Every square yard of the surface of the
earth is spread with the same, every foot of the interior swarms
with the same.”

Miracles are all around you. Look.

XXOO

Billy, Christine, Mahalia and Will Norton

2004

If I were one of my less descriptive students I would simply say, “This year we did a lot of stuff.” And it’s true, we did. And, if you look at the picture, you can see the best thing we did all year. Baby Will as born Dec 14, a week later than anticipated, but right on time for Christmas. In addition to creating another William Norton (the sixth in a row, for those keeping count), we both quit our jobs, packed up our stuff (no point in going into what that was; suffice it to say it was a lot of stuff), and left Chicago for Denver. I am teaching in an Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound School, a public school that embraces the philosophies and practices of Outward Bound. Christine taught a graduate social work class at D.U. and works part time for a youth foundation.

I read the first draft of the letter to Christine, and she brought it to my attention that this letter is not chronological, nor does it have enough “feelings” in it. In an effort to change that, I will tell you that Christine and I had several significant milestones and wonderful trips:

January through April, we were deep into our search for jobs and homes. We visited N.Y. and L. A. to see my family, and came out to Denver in April to interview for jobs. The job hunt was successful, but we were not able to find our house until July.

In May, Christine visited the Salesmanship Club Youth Camp just before it shut its doors. Salesmanship is the place where she cut her teeth working with naughty youth; in fact, she nearly had several of her teeth knocked out while working there, but that is a story for another time. She was sad to see it close, but was able to reconnect with many wonderful old friends. Many tears were shed.

In June, she completed her fourth and final year at St Ignatius, and the freshmen she came in with graduated. There was a sense of fulfillment and completion, watching kids she had worked with so closely graduate from one of the top schools in the city.

In July, we both went up to Voyageur Outward Bound in Ely. We were a bit too pregnant to work any courses, at least Christine was. I participated in a Canoe Marathon to raise money for the school. More significantly, Christine completed her coursework and comprehensive exams for her doctorate in social work and is now “all but dissertation.” We also found a house, which was fortunate, because we were planning on moving August 1st with or without a house.

We left Chicago in August, not without some challenge. As we were packing our 25 ft. truck, we realized we had about 35 feet of stuff to pack. We managed to hunt down a truck in Indiana, and were able to escape Chicago leaving only a “Hokey Pokey Elmo” doll. We don’t miss the jobs much, or the soot from Elston Street, or even the Elmo doll (sorry Deb), but we miss our friends and the comfort of living in a city we knew inside and out. We also traded Stanley’s, our local market, for a Wal-Mart, hardly an upgrade. Fortunately, Pat, or Gadie as she is known to Mahalia, moved with us. We all live together and Pat and Christine take turns with the kids. We don’t know what we’d do without her.

We are still getting to know our way around Denver. We haven’t spent much time in the mountains yet, but we’re glad to know they’re there. We bought a house with a yard; the bunnies, coyotes, and prairie dogs we’ve seen are a pleasant change from the rats we shared our old alley with. Yes, we live on a cul de sac, yes we now own a lawn mower, and yes, I even mowed the lawn once. We are happy with our new home. Mahalia is enamored with her new pink room, and she and I have done a lot of exploring at the state park near the house. We have also tried looking around for a church where we could feel at home. We went to three churches in three weeks, ending with the Unitarian Universalist church, where Mahalia puked in the day care room; needless to say, we are still searching. As we do so, the days get longer and we continue to feel blessed in every aspect of our lives. We wish the same for all of you.

Merry Christmas.

2003

Season’s Greetings

Well, it’s that time again to update everyone on the going’s on of the Norton family…we hope that you and yours are safe and well and avoiding that nasty flu bug. We have had quite an amazing year filled with work, play, travels, but most importantly watching our little monkey, I mean daughter, grow! She is fourteen months old now, with lots of strawberry red hair, pierced ears, walking and talking, laughing and crying, and in general being the world’s cutest baby. I know, you’re hoping this isn’t going to be one of those annoying holiday letters where the parents dote on their children, but c’mon, it’s our first! Her repertoire of words is extensive now, including ball, bug, boy, book, bird (yeah, we only have the letter “B” Lamaze book!), but she also says momma, dada, gaga, nene, and our favorite: panda. 

This year started off with a bit of a scare. My mom, who is Mahalia’s nanny, and lives above us in our apt. building, had to have emergency surgery. We all pulled together, and lots of family and friends pitched in to help watch Mahalia while my mom recovered. God is good and mom healed quickly…but I learned, it truly does take a village to raise a child. Having my mom sick made me realize even more how important she is to us. It has been such a gift to have her here in Chicago with us, seeing her interact with Mahalia, helping us in any way she can, and teaching Mahalia her first curse word!

Billy continued his work this year teaching high school in the Chicago Public system for a small school called Best Practice. He has taught freshmen English and reading and often comes home to regale us with entertaining quotes from his students’ papers. Not mocking mind you, simply pointing out some of the more creative spelling and grammar of today’s youth. I went back to work after my maternity leave part-time, still at the Jesuit high school doing social work. The part-time work has enabled me to keep plugging away at my PhD program in clinical social work, which at times seems like a colossal waste of time, and at other times seems like it will open a lot of doors for me in the future.

Our year was filled with travel… to Wisconsin for the xx ski ½ marathon, Indiana, New York, and DC to visit friends and family. When we were in NY in May, we gathered with family and friends for a Christian dedication, a ceremony in which we presented Mahalia to God and publicly named her godparents. We also did a dedication ceremony with my family earlier in the year, and felt that both gave us the opportunity to consider the more spiritual aspects of our lives together as a family.

In the summer, Billy and I both got back in the field briefly working for Outward Bound again, and in total, we were at base camp in the amazing Northwoods of Minnesota for a month. Afterwards, we decided we’d do something really crazy, so we flew from MN to Denver, rented a car and drove from Denver to LA and back over the course of three weeks. We bought this HUGE tent from Costco and stuck Mahalia in her pack-n-play in one “wing” of the tent. We weathered rain, lightning, heat, cold, visited 8 National Parks, but also treated ourselves to some cheap and air-conditioned hotel rooms, and a lovely B&B in Taos. We fell in love with the desert southwest and hold the trip as one of our most special memories. Mahalia handled traveling really well, sleeping in the car and in the tent pretty well. She mostly loved playing in the dirt, with rocks and sticks and flowers, and sitting in the Virgin River in Zion NP. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

As you can see, while summer in Chicago is certainly better than winter in Chicago, we choose to get the hell outta dodge and get some peace and perspective. We have certainly needed that this year, as we have been going NON-STOP. We went to two great weddings in September, had family visits in October for Mahalia’s one year party and Billy’s second marathon (!!), and then traveled to Vancouver and New York in November. Billy and I presented at a conference for experiential/outdoor education and therapy. We got to talk about the work we do for Outward Bound, and were really honored to do this and meet a lot of great people. Vancouver is also my new favorite city, and if George Bush gets elected again, I am thinking about becoming Canadian (although Mahalia would end up talking funny). Sorry to get political, but we are planning on being more active in this upcoming election season, and hope to see some positive political change in our blessed nation.

We have been attending a wonderful, socially active church and trying to be more prayerful and centered about our lives, which often means SLOWING DOWN, a tough task with a 1+ year old. Still, we have found this year of adventure to have put us deeply in touch with our gratitude…for family and friends, for God’s beautiful earth, for meaningful work and good health which enables us to do that work. We are constantly aware of and amazed by the amount of suffering in the world, and we hope to both enjoy the world and help save it!  Thank all of you for the gift you are in our lives…and yes, as I’m sure you figured out by now, Christine wrote this year’s holiday letter…far too sappy, far too long, and far too small of font to be from Billy.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy New Year.

We love you, Billy, Christine and Mahalia