The past few weeks have gone by quickly. Stewart surprised us and came home from Denver on the 11^th and 12^th to spend some time with us… or was it so I could do his laundry? We had a good (and rather quick) reunion before he went back to Denver to work again. It is always hard to re-adjust back to life with just Sophie and me after he leaves. It is kind of lonely for a few days while we get back into the swing of things.

On Friday the 13^th, I went over to a friends home and helped he make a slip cover for her glider chair. She is expecting baby number two and needed some help from someone who could sew better than herself. We are still not done but so far so good, I should also mention that while it does not look like a pro did it, it does look better than the one that we are covering up. 

On Wednesday the 18^th Stewart came back to Cheyenne this time to do a training course at the Veterans Hospital (VA) so that he can work in their ER during the month of March. He also had to go and visit his nursing home patients for the month. It stinks that he had to do all this on one of his days off from working at the Denver Pediatric ER, but on the plus side we got to see him again. Before we knew he was going to be coming back to Cheyenne for training stuff, Stewart thought it would be a fun idea for Sophie and me to go to Denver on his days off so that we can explore the sights in the area. It just so happened that our planned trip to Denver was the same day he had to come back.

Since I work on Wednesdays tending three extra kids we had to wait until their parents got home around 5:30pm before we could leave. I followed Stewart back to Denver until we got to Thornton, CO. a town just on the Northern side of Downtown Denver. We planned for Stewart to park his car in a parking lot there so he could take over driving the rest of the way to his hotel which was on the Southern side of Denver. Driving in all that Denver traffic is way too scary for me, our plan allowed me to be able to drive in the heavy traffic for a short while but not the ugly stop and go traffic we encountered when Stewart was driving.

Anyway, when we got to Stewarts hotel we got some dinner and then took Sophie swimming in the hotel pool and hot tub. She LOVED swimming, and the best part was that since it was the middle of the week we were the only people in the pool the whole time we were there.

The next day we again took Sophie swimming after breakfast for an hour and then we all came back to the room and got ready for the day. We then drove to the Denver, Aquarium and spent the next several hours looking at all the fish and enjoying the sights. We got to the aquarium about 10 minutes before they had a Mermaid show scheduled. So we booked it to the area and took a seat just in time to watch the show. They had three ladies dressed up as mermaids swimming around in a big tank filled with large fish and a giant sea turtle. They basically dove down into the water and waved at all this kids several times but it was fun to watch. I was impressed with how well they could hold their breath under the water so long.

 After the Mermaids we back tracked to the beginning and enjoyed all the fish we saw. Stewart and Sophie were able to hold a cricket over a tank full of Archer Fish and the fish would shot water up at the cricket to knock it out of their hands. I guess in the wild these fish spit a stream of water up at the crickets they see sitting on the bushes that line the waters edge, they knock them into the water and eat them.

My favorite was probably the desert flash flood exhibit. The walk way that winds around the whole aquarium takes leads into a dark room where they have flashes of lighting and the sound of thunder then all of a sudden a large amount of water comes gushing through the rocks and splashes up against a large plexus screen. I liked it and would have stayed to see it happen again but I think Sophie got a little frightened so we moved on.   

I think Sophie loved the shark tank the best. She stayed there for 30 mins watching those sharks swim around and around. The museum had three large clear cutouts in the floor so you see some of the sharks below your feet swimming. We hung around there for a while to see the workers feed the sharks, it sounded like something we would like to see. It was very anti-climatic, the workers put a fish at the end of a poll and the sharks would grab it off the poll. That was it! And the sharks were not very hungry so it was really kind of boring, not at all what we thought they were would do.

More picture for enjoyment

After the Aquarium we drove back to where we parked Stewart’s car and found a place to eat lunch. We tried a new sub shop we had never eaten at called, Firehouse Subs. Our food was SOOO Good! It is probably a good thing that there is not a franchise here otherwise we would be broke. I also made that statement about Whole Foods Market found in Denver as well; guess it is a good thing we don’t live in Denver. Anyway, after lunch we parted ways, Stewart drove South back to his hotel and I drove North with Sophie back to Cheyenne. We got home about 4, ahead of the rush hour traffic and with plenty of time for us to unpack and settle back into life as we know it in Cheyenne. We left earlier than we had first planned one because Stewart needed time to just do nothing before he went back to work the next day and two because we were all tired from all the other things we had done already so it made since not to pack anymore into our day and where ourselves out.

This was suppose to be a family selfie...

I think that sums up the exciting part of the last two weeks. Stewart moves home again in a week. We are looking forward to that as this is his last Denver rotation, YIPPY! Sophie and I are doing well. I should mention Sophie is still making great progress with her goal to learn to read, I am proud of her and her accomplishments so far. Now if only I could motivate her to love writing as much as she loves reading things would be awesome. 

Where to begin, first off the end of January went by rather fast for me, Stewart finished up his easy rotation in the Pediatric Clinic her in Cheyenne and then on February first drove to Denver to start his next rotation in the Pediatric ER at the Parker Hospital in Denver. We spent the last week of January prepping and organizing stuff so that he would be comfortable while he was in Denver. I made him some meals he could keep in the freezer or refrigerator to have if he ever got tired of hospital food. I also made sure to get all his clothes washed so he would not have to worry about that for the first week. It was a busy week, but a good one as well.

On Friday the 30^th, Stewart and I went on a date which will probably be the last one for a good while. For the next three months or more Stewart will have limited time off (if that) for such outings, so we took advantage of this last chance and arranged to have someone tend Sophie so we could enjoy an evening out together. We went to a restaurant called Poor Richards, we have heard good things about the place so we wanted to check it out ourselves. The food was outstanding but the bill was ugly! Guess that’s why they call it Poor Richards, you come with money and leave with none. We decided that since we were not going to be able to go on any dates for a while we could use up our date allowance for three months all at once otherwise I don’t think we would have gone dinned there. Stewart and I spent the evening catching each other up on what was going on in our lives, and speculating about the future. It was fun to hear what each other had to say about where we thought we would end up once Stewart finishes up his residency in another year. It will be interesting to see where life will take us, as our next move will be the place we will sink roots for longer than three years.

Since Stewarts been in Denver, Sophie and I have kept busy here. Last week was CRAZY! I mentioned before that I started a Nanny Job a few weeks ago. I watch three kids for two to three days a week. I mostly watch the youngest boy who is four during the day and then go and pick up his two older siblings when school gets out at three. I spend a couple of hours with them and then head home shortly after five when their parents get home from work. The job is perfect, it is only two or three days a week and I get to keep Sophie with me, plus she and the little guy seem to play well together for the most part. Anyway about the CRAZY part of last week, that happened on Tuesday, when I ended up tending 4, four year olds all at the same time! I don’t know what I was thinking when I said yes I would watch all 4 of them but I will never do that again. There was way too much drama and I was never happier to send them back to their parents than last Tuesday. My house was such a mess, never again… enough said.

On Wednesday, we got 6 inches of snow! I shoveled the driveway two times, which was probably unnecessary since the snow was almost all melted by Thursday afternoon. Oh well got my workout in for the day. Because it had snowed on Wednesday and Thursday was a beautiful day with not wind, which is rare in Wyoming, and lots of sun I took Sophie and the little guy I nanny sledding at CaHill Park. We invited my friend Kathryn to bring her kids and join us. We had a load of fun, mostly because there were no other people around; in fact we spend over two hours out there!

When I was not watching someone else’s kids I tried to work on my primary sharing time lesson I had to do today. I ended up borrowing my idea from my amazing sister in-law Camille. It was helpful to just use her outline and handouts since I did not have a lot of time to come up with my own sharing time this week… next week though I have a great idea. While I may not love my calling I do enjoy learning and teaching about our Savior Jesus Christ and the many things he did for me/us so that we can return to live with Him and be with our families forever.

Yesterday, Sophie and I went to her friend Garrett Ditson’s birthday 4 year old birthday party. It was a pirate ducky themed party. I helped his mom, Kathryn, make his cake as her first plan fell through. We just make a round cake and put Kit Kat candy bars around it and then added two pirate rubber ducks on top with several chocolate gold coins around them. The idea was to make the ducks look like they were swimming in a pile of gold. The cake turned out ok but not my favorite cake I have ever decorated. I spent many late nights making a knight suit of armor for him out of felt, it turned out cute, but sadly I failed to take a picture of my work. Sophie had a lot of fun and was sad to leave.

Stewart seems to be doing well in Denver so far. He always has a hard time with his health at the beginning of new rotations; it takes his body a week or so to find a groove. I am sure it does not help that he is working a wonky schedule for the month either. He starts at 12 noon and finishes up at 12 midnight. So not only is he trying to adjust to his new surroundings he has to adjust his sleeping habits as well as eating habits. Sometimes the only thing that keeps him alive is the many prayers we send up in his behalf throughout the day, pretty sure of it. He is having great experiences and is learning a lot.

Well it is late and I am tired, tomorrow is laundry day for us and I have a slew of things to do before I go back to work on Tuesday watching more than one kiddo (which can be easier than watching just one kid…occasionally), this week I am tending kids Tuesday through Thursday. Hope it is a good week. Cheers!  

Occasionally Sophie will tell me not to come in her room while she is dressing herself for the day because she wants her clothes to be a surprise. Sometimes her shirts and pants actually match and sometimes they do not. And then there are those days where I just shake my head and go along with her choice of outfits. Today was one of those days, unique all the way. Here is a picture of her to prove it. She wanted to wear the black bow and asked me to fix her hair so she could. She is such a ham and adds so much to our family. We Love you Sophie!

And just because, here are a few pictures of Sophie and myself...

Stewart had a conference in Las Vegas at the beginning of the week on the 19th. He flew to Vegas on Sunday and came home on the 20th. The original plan was for Sophie and I to join him since it was all paid for by his work but when I learned that the conference was only one day I opted out since we would not be there long enough to do anything or site see. I did have Stewart write up a summery of what he did while he was there so I could post it here on the blog. Below are his words...

Earlier this week I had a conference in Las Vegas. The conference only lased one day, so it was a pretty quick trip. I stayed at the Cosmopolitan, or Cosmo as the trendy people call it. My room was up on the 57th floor! My ears popped every time I rode the elevators. 

The conference was on interpretation of EKGs. An EKG is the heart tracing, you've probably all seen something like it on TV before. If you know how to read them they can tell you a lot about what the heart is doing. They measure the electrical activity at various points in the heart. It’s pretty neat actually, but kind of difficult to learn. You can tell if the person is having a heart attack, you can get a pretty good idea of which part of the heart is being affected and even which artery is blocked too. Electrophysiologists can tell you if one little piece of heart tissue is acting up, and almost exactly where the little piece of tissue is. I’m not at that level, and don’t think I’ll even need to be that proficient.

My room had a large soaking tub. The second night I was there I drew up a nice hot bath, turned on some jazz, and read my book. Mmm, very nice. I splurged for one meal. I ate at a place called the Wicked Spoon. It was a buffet with fancy, trendy little dishes. I ate crab legs for the first time. I had a few different types of sushi; I had lamb, muscles, shrimp, and some kind of fancy, made-to-order Macaroni and Cheese. The only thing that could have made my trip better was if Becky and Sophie had been able to join me. 

Here are a few pictures Stewart took while he was there.

The past few weeks have gone by quickly in fact all of January seems to be going by rather fast. I remember last year we it started snowing on October 1^st and did not stop until after Mothers Day. Actually we got a big snow storm on Mothers day last year and church was cancelled for the first time all season. Anyway my point of talking about the snow is to say that this year has been very mild compared to last year. Sophie and I were able to get out of the house and go for a walk last week when it was 50 degrees, the wind was not blowing and the sun was out. We could not have even attempted to do that last year. I am glad that this year has been milder than our first winter in Wyoming.

Stewart seems to like the Pediatric Out-Patient rotation he is on this month. He leaves for work at 7:50am and gets home at 6pm. Since it is cold and flu season I make sure he changes his clothes and washes his hands when he gets home, in hopes that Sophie and I can be spared any illness he may carry home with him on his person. I tried to get him to change in the garage before he came in the house but he would not go for that idea… maybe if it was a heated garage? Anyway, so far he has seen and learned a lot about caring for pediatric children and has even used some of his newly learned knowledge with his own patients at the UW Clinic.

Today Stewart flew to Las Vegas for a CME (Continuing Medical Education) conference about EKGs. He will get back Tuesday late morning. Sophie and I were going to go with him in the beginning but then he pick and one day CME class and after that it looked less appealing. Many of his colleges choose week long CME courses and take their families along to do stuff during their down time. Since Stewart’s trip is such a fast trip it would not have been worth it for us to accompany him, so we stayed home to keep the fort safe.

Over the last two weeks I have been able to offer some comfort to a dear friend who had a challenging week. A year ago she and her husband lost a good friend and Air Force comrade of theirs in a helicopter accident, the day after she remembered his one year passing she lost another close friend of hers due to health complications (She left behind a husband and two young girls), and finally she and her husband learned of the passing of another good friend from their childhood who passed away as well. It was almost too much for her to handle all at one time so I took her children home with me for a few hours to give her a chance to cry without upsetting her kids and worrying them. I was glad I could help her morn and comfort her as much as possible during her time of sorrow.

Yesterday was the day for parties and celebrations. Sophie and I attended one baby shower, and two birthday parties. One of the birthday parties was for Sophie’s friend Evelyn who turned one (ok so maybe it was more of a party for one of MY friend’s whose daughter turned one). I have never seen so many toys in my life! She had a lot to begin with and by the end of her party she had way more then she could ever play with. But it was lots of fun to go and socialize with good friends. The last party we went to was a Nerdy Thirty party for our friend Matthew Ditson. His wife, Kathryn, put together a fun party with nerdy glasses, pocket protectors, and science stuff. She did a great job. I helped her make and decorate his cake. It was a chocolate salted caramel cake with chocolate frosting. We decorated it with a petri dish filled with blue jell-o and sprinkles on top, a test tube filled with yellow melting chocolate to look like it tipped over and was spilling out, and two beakers one filled with green jell-o and the other filled with orange water that she put dry ice in every now and then so that it would bubble and foam up over the cake. I think it turned out neat looking and was glad I could help come up with a fun and easy way to decorate the cake nerdy. Too bad I did not get a picture of it.

I suppose the last thing I want to mention is that I am going to start tending three other kiddos two or three days a week. The two older kids go to school during the day so really I will only be watching the youngest boy who is four for the bulk of the day until I go and pick up the other two when school gets out. The job really just fell in my lap and since Sophie is four and we already do lots of activities geared to her age I hope it is not too much of a hassle to bring the little guy along with us. It will be a good experience for Sophie and for me I am sure. I start this week so we will see how it goes :) 

January 2015 Begins

This year I have a goal to keep up the blog again. I am not planning on telling anyone so if you are reading this lucky you. I quit up-keeping our blog two years ago because it became more of a chore than the hobby it started out as, too many people nagging me to keep up the posts and so forth. Anyway, I am going to try again and hope that it can still be the hobby I enjoyed once.

Well January 2015 is here the start to another great year. So far this year has been fine. For New Year's we watched Disney’s 101 Dalmatians as a family when Stewart got home from work. We had sloppy joes and ate finger foods such as chips, pickles, and olives. Nothing extravagant or exciting, because Stewart had to work the day shift at the hospital (his very last one of the month) and was tired when he got home. We actually ended up going to bed at 10 after we celebrated the New Year with our friends back east.

Stewart did not have to work on New Years and the weather was decent so we decided to take Sophie sledding over at Cahill Park in town. There is a large hill, a medium hill and a smaller hill so you really can find the best fit for your personality. Stewart took Sophie first down the big hill and caught some air half way down. They made it through ok but Sophie did not like it much. When they got back up to the top I decided I would take Sophie down one last time and then we would do the medium hill from there on out. BAD IDEA! Sophie was crying and I forced her into it (which I feel horrible about now) away we went.... we caught some air half way down but instead of making it to the bottom just fine we flew strait up and came back down hard. I landed on the edge of our sled with my tailbone and luckily Sophie landed on me and was spared any injury. I on the other hand bruised my behind and ripped several holes in the backside of my only other jeans that had not worn out on me yet. I am still feeling the consequence of that decision three days later. Sophie still loves to go sledding and went down the smaller hills 5 or 6 times before we left the park to come home. For the record Sophie has forgiven me for my lack of good judgment and prays for me to get better.

Today was Sunday and we switched church time from 1pm to 9am! I love 9am church!!!! I am serving in the Primary as the first counselor (pure honesty here, this is not my favorite calling), Stewart is a Sunday school teacher for the Gospel Doctrine class. I really wanted to go into Sunday school and listen to Stewart lesson today, but we had a few teachers not show up and I had to go and find last minute substitutes for those classes. So in the end I was unable to go into his class, a big disappointment in my day. I hear he is a great teacher and that he does a very good job.... maybe one day I can know for myself. Sophie is now in the CTR 4 class, no longer a Sunbeam. She seemed to like her class and her new teachers. Her teachers made each of their students nametags in class, I guess to help them learn the names of their new class. When we went to get Sophie after church her nametag read: ARIEL (Sophie) on it, I guess that means she has changed her name.

I am not sure what the New Year holds for us; Stewart will graduate from a 2^nd year resident doctor to a 3^rd year resident doctor(in July), Sophie will turn 5 this year, and this will be our last summer in Cheyenne that we are aware of. When Stewart graduates in June of 2016 we will be moving to where he gets a job. We may or may not know where that will be by the end of this year. Here is to the days ahead, may they be filled with joy and love.

Hugs