Meet Kevin

Meet Kevin Sophie’s new pal. Stewart’s mom made this for us for the year of 2011; he is an original 2011 Noggin. Sophie loves to bring him along most anywhere we go as well as chew on his appendages. We thought these pictures were to cute not to share, Enjoy!

and just because:

It's is like she is saying: Hey mom why are you always taken my picture?

Camping in January

Stewart went camping last night, with the boy scouts. The weather was predicted to be in the teens or lower, they went to some cave in the area. Sophie and I stayed home, we were both glad to be in our warm apartment with working heaters and when we went to bed it was nice not to be sleeping on a rock but in our nice soft beds. I do hope Stewart had fun since I think this will be a regular activity with the boy scouts. Here are some pictures I took of him before he left:

So what did we do while he was gone, well besides some arts and crafts we played a few games, take a look:

I won! Somehow I knew where all her ships were :)

Enough blogging, I should get the living room cleaned up before Stewart comes home and finds the large mess I created… oh to have a craft room so that I can leave all my projects out.

Ps: the pictures of Sophie and I were taken by Stewart, about a week ago when we first played battle ship together. Right now that is her favorite game, but as soon as she can pick up the pieces it won’t be… I am sure of that.

2010 News Letter

Well it is 16 days into the New Year and I am just now starting to write my 2010 newsletter. Last year was one of those years Stewart and I felt we could not have been more blessed if we had wanted it. We are truly grateful to our Father in Heaven who opened the windows of heaven and poured His blessings upon us.

At the end of the year 2009 in December I got a great job working as a receptionist at a Pediatric Dentist office. The Dentist was newly opening her practice so when I was hired they had only been opened 3 months. I quickly learned the duties of the front desk and enjoyed my time there. Working there was by far one of my favorite jobs I have ever had. Also in January Stewart started the second half of his first year of Medical school at West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) in Lewisburg, West Virginia. He was blessed to finish out his first year with competitive grades and the desire to still pursue his medical degree.

In February we learned we were expecting our first baby. This news came as a shock to us at first, not that we did not want to have children, but we learned a couple years back that the likely hood of us becoming parents were slim. So to learn that we were expecting was a miracle in and of itself, one we were grateful for. For me the pregnancy went smoothly. I was worried my becoming pregnant would hinder my newly found job; I was fortunate though and did not have morning sickness. In fact I carried our baby very well with little to no complaints and was still working the day before I delivered.

Shortly after we learned I was pregnant we learned Stewart had Celiac disease, meaning his body is allergic to wheat. That meant that I had to revamp my cooking to be wheat free so that Stewart could eat. I never realized just how many foods have wheat in them. It was a struggle at first but we are leaning and Stewart’s health is improving.

In the summer Stewart and I were able to take a month and fly back to Idaho to be with our families. Since Stewart and I live in the south east corner of West Virginia now, the nearest temple to us is 5 hours away. Needless to say we did not make it to the temple very often. So while we were in Idaho we took advantage of the temples there and went 8 or 9 times during our month stay. We enjoyed visiting with our families and catching up with them; we miss living close to them.

When we returned from our summer vacation, I went back to work and Stewart used his time off to explore the hiking trails of West Virginia. He was asked to serve as the Young Men’s President in our ward, shortly before we went to Idaho, so he did some needed planning for that as well. In August he returned to school, this time starting his second year of medical school. He is anxious to get this year behind him so he can move out of the classroom and into the hospitals to practice what he has learned.

On October 1st, Stewart and I welcomed our daughter, Sophie Lucille North, into this world. She was born breech, necessitating a cesarean delivery (C section). We are so blessed to have Sophie in our home; it truly feels like she has been apart of our family forever. She is currently 3 months old and loves to coo, smile, and is just learning to pick up toys to put in her mouth. It seems like she is constantly changing daily. We love her so much, and we are richly blessed because of her.

In November we learned that Stewart and I will be moving 45 minutes west of our current location to a hospital site in Beckley, WV. This is the location where Stewart will do his third year rotations. We look forward to the move and putting down new roots, we are sad however to be leaving the wonderful people in this area we have come to love as family.

Finally, in December, we took a trip to Clarksville, TN to spend Christmas with my cousin Kent Stowe and his family. It just so happened that my baby sister Emily was serving in that exact same area as a missionary for our church. She was given permission to spend Christmas with Kent and his family, so Stewart, Sophie, and I made the trip to TN to visit her… the only catch, she was not expecting us. We surprised her at a baptism she had on Christmas day. We were blessed to visit with her for about 4 or 5 hours and she got to see Sophie (the only other family member to see Sophie has been my mother who came for 10 days to help me after she was born). On our way home from Kent’s we stopped in Gatlinburg, TN and went to an aquarium, our first family vacation.

We feel sincerely blessed as we look back over the past year. We know that we have a loving Father in Heaven who has met our needs and has blessed us with a few of our wants. We have grown a lot being apart from our families. I am sure one day we will look back over this time with great fondness, and remember it as a time we grew closer together as a family and strengthened our trust and faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Much Love
Stewart, Becky and Sophie North

Christmas Vacation 2010 Part 1

We have had a wonderful Christmas vacation this year! The story of this Christmas vacation starts a few weeks before Christmas. We got an email from Becky’s sister Emily, who until two days ago was a missionary for our church, was stationed in Clarksville, TN asking us to come to Clarksville for Christmas and stay with Becky’s cousin who is stationed there at Fort Campbell and we could all visit together for a few hours. Missionaries don’t usually get to see their families on their missions, so this was an unusual treat. She said that she wanted to visit with us, but we all know that she really wanted to visit with her brand-new niece. We thought we’d have some fun so we told her that we had already committed to other plans for Christmas and that we were sorry. Then we made plans with Becky’s cousin to come and visit.

Fast forward a few weeks. My last test was on Friday the 17th; it felt so nice to be done with homework for a couple of weeks. We spent the first few days just hanging around the apartment, sleeping in, watching movies, and reading books. A friend loaned me the last book in the Harry Potter series and so I spent a lot of time at the first part of the break reading it.

On Thursday the 23 we packed our bags and left for Clarksville, TN. We encountered some bad weather on the way, but arrived safely. Becky’s Aunt, Uncle, and 2 other cousins were also visiting as well, so we had a full house. We talked and played games, and drove around to look at the lights. Sophie was the center of attention for most of the time. On Christmas Eve we called to my family gathered out West and listened while my younger brother opened his mission call. He has been called to serve in the California Arcadia Mission, English speaking. We are very happy for him!

On Christmas Day Emily had scheduled a baptism for one of their investigators. She knew that her cousin’s family would be there, but she didn’t know Becky and I would be there. When we walked in the door her jaw dropped. She ran and hugged Becky and said “You lied to me!” It was a fun surprise. The baptism went well. I was even asked to give the closing prayer…in Spanish! I took a year of Spanish in college, but my Spanish has rusted a little over time. I was grateful for the chance to participate in that way. After the baptism Emily and her companions came to visit at Becky’s cousin’s house. We had a houseful! It was like a mini-family reunion in the East while the rest of our families met out West. We had a delicious meal and spent the rest of the day talking and mingling.

Christmas Vacation 2010 part 2

The next day was a Sunday, so Becky and I attended an early morning church service and then hit the road. We drove for 5 hours and stopped when Sophie had had all she could handle of driving. We spent the evening in a hotel in Sevierville, TN, which, we learned is the hometown of Dolly Parton. The next morning we went to Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. We really loved the exhibits there. It was expensive, but worth the money. The videos and pictures below will show it better than I can explain it. We really like Gatlinburg, TN. It’s a neat little family-friendly vacation site. It kind of reminds me of Jackson Hole, WY, only bigger. After the aquarium and a delicious lunch at Corky’s BBQ we headed for home. This will be one of my most memorable Christmases ever I think. I really enjoyed the trip, and I’m so glad that I have my favorite traveling companions with me: Becky and Sophie.

You can see in this picture that Sophie has had about all she can take...she's ready for lunch!

Okay, now she's all better

And what
else do you need after lunch but a good nap?

Here's the whole family

Here's Sophie, burried under wrapping paper from the presents.

Christmas Vacation Part 3

This first video is of the penguin exhibit at the aquarium. The penguines were very active and energetic. It was fun to watch them swim around.

This video was taken in a long tunnel they had that ran underneath the pools. You stand on a little conveyor belt that shuffles you through the tunnel. They bring you right inside the displays! It's a really cool experience.

In this video Becky goes hunting for a horseshoe crab dinner