Norah recently.

Norah had a great second semester of 4^th grade! It's fun to watch her grow in school, in the things she's learning like reading deeper books and talking about them, learning independence in homework/studying, more advanced math, and in writing reports/papers and learning editing and citing! Norah's year took a turn when her teacher was pregnant with twins, and it was high risk and she ended up leaving halfway through the semester due to pregnancy complications. Norah missed her and had a tough time when she left, but adjusted and finished strong. We are excited for summer to begin and for all the fun that brings.

Norah did winter rec basketball and did great! She didn't know a lot who did it this go around, but proud of her for getting out there, making some new friends, and trying her best. Norah did a great job singing and dancing at her 4^th grade music program in February about making good choices/life wisdom. We took a family trip to Destin, Florida in February and Grandpa, Grandma, and Aunt Kayla got to join as well. We really loved our time at the beach! We had a great time celebrating Easter with both sides of the family- the best reason to rejoice! Norah continued on with Sunday School, dance, and piano lessons through the rest of the year too. She did spring rec soccer and was on the blue team. Norah is a good soccer player and it was fun to cheer her on! We had a great time at Tulip Festival with family and friends and Norah did Dutch dancing in the parade! She just had her end of the year piano recital and enjoyed playing a song that had some fun triplets in it and sounded fancy! Her end of the year dance recital was a “dancing through the decades” theme and she danced to Imagine by John Lennon and Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Her dances were neat to watch! Norah participated in field day at school in the frisbee throw, long jump, 50m dash, and 100m dash. She got first place in her heat in the 100- go Norah! Norah did a big project about National Parks at school and had to to a lot of research about her park, which was Big Bend in Texas. She had to research about it, write a report, make a poster, dress like a park ranger, and give a speech about it. She did quite well!

Norah had strep in January, but after that had a super healthy winter and spring- thankful for that! We celebrated Lucy and Ellory turning 8 in February. On April 6, 2025, Norah lost her bottom left first bicuspid premolar. We said goodbye to Great Grandpa Schut on January 29, 2025. We miss him a lot, but look forward to seeing him in Heaven again one day and are very thankful he was a wonderful grandpa. Some of Norah's favorite things to do lately are read books, listen to music, do her American Girl doll's hair in different styles, build lego cities, and play school. We love you so much Norah! Watching you grow is a gift and you bring so much joy to us!

Norah recently.

Norah is in 4^th grade and is doing great! She has adjusted very well and this has been the best she has ever done with going to school/anxiety. She has a few great friends in her class this year. So proud of her and so happy she is growing and doing well!

She turned ten in October! We celebrated with family on both sides. For our family celebration, she chose to go ice skating and have Subway at the park. She had some friends over for a teal birthday party and they did paint by number canvases and made bracelets. We also had a special mom/daughter trip to Minneapolis for the Anne Wilson concert for her birthday- what a fun time! We met Heidi, Josie, and Savannah there too for the show and they had such fun together! At her 10 year wellness check, she was 4' 8.5” (79%). Very grateful for a healthy daughter! On November 7 she lost her first molar- her bottom right first bicuspid. Norah was Wonder Woman for Halloween. We said a sad earthly goodbye to Papa Van Etten on September 23, 2024, but look forward to seeing him again in Heaven someday! Norah had a 24 hour flu bug before Christmas- it was terrible but quick thankfully. So thankful that we got to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with both sides of the family. We got together with De Jongs in Orange City for Thanksgiving and Christmas and also were able to go to Des Moines with Schuts for both holidays too- so special!

This fall Norah did volleyball and enjoyed it! It was fun to watch her experience this for the first time. Lots of friends her age participated too, so it was nice they could do it together. She is doing piano this year too and getting better and better! She played “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” and “What Child Is This?” at the Christmas piano recital. She sang in the Christmas program at church too and did great! She volunteered for a speaking part and read a verse about light too. She's in 4^th grade Sunday School and loving her teacher and learning. She is taking some really sweet and meaningful notes about Jesus at church! She is doing a jazz/lyrical dance class too and is liking it. We had fall conferences and Norah got excellent grades and her teacher had positive things to say about her- way to go Norah!

Norah is becoming more responsible and growing into a very lovely young woman! So proud of who she is and to be her mom! She is smart, creative, caring, and beautiful inside and out! She loves little kids and is so good with her young cousins. She loves to listen to music and write stories. She enjoys coloring, playing outside, playmobil sets, making jewelry, and making scenes or cities with dolls and legos. Norah, you are a true gift to us and we are so thankful for a decade of loving you! We pray His love for you would continue to grow in your heart!

Norah recently.

It's past time for another update, but Norah is growing up and doing great! We are so thankful for the gift of being her parents. Norah finished up third grade well! She did winter rec basketball and spring rec soccer and did well with both of those. It will be interesting to see what activities are her favorite as she gets older. We had a great time as a family at Great Wolf Lodge in January for their big Christmas gift. Norah got influenza in February and was super sick for a few days unfortunately. Norah got great remarks at conferences and we are thankful for her growth at school. She also continued on with Sunday School, tap/jazz dance class, and piano lessons. She had an end of the year piano recital and dance recital and it was fun to watch her in both of those and see her progress. Norah had a third grade music program at school and a class play at the end of the year too. On April 24, Norah had another set of tubes and her tonsils out, so that was a big deal for her! She was nervous about it but overall handled it pretty well, and the recovery wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. Of course it wasn't fun for her, but she did better at managing the pain than I was expecting and we are glad it's over for her! I can tell it's helping already with ear/throat issues. So glad for access to good medical care! In the spring, we got to spend Easter in Des Moines and Omaha with family and had a wonderful time at Tulip Festival too! Norah got to participate in Dutch dancing.

We have been busy over the summer- grateful for the opportunity to participate in lots of things and take some trips! We got to take a couple quick trips to Des Moines for family time and went to Omaha for the 4^th of July too. We went to Clear Lake for a few days in July with the Schuts and enjoyed lots of lake time. We went to Chicago with De Jongs for a long weekend in August and enjoyed Lake Michigan, Willis Tower, aquarium, and a super fun highlight was the American Girl doll store! Norah got to do many fun things this summer. She did summer softball, swimming lessons, piano lessons, flag, a short dance camp and adventure camp at Oak Grove, and loved the craft class at the library.

Norah is about to start 4^th grade! She is having some anxieties about starting again, like she has every year so far, but we are praying about it over her and together and trying to speak truth and Scripture together. She found out that she will have a couple friends in her class and that is helping her feel more excited. She is smart and lovely and she will take some time to adjust, but will do great! She is wearing XL/12-14 clothes and has even gotten a few XS things from the women's section! She is jumping up to a 4 shoe for the school year. We did one on one dates for back to school shopping and it was fun to see her pick out clothes she liked. She will start a jazz and lyrical dance class this year soon.

Norah loves little kids and says she wants to babysit when she gets a little older. She is a great older cousin and loves well many young kids in our church and neighborhood. Norah loves to listen to music, make up dances, write stories, ride bike, make bracelets/crafts, and play with figurines like Lil Woodzeez or playmobil sets. The pool has been a favorite summer activity by all. Norah, loving you is a joy and we pray that His love would become more and more real in your heart as you get older and that you would shine for Him! We love you!