2011 Newsletter

Dear Family and Friends,

2011 has had its ups and downs. When it started we were still living in Lewisburg, WV. Sophie was 3 months old and couldn't do a whole lot besides sit there and look cute, which she still does very well by the way, she's just added a lot of other skills to her repertoire. Stewart was half way through his second year of medical school and serving as the Young Men President in our ward. Becky was enjoying the whole stay-at-home routine and serving as the secretary in the Relief Society at church. January through the first of April felt pretty routine. Stewart studied for tests, Becky kept things running smooth at the house, and Sophie grew and changed every day. In the early part of April things got very exciting very quickly. Stewart got very sick and spent four days in the hospital. He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Crohn's disease is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks the digestive track as if it were an infection. There is currently no cure, medications can help manage the disease, but that's all.

In May Becky and Sophie took a two week trip to Idaho to visit our families. This was Sophie's first chance to meet most of her aunts, uncles, cousin, and grandparents. They had a wonderful time out there, but we missed not being together as a family. Stewart took advantage of the alone time and studied for the first part of his board exam. In June Stewart got sick again and went to the emergency room. This time they knew the cause and knew there was not much they could do, so they sent him home with something for the pain and nausea. Two days later he took his big test. Needless to say our family was praying a lot that day. After his test we spent a few days packing our belongings, loaded up the moving truck, and moved one hour West to Beckley, West Virginia. We are renting a house from one of Becky's previous co-workers. We love the house, love the yard, love the location, and love everything about it. This is our first time living in a house in our married life and we really enjoy the privacy. Our house sits on a double lot, so there's plenty of yard space. We even got permission to put in a garden. Stewart mows the lawn, which, although he hates to admit it, is relaxing for him. Becky spent much of the summer canning. She filled our pantry with salsa, grape juice, grape jelly, apple sauce, apple pie filling, blue berry syrup, and peaches.

In July Stewart started his 3rd year rotations. He really enjoys being out of the classroom and into the clinic. He likes working with people instead of text books. He still has to do plenty of studying, but at least he gets to pretend like he's a doctor during the day. So far he has completed rotations in family medicine, psychiatry, internal medicine, OB/GYN (delivering babies), and OMT (kind of like what a chiropractor does).

We like our new ward at church. It is smaller than our previous ward because there are no other medical students here. Stewart is serving now as the ward mission leader. That means he serves as kind of a go-between for the full-time missionaries and the local members. In October there was a big festival about an hour North of here called Bridge Day. People come from all over to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge (with parachutes of course). A large crowd gathers to watch them. Stewart helped run a booth at the event for our Church. It was a lot of work, but it was rewarding. Becky is now serving as the Young Women President. She plans activities and lessons for the teenage girls in the congregation. She was very nervous when she was first called, but she has lots of good ideas and is having a lot of fun. The young women love her and look up to her.

Sophie is no longer the three month old who just sits and watches us. She is now walking and running, playing, and even talking. For a long time she called Stewart, Becky, and herself "Dada." Then just before Christmas she started calling Becky "Mommy." Becky was happy to finally be known as Mommy. Stewart was disappointed to see that instead of adding Mommy to her vocabulary she just switched, so now he was also Mommy. Oh well. She will figure it out eventually. Sophie is very social. She smiles a lot and likes to say hi to people we meet. She is very expressive with her face and her voice. She loves people.

We were able to fly to Idaho and visit our families for Christmas. We had a wonderful time playing games, talking, socializing, and rekindling relationships. We are grateful for airplanes that allow us to travel such great distances in a matter of hours.

2011 has been a challenging year. We hope that 2012 is a little more gentle on us. We are grateful for our blessings. We hope that you and your families had a good year, and that the year ahead is even better!

Love the North family
Stewart, Becky & Sophie