Last Friday the 5^th, Stewart had the day off so he suggested we go to the Cheyenne Ice and Events Center during their open skate time and try ice skating for a family activity, so Sophie and I decided it would not hurt to go and try it out. In the end I learned that I love ice skating about as much as I love roller skating and there is not much love in that department. Sophie had an okay time but I would say she likes roller skating more and Stewart while he had a great time in the end I think he loves roller skating better as well.  

Sophie was a little hesitant on the skates and liked it better when she got to hold onto the orange cone while Stewart or I pushed her around the ice. I actually opted to do most of the orange cone pushing because I needed the cone to keep me steady on my feet otherwise I would have been on the ground most of the time and perhaps complaining of a broken tail bone in this very blog post. So thank goodness for the orange cones that helped Sophie have a grand time and me to not break anything.  

On Tuesdays we normally meet up with our friends at the library for story time, but this week we decided to change it up some and have a Valentine’s Day party instead. Sophie invited her friends over to decorate sugar cookies and then to play afterwards. It was really low key and a perfect change from our every Tuesday routine. The sad thing is I forgot to take pictures of all the kids decorating cookies (sad face) but I promise they had a blast and the mess was not that hard to clean up, so it was a win win for all involved. 

Back in October Stewart and I saw that the 20^th anniversary performance of Riverdance was coming to the Cheyenne Civic Center in February 2016 so we bought all three of us tickets to go. When February rolled around (a few days ago) I reminded Stewart about our tickets and he told me that he may be late due to the rotation schedule he is on this month, so we made plans to meet him there and have his ticket left at the will call window. Well lucky for us, the day of the performance (Tuesday Feb. 2nd) the city of Cheyenne was hit with a huge snow storm that closed most of Cheyenne down for the day, including Stewart’s work!  At first I was worried the performance would be cancelled as well, but by mid afternoon we had not heard anything so we knew the show was still on.

The performance held Sophie’s attention the whole time. It was amazing how the performers were able to all keep the same rhythm and stay in step with one another. And even though our seats were the cheap seats in the balcony we had a great view and a good time. And if the chance ever presented itself again I would consider going.

This is the only picture we took for the night since videos and photos were not allowed during the performance. 

I posted this on Face Book but I wanted to document it here as well.  The FB post read:

“This is a picture of my best friend and better half as he signed the contract that will usher us into the next phase of our lives. Dr. Stewart North D.O. has accepted a full time position with Intermountain Cassia Regional Medical Center in Burley, Idaho as one of their Family Medicine doctors. So I guess it is safe to say that come July we will be relocating to Burley! Great work Stewart you never cease to amaze me.”

I can’t believe how real this is getting! When we move to Burley this will be our first move to a new area without an expiration date since Stewart and I became well Stewart and Becky North.  Everywhere we have lived so far we have known it was not permanent. Things are different with move, we actually hope that Stewart falls in love with his job and we end of loving Burley and it becomes our forever home. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in the months and years to come.  We know this is where we are suppose to go after Stewart finishes up residency and therefore we know it will all work out.

We took a spontaneous trip to the UW campus in Laramie to their Geological Museum. The museum was small but it was interesting to see some of the dinosaur bones and artifacts that they have discovered in the state of Wyoming plus it was free and you can’t beat that. I think one of our favorite exhibits was the interactive sandbox. I don’t know how they did it but they had a projector that displayed a topical map onto the sandbox and as you moved the sand around making piles it would turn the lower parts into lakes. I don’t know how to describe it but we had a lot of fun making mountains and then turning them into islands surrounded by water.  It was a fun family outing and I am glad Stewart suggested it. 

After we got home that afternoon Stewart and I decided to surprise Sophie by going camping inside! It is something we had been throwing around for a while now and decided now was as good as any other time.  So while she was in the bathtub, I went and snuck over to our extra bedroom that is practically empty and set up our tent and put our sleeping gear in it (don’t worry Stewart was close by to monitor Sophie while she was in the tub). When Sophie was out of the tub we surprised her with the details of our family activity. To say she was excited is an understatement. We roasted marshmallows and made S’mores over the fire we built in our fireplace. After S’mores we all got ready for bed and then headed off to our tent to go to sleep. But before we could sleep we all took turns telling stories to each other and spent a few minutes talking about how awesome our day had been before we all finally drifted off to dreamland. Yep it is true, we have a pretty sweet life and we are so blessed to call each other family. 

I trade babysitting with a friend of mine on Mondays and Thursdays. Our girls were born a month apart and are the best of friends. They play really well together, in fact there are a lot of times I have to remind myself that I am not home alone and that there are two little girls I need to account for so when I go looking I often  always find them playing house or dolls in Sophie’ room. 

This last time I watched Timber, the girls wanted to go outside and play in the snow. And of course once the girls got into the snow they wanted to build a snowman. And that meant I needed to help them so we all dressed up in our warmer clothing and we built a snowman, but not just any snowman (remember I am dealing with five year old little girls here)we had to build OLAF. I think he turned out looking almost like the Disney character.

On New Year’s Day Stewart, Sophie and I really did not do much. We cleaned the house a little and prepped snacks for our get together that night and just took it easy. We are kind of boring like that sometimes. We did invite friends over on New Year’s Eve (Jessie and Alisa Jackson and their two kids Kinley and Beau) for games and snacks. It was simple and very low key, in fact we did not even make it to midnight (gasp) when they left and we went to bed. But it was fun and that is all that matters. Basically we snacked first and then the kids played and we adults visited and played card games. That was about it, but I have no regrets.

The following morning I had to be up early to help out at our ward New Year’s brunch since the primary presidency were the ones who organized the activity. We kept it simple, serving waffles and ham and other potluck dishes ward members brought. Other than that we made sure there were activities and games at each of the tables to help people be social with one another.

After the ward party I went home and met my Aunt Bonnie Stowe (my moms sister) and my cousins Kent (and his wife Jackie and their 4 boys) Kyle, and Kelton who stayed with us for the night on their way to Mt. Rushmore. Kent lives in Colorado Springs, CO. and my Aunt and other cousins were visiting from St. George, UT. Since they were only three hours from us and eight hours from Mt. Rushmore they decided to take an overnight trip and see the great sights South Dakota. I really enjoyed seeing my relatives and reacquainting myself with them. Bonnie lost her husband not more than a few months ago so it was good to express my love for him and my condolences for their loss in person. I am glad we had a home big enough to house all nine of them as they have let us stay with them a few times when we visited them in Tennessee while we lived back East.

Anyway we had a great time ringing in the New Year and seeing family. What better way is there to end a year and welcome and new one? May 2016 bring us many blessings and may we have the strength to climb any mountains God sees fit to put in our path this year. HUGS!