It’s been a good month for us here in these Eastern Mountains, but not without bumps and scrapes. Do you remember how I told you last month about Becky’s new job at the museum? Well it appears it was too good to be true, at least for now. On the first day of her second week of employment the museum director came and asked her to stop by her office before she left work that day. When she stopped in the director told her that she would have to let her go. She felt terrible about it and hoped Becky wouldn’t be angry. She said that one of the board members took issue with the way in which the director hired Becky; apparently she didn’t go through the proper channels. It seemed to me like it was a power struggle between the director and the board and Becky got caught in the crossfire. So after just one week of work Becky is looking for a job again. We know that something will work out eventually. I’m proud of Becky for keeping her spirits high even though I know it is difficult.
I have been on Thanksgiving break for the last several days and am really enjoying the time to relax. I needed it. I had two big tests right before break and I was near my breaking point when the vacation came. I only have 3 weeks of class left before Christmas break (you can do it, you can do it). We had a fun Thanksgiving Day visiting a family from church that invited us over. We ate too much food and napped after lunch. You can’t beat that can you? Later that evening we went to some other friends’ house and played games. We do miss our families, but we know that we will see you again soon. You are in our prayers and hearts.
We wish you all the best this holiday season!
Stewart and Becky
Monday, December 14, 2009
2009 November: Robertson
Greetings Everyone,
November went by rather quickly. I am still trying to figure out everything that happened during the month. I know that we were booked every single weekend. We had a temple baptismal trip with the youth at the start of the month, a stake activity day the following weekend involving a volleyball tournament and a lot of meetings, Thanksgiving with Morgan’s family, Meals and joint teaching with the missionaries, and a stake priesthood meeting for me.
This month the primary gave their Primary Program in sacrament meeting. They did very well, and Morgan is grateful that the kids behaved themselves on the stand and actually sang the songs. She is happy that it is over and doesn’t have to worry about it for another year.
Apart from worrying about the Primary program, Morgan has been making several trips to various doctors this month. For a little stretch she was going every single day. Things started to go downhill when Morgan developed a fever and became very tired and achy. We thought at first that it might be the flu, but she never developed any other symptoms. Her symptoms worsened over the weekend (when the doctor’s office is closed – of course) until other symptoms developed, and she knew exactly what she had. Early the following Monday she went to the doctor and was prescribed some antibiotics for mastitis. Since she is still breast feeding, she had to get a low does antibiotic. She has been taking four pills a day for about two weeks now. She should be finishing up the treatment soon. Other than that, Jamis has been to the doctor to get his 2 month check-up and again for his immunizations. He is a big boy. He is pushing 15 lbs and is in the 97 percentile for weight and 95 for height. I think that his bulk is what is keeping him alive when his sisters start to get too rambunctious. There have been a few instances so far when the girls will get to riled up they stop pay attention to what they are doing and make a running leap onto the couch only to land on or kick Jamis while Morgan or I am holding him. Our attempts to shield him don’t always work. Of course, when he starts screaming, the girls just look around bewildered and wonder what just happened.
I have been busy with school and just getting ready for the end of the semester. I also learned this month that I will be losing over half of my young men in January. Two of my young men will be moving to California where their dad found work and another young man will be moving to his father’s place because his mom just lost custody of her kids. This will take my active young men from 5 down to 2 (and I use the word active very loosely). Sigh. On a happier note, we are all getting really excited to head to Idaho for Christmas and see everyone who will be around. We leave in 12 days. It will be a sorely needed break from school.
We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing those we can in a few weeks,
Derik, Morgan, Jamis, Daria, and Kyla
November went by rather quickly. I am still trying to figure out everything that happened during the month. I know that we were booked every single weekend. We had a temple baptismal trip with the youth at the start of the month, a stake activity day the following weekend involving a volleyball tournament and a lot of meetings, Thanksgiving with Morgan’s family, Meals and joint teaching with the missionaries, and a stake priesthood meeting for me.
This month the primary gave their Primary Program in sacrament meeting. They did very well, and Morgan is grateful that the kids behaved themselves on the stand and actually sang the songs. She is happy that it is over and doesn’t have to worry about it for another year.
Apart from worrying about the Primary program, Morgan has been making several trips to various doctors this month. For a little stretch she was going every single day. Things started to go downhill when Morgan developed a fever and became very tired and achy. We thought at first that it might be the flu, but she never developed any other symptoms. Her symptoms worsened over the weekend (when the doctor’s office is closed – of course) until other symptoms developed, and she knew exactly what she had. Early the following Monday she went to the doctor and was prescribed some antibiotics for mastitis. Since she is still breast feeding, she had to get a low does antibiotic. She has been taking four pills a day for about two weeks now. She should be finishing up the treatment soon. Other than that, Jamis has been to the doctor to get his 2 month check-up and again for his immunizations. He is a big boy. He is pushing 15 lbs and is in the 97 percentile for weight and 95 for height. I think that his bulk is what is keeping him alive when his sisters start to get too rambunctious. There have been a few instances so far when the girls will get to riled up they stop pay attention to what they are doing and make a running leap onto the couch only to land on or kick Jamis while Morgan or I am holding him. Our attempts to shield him don’t always work. Of course, when he starts screaming, the girls just look around bewildered and wonder what just happened.
I have been busy with school and just getting ready for the end of the semester. I also learned this month that I will be losing over half of my young men in January. Two of my young men will be moving to California where their dad found work and another young man will be moving to his father’s place because his mom just lost custody of her kids. This will take my active young men from 5 down to 2 (and I use the word active very loosely). Sigh. On a happier note, we are all getting really excited to head to Idaho for Christmas and see everyone who will be around. We leave in 12 days. It will be a sorely needed break from school.
We wish you all the best and look forward to seeing those we can in a few weeks,
Derik, Morgan, Jamis, Daria, and Kyla
Monday, November 2, 2009
2009 October: Bates
Another month of hectic running. Sometimes if I close my metaphoric eyes, I run into metaphoric objects at high mmph (metaphoric miles per hour).
I know we are all busy, but sometimes I feel like I have the least diversity in my busy-ness. The last year has just been LOADs of work at my full time job, leaving little time to work on all my side jobs, and house projects.
But, enough boring stuff: Tamara & I are expecting another child. She is due around the middle of July. So, we are pretty excited about that.
Orianna had a blast this Halloween. She chose her own costume (a white kitty outfit). We were just thumbing through the rack of used costumes, and she latched on and kept saying "kitty" (or something roughly equivalent to that). I took her into the dressing room and was VERY glad that it fit her (or there would have been weeping, wailing, & gnashing of teeth... and gums).
My old roomate Shaun got me a video game called "Borderlands" and I have been dedicating time previously allocated to sleep to enjoy that with him. It is a pretty fun mix of FPS and RPG.
The only other news we have is that UDOT might end up bulldozing our home without ever telling us. They are building a freeway from my house, to the next big road to the west. They bought our neightbors on both sides of our house, and are going to demolish them. Naturally I called them asking if they were going to demolish my home. The nice lady on the line confidently assured me that they wouldn't, before telling me that she is new to this project and really doesn't know anything (very reassuring).
So, my new hope is that they will wreck our home while we are in it, and then pay us several times its value so that we wont interview with any local newspapers. So, maybe in a few months I will invite you all to my UDOT purchased mansion ;-) Here's hoping!
Well, we wish you all well,
-Rob, Tamara, Orianna, and androgynous-fetus
I know we are all busy, but sometimes I feel like I have the least diversity in my busy-ness. The last year has just been LOADs of work at my full time job, leaving little time to work on all my side jobs, and house projects.
But, enough boring stuff: Tamara & I are expecting another child. She is due around the middle of July. So, we are pretty excited about that.
Orianna had a blast this Halloween. She chose her own costume (a white kitty outfit). We were just thumbing through the rack of used costumes, and she latched on and kept saying "kitty" (or something roughly equivalent to that). I took her into the dressing room and was VERY glad that it fit her (or there would have been weeping, wailing, & gnashing of teeth... and gums).
My old roomate Shaun got me a video game called "Borderlands" and I have been dedicating time previously allocated to sleep to enjoy that with him. It is a pretty fun mix of FPS and RPG.
The only other news we have is that UDOT might end up bulldozing our home without ever telling us. They are building a freeway from my house, to the next big road to the west. They bought our neightbors on both sides of our house, and are going to demolish them. Naturally I called them asking if they were going to demolish my home. The nice lady on the line confidently assured me that they wouldn't, before telling me that she is new to this project and really doesn't know anything (very reassuring).
So, my new hope is that they will wreck our home while we are in it, and then pay us several times its value so that we wont interview with any local newspapers. So, maybe in a few months I will invite you all to my UDOT purchased mansion ;-) Here's hoping!
Well, we wish you all well,
-Rob, Tamara, Orianna, and androgynous-fetus
2009 October: North
What a busy month! Early on in the month I learned that I won the election for a spot on the student senate at my school. It was a tough campaign season with lots of speeches, fundraising and mudslinging. I won with a landslide victory receiving 100% of the votes cast for my position! (yes, I admit it, I was the only one running for my spot) The Student Senate meets about once a month and discusses issues affecting the students. The meetings are run under Robert’s Rules, which means you have to do all those parliamentary procedures, it’s kind of intimidating. Our first senate meeting was a few weeks ago. The most contentious item on the agenda was a big fancy dance that the school is putting on in a couple of weeks. The debate was over how much students should have to pay. The final decision: $90 per person. That means that if a guy wants to bring a date he has to pay $180! Last time I checked I was still a student, not a doctor, and $180 is too much to pay for one night of dancing and food. Sadly, I was in the minority.
Anatomy is done and I got a B. I’m proud of myself. It was very challenging, and there near the end I lost all motivation to study. But I pushed through and did my best. Becky was my ever-faithful companion all the way through. She always supported me when I had to spend 5 evenings per week studying from dinner until bedtime. I wish I could say that my schedule has lightened up after anatomy, and it has a little bit, but I still spend most of my evenings studying.
I had a Friday off this month and Becky and I decided to take advantage of it and go visit the Nation’s capital. We left early Friday morning and arrived by lunch time. We spent several hours in the D.C. temple Friday afternoon. It was so nice to be back in the temple. And what a beautiful temple it is! I have missed the spirit of the temple. Friday evening we had dinner with one of my former roommates. It was good to catch up on old times. Thank you Josh. On Saturday we went to the National Mall and saw several of the sites there in the area. We spent a few hours in the holocaust museum. That is a powerful exhibit. It makes you appreciate your freedoms and blessings.
Becky got a job this month! Derik do you remember emailing us before we moved out here and joking about a place called the North House, how it was all prepared for us? Well that’s where Becky got a job. It’s the local museum. The man who built the house was named Charles North. It would be interesting to find out if we are related. Becky went there shortly after we arrived and volunteered to conduct tours, or do anything else they needed. Her volunteering eventually turned into a job. It’s the perfect job for her. She works 12-15 hours/week, and makes a decent wage. It will give us some extra spending money and still allow her time her at home to manage our household. It is a perfect fit for our needs!
I finally broke down and signed up for Facebook. I think it’s neat to be able to see how friends and family are doing on a regular basis. I committed myself to not spending more than 15 min. per day on Fb. So far I’ve maintained that; the last thing I need is another way to waste time.
We hope that you are all doing well. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know.
Stewart and Becky North
Anatomy is done and I got a B. I’m proud of myself. It was very challenging, and there near the end I lost all motivation to study. But I pushed through and did my best. Becky was my ever-faithful companion all the way through. She always supported me when I had to spend 5 evenings per week studying from dinner until bedtime. I wish I could say that my schedule has lightened up after anatomy, and it has a little bit, but I still spend most of my evenings studying.
I had a Friday off this month and Becky and I decided to take advantage of it and go visit the Nation’s capital. We left early Friday morning and arrived by lunch time. We spent several hours in the D.C. temple Friday afternoon. It was so nice to be back in the temple. And what a beautiful temple it is! I have missed the spirit of the temple. Friday evening we had dinner with one of my former roommates. It was good to catch up on old times. Thank you Josh. On Saturday we went to the National Mall and saw several of the sites there in the area. We spent a few hours in the holocaust museum. That is a powerful exhibit. It makes you appreciate your freedoms and blessings.
Becky got a job this month! Derik do you remember emailing us before we moved out here and joking about a place called the North House, how it was all prepared for us? Well that’s where Becky got a job. It’s the local museum. The man who built the house was named Charles North. It would be interesting to find out if we are related. Becky went there shortly after we arrived and volunteered to conduct tours, or do anything else they needed. Her volunteering eventually turned into a job. It’s the perfect job for her. She works 12-15 hours/week, and makes a decent wage. It will give us some extra spending money and still allow her time her at home to manage our household. It is a perfect fit for our needs!
I finally broke down and signed up for Facebook. I think it’s neat to be able to see how friends and family are doing on a regular basis. I committed myself to not spending more than 15 min. per day on Fb. So far I’ve maintained that; the last thing I need is another way to waste time.
We hope that you are all doing well. Feel free to drop me a line and let me know.
Stewart and Becky North
2009 October: Robertson
Hello One and All,
October has been a quick month for us. We started it with my mom with us to help with Jamis. She was a great help and we all enjoyed her stay with us. She left to go back Rexburg on the 7th. That was the day that almost everything fell apart. The girls were distraught that grandma went away. Being distraught for them translates into being destructive. They went on a distraught destructive rampage. Morgan and I were watching in wonder and horror. But that didn’t last long. They both calmed down fast in the afternoon and Daria kept calming way down. She eventually became lethargic. By the time it was bed time, she wasn’t interested in anything. When Morgan and I went to bed a few hours later, I checked on the girls. Daria was still awake and having a hard time breathing. I ended up taking her into the emergency room. She had advanced bronchitis and a tear in her lung tissue. But everyone in the ER was really nice to her. She walked away (or I carried her away) with stickers, candy, and a new stuffed animal. After a few days on antibiotics, she was beck to her old self. Luckily, no one else got sick to that extent.
Speaking of sickness. All of us has been down and out at some time this month with the cold. However, we have watched as the flu knocked out a good chunk of our branch and some of our neighbors. But, we have been able to avoid it.
I took the GRE this month and did fairly well on it. My math scores could have been better; however, the programs I want to get into are much more concerned with my analytic and verbal scores. In both sections I scored somewhere in the 90th percentiles. So I have decided to start to apply to doctoral programs and see what happens.
For the rest of the month we had general conference, stake conference, several trips to Rochester for parties, and chauffeuring missionaries. I also had the young men over to our place for a pizza night where we played games. I also took the youth to do a highway cleanup. I was worried during the week leading up to the clean-up since it rained buckets every single day. The day before the clean-up Rochester had about four inches of snow, but the day of the cleanup was sunny and the ground was clear.
Morgan has been busy with Jamis and getting ready for the primary program and keeping the girls from smothering Jamis with love and kisses. She keeps recovering from the delivery bit by bit and is more and more back to her old self. She has more energy and is able to get up and do the things she wants to do. She is now in full swinging preparing for our trip to Idaho in a little over a month. We are really excited to be coming out to visit. I think that does it for us this month.
Bless you all,
The Robertsons
Friday, October 2, 2009
2009 September: Hope
This month of September has been fun I went to the nickel arcade with Rob and played some old games it was fun.
Michelle has started going to a cake decorating class and she is getting better, she will pass me up here in a few more classes, then I will have to ask here how to do stuff. She really likes it.
Scott is back in pre-school and is doing great and loving it, Kyle is learning from his older brother and is a smart little guy.
In school we are just getting ready to start cleaning more difficult patients and it is so fun getting off a big piece of calculus (tarter) from a people teeth, but hey that's just me.
It is just same old same old other than that.
The Hopes
Michelle has started going to a cake decorating class and she is getting better, she will pass me up here in a few more classes, then I will have to ask here how to do stuff. She really likes it.
Scott is back in pre-school and is doing great and loving it, Kyle is learning from his older brother and is a smart little guy.
In school we are just getting ready to start cleaning more difficult patients and it is so fun getting off a big piece of calculus (tarter) from a people teeth, but hey that's just me.
It is just same old same old other than that.
The Hopes
2009 September: Bates
Orianna has been very frustrated this month. She has been trying to talk a lot, but she really only knows a few words, and she gets really mad that we don't understand what she is saying. But, hopefully this will lead to her being able to talk faster- so we will just have a short period of frustration rather than a long period of ambiguous toddler-speak.
She has a small tricycle that she likes to ride around the house, and when she isn't on that she is either jogging (not quite running yet) or dancing. Her *favorite* past time is to dance, especially if she can try to mimic a dancer on TV. Luckily BYU-TV shows lots of dance shows- so she is very pleased with our TV programming.
Work has been busy as ever, especially this month. Last year we started a conference for customers and prospective customers. About 60 people came. This year we did it again and 163 customers came. It was fun though. I had a pretty intense planning session with one of our prospective customers. It took about an hour for us to plan out this complex workflow that would do exactly what they needed. I was worried that they would hate it (because it's very complex), but at the end he said, "Actually- this is all pretty easy. I'm impressed." Phew! What a relief on my part :)
We are trying to wrap up this year's product by the end of November, so we are in frantic mode right now as management tries to squeeze in as many enhancements as they can before we only work on bugs/stabilization.
Well, that's about it for this month. Hopefully next month will have more (as we are leaving for Idaho today for conference weekend).
Cheers,
The Bates Family
She has a small tricycle that she likes to ride around the house, and when she isn't on that she is either jogging (not quite running yet) or dancing. Her *favorite* past time is to dance, especially if she can try to mimic a dancer on TV. Luckily BYU-TV shows lots of dance shows- so she is very pleased with our TV programming.
Work has been busy as ever, especially this month. Last year we started a conference for customers and prospective customers. About 60 people came. This year we did it again and 163 customers came. It was fun though. I had a pretty intense planning session with one of our prospective customers. It took about an hour for us to plan out this complex workflow that would do exactly what they needed. I was worried that they would hate it (because it's very complex), but at the end he said, "Actually- this is all pretty easy. I'm impressed." Phew! What a relief on my part :)
We are trying to wrap up this year's product by the end of November, so we are in frantic mode right now as management tries to squeeze in as many enhancements as they can before we only work on bugs/stabilization.
Well, that's about it for this month. Hopefully next month will have more (as we are leaving for Idaho today for conference weekend).
Cheers,
The Bates Family
2009 September: Robertson
Greetings Everyone,
I’m trying to think about what happened in the month of September. Let me see… Something happened I’m sure about it. Well, we did have a boy move in with us. Things seem to be going pretty well so far; I mean all that he does is eat and sleep and mess himself. Granted, I’m not a huge fan of the messing of one’s self, but I understand that it is pretty normal for someone in his condition (not to be passing judgment or anything). I’m just waiting for him to start helping out about the place. I’m told that will happen later, but first he has to at least learn how to walk – again it’s his condition. His arrival has affected everyone here. For starters Morgan for the first few days of his arrival stayed in bed constantly. She had a “spinal headache” brought on just before this boy decided to make an appearance. But, she seems to be doing much better. She is up and about, and she tells me that she is “healing well” – whatever that means.
Kyla and Daria seem to have taken to him quite well. Kyla immediately was taken in by him, but Daria resisted him for a few days. For her, he was something that needed to be studied thoroughly before she could make a judgment call on whether or not to allow him within her inner circle. I was almost expecting her to pull out a notebook whenever he hiccupped and enter in some scientific log. But, she must have come to a favorable conclusion about him, and now she wants to hold him all the time (along with Kyla). At least to this point, the two girls have refrained from playing tug-of-war with him in their attempts to hold him. Quite frankly using the new arrival as a rope is frowned upon in developed societies. I think that the girls understand this and will refrain. Although the girls have claimed him as one of their own. They have given him a name of “babybrudderjamis” or sometimes they shorten his name to “babyjamis.” Either way, whenever they say it, it produces a large grin on the faces of every adult in the room. It must be some new type of joke that is circulating out among the two-year-old set that just hasn’t made it into the university setting yet.
Speaking of… I have had to do some changing due to this arrival as well. As I started the semester, I was taking a Shakespeare on Film class, but as the semester progressed, I realized that I would need to be home a bit more than I had been (prevent any tug-of-wars and other breaches of civility – that sort of thing). Unfortunately, the professor had a very strict attendance policy that she was not going to budge from: on the second absence, the student fails the course – no questions asked. I pulled out before it was too late. In its place, I am doing an internship for the English department, studying the trends of MA English programs in the country, and I am looking at hiring trends for English majors with a Masters (mainly in the field of education). It has been a bit eye opening for me, but very good so far. I feel confident that I will be able to find a job after graduation no matter what – whether or not the job will pay any money is another question all together.
We thank everyone for your support and well wishes with the arrival of Jamis. Until next time.
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, & Babybrudderjamis
2009 September: North
Things continue to move incredibly fast out here. We’re almost done with our anatomy course. I can’t believe I’m saying that. All my friends back at ISU are just getting settled into their new routines and here I am almost finishing one of the major courses of first year medical students. We have a big test tomorrow morning, so I’m going to go to bed early tonight so I can get up early and study.
One of the nice things about medical school compared to the University, is that here I am learning real skills that have a real-world application. There have been a couple of instances where Becky has hurt a leg stepping off a curb, or jogging at the gym and I have been able to use some of the techniques that I have learned to relieve her pain. It makes me feel good to know a useful skill. In undergraduate school my useful skills included being able to discuss the role of natural selection and genetic drift in evolution, and being able to name the branches off the aorta (if anyone needs help with any of those I think I could still manage).
Today was Stake Conference for us. Our stake center is in Lexington, Virginia. It’s about an hour and a half away. Imagine driving from Pocatello to Rexburg to go to stake conference. It was good to be in the company of so many saints again. I didn’t realize I had missed being around that many members of the Church until we started singing the opening hymn and instead of a few voices spread around the chapel I heard a wall of sound. The meetings were wonderful. I left feeling uplifted and strengthened. Becky and I are living blessed, happy lives out here. We have some fantastic opportunities for service and growth.
We wish the best to all of you,
Stewart and Becky
One of the nice things about medical school compared to the University, is that here I am learning real skills that have a real-world application. There have been a couple of instances where Becky has hurt a leg stepping off a curb, or jogging at the gym and I have been able to use some of the techniques that I have learned to relieve her pain. It makes me feel good to know a useful skill. In undergraduate school my useful skills included being able to discuss the role of natural selection and genetic drift in evolution, and being able to name the branches off the aorta (if anyone needs help with any of those I think I could still manage).
Today was Stake Conference for us. Our stake center is in Lexington, Virginia. It’s about an hour and a half away. Imagine driving from Pocatello to Rexburg to go to stake conference. It was good to be in the company of so many saints again. I didn’t realize I had missed being around that many members of the Church until we started singing the opening hymn and instead of a few voices spread around the chapel I heard a wall of sound. The meetings were wonderful. I left feeling uplifted and strengthened. Becky and I are living blessed, happy lives out here. We have some fantastic opportunities for service and growth.
We wish the best to all of you,
Stewart and Becky
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
2009 August: Hopes
Well this month was my vacation from school, I had all of August off, We first went to Michelle's family reunion up at Bear Lake. The boys had a great time at the water and with their cousins. Then we were going to go up to Idaho but with the car repairs we could not it is great to make payments that you are not expecting. So with $1800 out of our account we just stayed home and did stuff around here. We did stuff with family and friends then the last week we took the boys to the aquarium and it was the best thing ever, they got to see some cool animals and fishes, then they got to touch some sting-rays. The boys would not stop talking about it for a couple of days afterword.Michelle is doing good she is just home and doing Mary Kay and still working on the phone. She will start going to a cake decorating class which she excited to take. Scott is potty trained we are so excited and very proud of him. It seemed that he just wanted to start just one day and has been going strong, he has some accidents but that is expected. Kyle is doing great with just talking and helping Scott with with stuff mostly helping with playing with the cars and eating candy :) But I did start school today the 31st and we will see how this goes. Other than that we are doing great.
The Hopes
The Hopes
2009 August: North
Let’s see, what happened this month?...It seems like there was something big, what was it? Oh yeah, Medical School started month! We just completed our 4th week of classes, and I have learned a new meaning to the phrase full-time student. I have between 5 and 8 hours of classes each weekday, and then spend between 2 and 3 most evenings studying. I spend roughly 8 hours on Saturday and then take Sunday off. The school is trying something new with our class. They have cut the number of classes that we start out with from 7 down to 3 and they have drastically shortened our anatomy class. The same class that used to take 8 or 9 months is now being taught in 2. We spend 2 to 3 hours every day in the anatomy lab working with cadavers. When I close my eyes at night I see anatomy. When I wake up in the morning I see anatomy. We are taking our second test tomorrow. I think the pace will slow down a bit after anatomy is done (that might be naïve of me). I have learned so much information in so short of a time, it’s almost hard to believe.
It’s not been all work and no play. Becky and I have been to see some neat things around here. Becky has pictures posted on our blog stewandbeck.blogspot.com if anyone is interested. The state fair was last week and we got to go watch the horse pull. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they are able to do so much work. It was impressive to see how they worked as a team. I got to eat a corndog at the fair ( I love corndogs). I dare say it was one of the best I’ve ever had, and believe me, I’ve had a lot of corndogs.
Last week Becky and I were given new church callings. Becky was called to serve as the assistant nursery leader, and I was called to teach the 8-11 yr. old boys. I will miss not being able to sit by her during Sunday School. When I walked into the primary room and saw a row of boys kicking, punching, and jabbing each other I thought “there’s my class.” So far the boys have responded very well to my direction. As I taught my first lesson today it became painfully obvious that I have not prepared a lesson for young children in a long time. Well, the Lord called me, so He’ll have to train me. I think I will have a great time with these boys.
Best of luck to all of you, whether it’s back to school, or just another day another dollar (oh by the way, we added it up, it costs $222 per day including weekends to go to medical school).
Stewart and Becky North
It’s not been all work and no play. Becky and I have been to see some neat things around here. Becky has pictures posted on our blog stewandbeck.blogspot.com if anyone is interested. The state fair was last week and we got to go watch the horse pull. Those horses are beautiful animals, and they are able to do so much work. It was impressive to see how they worked as a team. I got to eat a corndog at the fair ( I love corndogs). I dare say it was one of the best I’ve ever had, and believe me, I’ve had a lot of corndogs.
Last week Becky and I were given new church callings. Becky was called to serve as the assistant nursery leader, and I was called to teach the 8-11 yr. old boys. I will miss not being able to sit by her during Sunday School. When I walked into the primary room and saw a row of boys kicking, punching, and jabbing each other I thought “there’s my class.” So far the boys have responded very well to my direction. As I taught my first lesson today it became painfully obvious that I have not prepared a lesson for young children in a long time. Well, the Lord called me, so He’ll have to train me. I think I will have a great time with these boys.
Best of luck to all of you, whether it’s back to school, or just another day another dollar (oh by the way, we added it up, it costs $222 per day including weekends to go to medical school).
Stewart and Becky North
2009 August: Bates
This month was a lazy one... apart from working like a mad-man at my normal job. Most of my side projects came to a complete halt, and we spent the large portion of the month watching movies and playing video games. It was a nice break.
But, it lead to a new side-project. I am now communicating with Nintendo to try and get licensed to become a game developer. My ne bro-in-law specializes in 3D modeling, and said he would be interested in such a project. We'll see what happens though, because we have to get the OK from Wii, and we have to pay $2,000 for the license... so right now it's JUST an idea.
Orianna is fully walking. She can even kind-of run. She is loving her new ability, and using it to her fullest.
The last of the "Big News" is that Marnee has now officially moved to Kansas. she and Dan got all of their stuff from our place and UHauled it down there. They are doing well- but with hectic schedules.
Well, that's it for the Bateses this month. Cheers,
-Rob, Tamara, & Orianna
But, it lead to a new side-project. I am now communicating with Nintendo to try and get licensed to become a game developer. My ne bro-in-law specializes in 3D modeling, and said he would be interested in such a project. We'll see what happens though, because we have to get the OK from Wii, and we have to pay $2,000 for the license... so right now it's JUST an idea.
Orianna is fully walking. She can even kind-of run. She is loving her new ability, and using it to her fullest.
The last of the "Big News" is that Marnee has now officially moved to Kansas. she and Dan got all of their stuff from our place and UHauled it down there. They are doing well- but with hectic schedules.
Well, that's it for the Bateses this month. Cheers,
-Rob, Tamara, & Orianna
2009 August: Robertson
Hey Everyone,
August has flown by. It seems like the last month of summer vacation always does even though we didn’t have too busy a schedule as compared to some months.
The month started off slow. Derik had a campout with the young men. He received the comment at church the next week that the quality of the food at the campouts has gone up dramatically since he started going (he hates and refuses to be content with roasting hot dogs over a fire – they had ribs at this most recent campout). His campout happened to be in Amish country and there was a little farmers market there in the morning that he got to stop at. They had some pretty incredible quilts and plenty of yummy things to eat too. He had a good time.
Later in the month Morgan’s aunt and cousin flew in from Virginia for a few days to visit. She took Kyla and Daria on a little day trip to a place called Lark toys-they have an incredible indoor merry-go-round and miniature golf and some other fun things to see there. Kyla and Daria got to ride on the merry-go-round and thought it was pretty fun…once they were safely off and could appreciate the memory. They both just started blank faced while they had their ride. It was kind of funny. After that we went over the river into Wisconsin to a little town called Nelson and we stopped at a place called Nelson Cheese. They have lots of great, freshly made dairy products as I’m sure you can image! It was quite yummy. We got sandwiches and then ice-cream cones for dessert. It was fun watching Kyla and Daria try and eat theirs. They definitely got sticky!
We also took a little mini-vacation for our 5th anniversary and as a “baby moon.” We turned over Kyla and Daria over to Morgan’s parents for two nights and we found a nice hotel room in Rochester to stay in. We went out to dinner at Red Lobster and then went to a Frank Sinatra tribute concert that was being put on by a shiners convention in town. We enjoyed it even though it was attended mostly by Shriners and their families. The next day we went over to the Medford mall about 45 min away. It’s an outlet mall. We found some good deals while we were there. We each got an item of clothing and a few other odds and ends. Then we stopped by a little town on the way back and looked around. We got some chocolates at a local shop there that were pretty decent. That evening we decided to take it easy, so we did a little more shopping, rented a movie (Coraline), got take out and then went back to our room and watched the movie and had our dinner there. It was really nice having such a loose agenda for our trip, we actually felt relaxed when it was over instead of feeling like we needed another vacation to recover! The next morning, we got all our things together, checked out, stopped by an old Mansion in Rochester called the “Plummer house” (the family’s last name was Plummer-not their occupation) and walked around their grounds-a very pretty place. Then we went and got our girls, enjoyed some time with family there and headed home again.
Other than that, Derik started school again, Morgan had a few more doctor’s appointments (she has less than 3 weeks till her due date, hooray!), and just went about life as usual. We hope you are all doing well. We missed getting to see you at the Family reunion. We look forward to the next time we get to see you all!
Love,
The Robertsons
Monday, August 3, 2009
2009 July: Hope
This has been a crazy and very $$$$$$ month. First I am finally done with this semester of school, YES only 2 more. Now I am going to relax (hopefully) for all of Aug. Now about the $$$$. Before the story we have 2 cars a green and a red one. I usually drive the green. Now to the story. One day I had to take the boys to the store in the red car, every time I pushed on the brakes it mad a funny sound, so later after I got home I asked Michelle how long that was going on for?? She said "Oh it has been going on for a bit now". :o was my reaction. So I had her take it to get the brakes fixed. Well since it had been going on for a bit it was metal on metal grinding and by doing that it was warping the router (not sure how to spell it) so that cost us $400, then a few days after the car was dieing on Michelle so she took it in and they found that it needed new spark plugs. Cost $300. Then the next day Michelle was up in Lehi and it was doing some crazy stuff so when she was on her way home (her uncle was following) there was some smoke and burning plastic and about a mile away from our Apt the car would not go over 40 mph. So the next day I took it in and they found that the coils that give the spark plugs the spark had short circuited and fried the ignition modulator (the computer that tells when to spark and when not to) So for this fix they had to get a new IM, housing for the coils, new coils, new spark plugs (we did not have to pay for the spark plugs), and some other odds and ends. This cost us $800. So within a few days the care cost us over $1500. Which is not to bad since I have had it for 8 years and this is the only problem I have had with it. Also it was mine and Rob's birthday this month and he came over and we had a fun time with the game he got me. Then the next day I went to the Tool concert with a couple of my friends, it was fun. I am now more of a Tool fan. The boys are doing great and they are growing up to fast. Well that is about it. Talk to you all later.
The Hopes
The Hopes
2009 July: Bates
We had a very celebratory month. Orianna turned 1, I'm now 26, Jason soon followed (accompanied by a delicious Crab/Lobster dinner... mmm I bet you're all jealous you don't live closer to Jason), Tamara's mom had a BDay, Tamara's sister got married (and we reception-ed in both Idaho and Utah), and we celebrated Pioneer Day... ok, so we really didn't celebrate Pioneer Day- but we mentioned that it was Pioneer Day.
Mostly we were focused on helping out with the double reception, so that took a lot of our time this month. I was the DJ. I found and had a friend help me rehabilitate an old pair of huge-speakers and a mixing board. I had a lot of fun doing it, but figured that it was a sign that it wasn't my calling when the powere went out in the middle of reception right before the dance. Not cool. Luckily it was only out for about 15 minutes.
For my BDay Marnee spoiled me rotten and got me a Nintendo Wii, so I have wasted pretty much all of my spare time from that moment on playing Mario Kart, and Super Mario Galaxy. Orianna really likes to drive with the Steering Wheel controller while we use the wii-motes.
Orianna started walking this month. She's been taking a few steps here and there for a while now, but never walked. Then on Pioneer Day we were at my folk's home in Idaho, and she picked up a diaper and carried it across the room to show it to my mom. So, my mom was pretty pleased to be there for the first time she'd ever walked. She continued to walk all the time while we were in Idaho, and then we got home and she hasn't done it since. So, apparently Idaho has some baby-enabling chemical in the water (or just the opposite: just wait- it's gonna be the next big conspiracy: 49 states found to but baby-hindering chemicals in the water to induce childhood obesity and addiction to artificial sweetening, j/k).
Lastly, I found out that putting a billboard in your backyard is really hard: especially when you live in Lehi. Lehi city has decreed that there shall be no more new billboards... ever. Doesn't matter where, who owns the land, or how much nepotism with the current billboard owners is going on. Oh well... I either have to become a full time lobbyist, or hire an attourney, and both sound really hard. The whole beauty of the idea was earning money while being lazy- and this just ruined it. How can they ruin the American Dream of Laziness so brashly?!?! Haha, I guess I'll have to get a new dream- but that's just so tiring.
Well, I think that does it for July's escapades,
-The Bateses
Mostly we were focused on helping out with the double reception, so that took a lot of our time this month. I was the DJ. I found and had a friend help me rehabilitate an old pair of huge-speakers and a mixing board. I had a lot of fun doing it, but figured that it was a sign that it wasn't my calling when the powere went out in the middle of reception right before the dance. Not cool. Luckily it was only out for about 15 minutes.
For my BDay Marnee spoiled me rotten and got me a Nintendo Wii, so I have wasted pretty much all of my spare time from that moment on playing Mario Kart, and Super Mario Galaxy. Orianna really likes to drive with the Steering Wheel controller while we use the wii-motes.
Orianna started walking this month. She's been taking a few steps here and there for a while now, but never walked. Then on Pioneer Day we were at my folk's home in Idaho, and she picked up a diaper and carried it across the room to show it to my mom. So, my mom was pretty pleased to be there for the first time she'd ever walked. She continued to walk all the time while we were in Idaho, and then we got home and she hasn't done it since. So, apparently Idaho has some baby-enabling chemical in the water (or just the opposite: just wait- it's gonna be the next big conspiracy: 49 states found to but baby-hindering chemicals in the water to induce childhood obesity and addiction to artificial sweetening, j/k).
Lastly, I found out that putting a billboard in your backyard is really hard: especially when you live in Lehi. Lehi city has decreed that there shall be no more new billboards... ever. Doesn't matter where, who owns the land, or how much nepotism with the current billboard owners is going on. Oh well... I either have to become a full time lobbyist, or hire an attourney, and both sound really hard. The whole beauty of the idea was earning money while being lazy- and this just ruined it. How can they ruin the American Dream of Laziness so brashly?!?! Haha, I guess I'll have to get a new dream- but that's just so tiring.
Well, I think that does it for July's escapades,
-The Bateses
2009 July: North
I'm writing this from a public library in Lewisburg West Virginia. Last week Becky and I packed up our things, said tearful good-byes to friends and family and drove to West Virginia. We left Monday morning at around 11:00. We drove through Utah and Wyoming on the first day and slept in Ft. Collins Colorado. We got to Denver during the morning lull,traffic was light; it was a perfect time to get through. We spent the rest of the day crossing Kansas. Kansas is very long. An hour of driving equates to like an inch on the map. But we finally made it through. We drove through Kansas City late in the evening and spent the night just East of there. We wanted to stop and see the Church history sites, but we didn't want to try to see them in a big truck with a car-trailor in tow. So we will have to stop on another trip across the country. The next morning we crossed Missouri, arriving in St. Louis after lunch. We crossed the Mississippi. I couldn't believe how wide it is. I've never seen it before. That day we drove through parts of Illinois and Indiana and slept in Kentucky. On Thursday morning we drove through the rest of Kentucky and most of West Virginia, arriving at our appartment at about 2:30. Historic Lewisburg is very narrow. It was built shortly after our nation was founded. The city planners did not have moving trucks with car-trailors in mind when they designed the streets. If I hadn't had years of experience driving a bus I'm not sure I would have made it. But we did in fact make it. We had a few members of the elder's quorum come over and help us unload. We have made friends with another young couple in the ward. He is also starting his first year of med school. They had us over to play games last night. It's nice to find like-minded people in unexpected places.
West Virginia is beautiful, green, and wild. Trees grow everywhere. There is a feeling that nature is pushing back; that if given a chance it would retake all of the space that people have domesticated. Many of the homes are very large, very elegant, and very old. I feel like I'm stepping back in time when I drive down some of the streets. Lewisburg is a beautiful place to spend a few years of our lives.
Our appartment is close to the school. I will use a bycicle to get to and from school, leaving Becky use of the car. School starts one week from today. We extend an open invitation to any who want to come and visit. We are about 4 hours from Washington D.C.
Stewart and Becky
West Virginia is beautiful, green, and wild. Trees grow everywhere. There is a feeling that nature is pushing back; that if given a chance it would retake all of the space that people have domesticated. Many of the homes are very large, very elegant, and very old. I feel like I'm stepping back in time when I drive down some of the streets. Lewisburg is a beautiful place to spend a few years of our lives.
Our appartment is close to the school. I will use a bycicle to get to and from school, leaving Becky use of the car. School starts one week from today. We extend an open invitation to any who want to come and visit. We are about 4 hours from Washington D.C.
Stewart and Becky
2009 July: Robertson
Hello Everyone,
July has slipped by us really fast. It seems that it just started. We started the month with Birthday parties for Morgan’s grandpa and a cousin and Fourth of July celebrations in Rochester. We were able to go to the large fireworks show that they had there. It was pretty good.
I had a brief meeting with one of my professors on campus to get ready for my comprehensive exams next February. No time to start preparing like the present, I guess. I was also able to take the young men camping again so they could work on their cooking merit badge. They had to cook a soup, two vegetables, a meat, and a dessert from scratch using only camp stoves, the fire, and a dutch oven. They did fairly well with their cooking.
The rest of my month was spent getting ready for our Stake Youth Conference. Trying to get a response from the inquiries I was making for our group was causing me a fair amount of stress. When I thought that I had things mostly taken care of, the Stake Presidency gave me new qualifications for my project which required some quick fixes and some changes in plans. I think though that everything about youth conference was a success. We were able to write letters to active service men and women and three beautifying projects in the community. Now that it is over, I can have my summer back – what’s left of it.
Morgan’s month consisted of doctor’s visits, presidency meetings, and primary activity days. She also gave a talk in Sacrament meeting; she is averaging one talk every three months in our branch. To her consternation I am averaging one talk every year. Morgan also celebrated her 25th birthday this month. The girls and I took her out to lunch at a local Mexican place and made her a birthday dinner of gyros. She received some scrapbooking supplies and a necklace that she seems to like. She then had a baby shower in conjunction with her cousin the next day. There was a good turn out at the party. We received a lot of boy clothes. Probably a good thing since we didn’t have much boy clothes.
The girls are doing really well. The become more independent and destructive day by day. In all fairness, they are also getting cuter as well. They do have their moments of being really sweet right next to the moments of being devils. I guess that is what comes with being two. They are starting to understand that there is baby around. If someone asks them where the baby is, they will try to lift up Morgan’s shirt to point to her tummy. I think that covers most of what we did this month minus some picnics and barbeques that we attended. We hope that everyone is doing well. We think and pray about all of you often.
With love,
Derik, Kyla, Morgan, Daria, and li’l boy
July has slipped by us really fast. It seems that it just started. We started the month with Birthday parties for Morgan’s grandpa and a cousin and Fourth of July celebrations in Rochester. We were able to go to the large fireworks show that they had there. It was pretty good.
I had a brief meeting with one of my professors on campus to get ready for my comprehensive exams next February. No time to start preparing like the present, I guess. I was also able to take the young men camping again so they could work on their cooking merit badge. They had to cook a soup, two vegetables, a meat, and a dessert from scratch using only camp stoves, the fire, and a dutch oven. They did fairly well with their cooking.
The rest of my month was spent getting ready for our Stake Youth Conference. Trying to get a response from the inquiries I was making for our group was causing me a fair amount of stress. When I thought that I had things mostly taken care of, the Stake Presidency gave me new qualifications for my project which required some quick fixes and some changes in plans. I think though that everything about youth conference was a success. We were able to write letters to active service men and women and three beautifying projects in the community. Now that it is over, I can have my summer back – what’s left of it.
Morgan’s month consisted of doctor’s visits, presidency meetings, and primary activity days. She also gave a talk in Sacrament meeting; she is averaging one talk every three months in our branch. To her consternation I am averaging one talk every year. Morgan also celebrated her 25th birthday this month. The girls and I took her out to lunch at a local Mexican place and made her a birthday dinner of gyros. She received some scrapbooking supplies and a necklace that she seems to like. She then had a baby shower in conjunction with her cousin the next day. There was a good turn out at the party. We received a lot of boy clothes. Probably a good thing since we didn’t have much boy clothes.
The girls are doing really well. The become more independent and destructive day by day. In all fairness, they are also getting cuter as well. They do have their moments of being really sweet right next to the moments of being devils. I guess that is what comes with being two. They are starting to understand that there is baby around. If someone asks them where the baby is, they will try to lift up Morgan’s shirt to point to her tummy. I think that covers most of what we did this month minus some picnics and barbeques that we attended. We hope that everyone is doing well. We think and pray about all of you often.
With love,
Derik, Kyla, Morgan, Daria, and li’l boy
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
2009 June: Hope
Well this month we moved to Provo to a gov subsidized apartment. It has 3 bedrooms which is nice to have an office and more room to put stuff. It is closer to Michelle's brother and sister-in-law.
I also got a job at a place called dream dinners, it is a place were you go and make dinners and take them home a freeze them until you eat them. Everything is cut and ready all you have to do is measure out the amount and put into Ziplock bags. It is a fun place.
I am also in a Bagpipe band which preformed at some events, since I do not know the tunes I get to play the Bass Drum, it is very fun, for some of the jigs I get to dance around with it.
Scott and Kyle are growing a lot. They are liking it at the new apt, they have lots of boys around the same age that live around us, which makes it nice to have them play outside.
I have one more month left of this semester of school and then a month off, and I am looking forward to it. Well hope everyone is doing good.
Jason Hope
I also got a job at a place called dream dinners, it is a place were you go and make dinners and take them home a freeze them until you eat them. Everything is cut and ready all you have to do is measure out the amount and put into Ziplock bags. It is a fun place.
I am also in a Bagpipe band which preformed at some events, since I do not know the tunes I get to play the Bass Drum, it is very fun, for some of the jigs I get to dance around with it.
Scott and Kyle are growing a lot. They are liking it at the new apt, they have lots of boys around the same age that live around us, which makes it nice to have them play outside.
I have one more month left of this semester of school and then a month off, and I am looking forward to it. Well hope everyone is doing good.
Jason Hope
2009 June: Bates
Is it bad that I can hardly remember June?
Let's see... we celebrated my sister Marnee's BDay early in the month, moved her apartment into my garage during the month, and celebrated her husband Dan's BDay at the end of the month.
So, Marnee & Dan are moving to Kansas to further his education. But, they have no where to move to, so we packed up her apartment and moved everything into my garage. When they get a place to move to, we will do it all again.
For their BDay celebrations we went to Tucanos Brazillian Grille and ate inordinate amounts of meat. It was the closest thing to heaven I've experienced outside the temple (ok... well maybe not... but it was dang good).
The rest of the month was occupied with wedding preparations for Tamara's sister, Leah. She is getting married in July, so we are all running errands until then. I think it will turn out great.
Orianna can stand up without the aid of objects now. She will take a step here and there, but never more than 3. She also gets really mad when we taunt her by holding objects a few steps away and forcing her to walk for them. She will knit her brow and shake her head "no" to show her disapproval.
Well, that pretty much sums up June. Cheers,
-The Bateses
2009 June: North
We’ve had a very busy, and enjoyable month. We’ve been living with my grandparents now for about 6 weeks. We are enjoying getting to know them better. It’s nice to be able to learn from their strengths and experiences.
We had the first of three family reunions this last weekend. We went to a girl’s camp near Twin Falls. We made some PVC pipe rocket launchers. One of the uncles brought his air compressor, so we could recharge the launchers quickly and easily. I’ll bet our little paper rockets went 30 to 40 feet in the air. It was a fun, inexpensive, and all the parts are reusable. It was hard to say goodbye to family members and know that we won’t see them again before we leave for WV.
The week before that Becky went to go visit her family. She was gone for a whole week! We must still qualify as newlyweds because we really missed each other. Her younger sister had just returned from Chile so Becky wanted to get to be with her before we left. She spent most of her free time sewing and shopping. She got to be a kid at home again for the last time. On Thursday of that week I went to Rexburg to be with my family for a couple of days. I enjoyed being a kid at home again for the last time. Then on Saturday I drove over to Becky’s home and we were able to be there when her sister reported on her mission.
Today we went to a baby blessing for Blaze Hudson Pardo, Camille and Juan’s new little boy. Juan gave the blessing in Spanish, the 50% that I understood sounded very good. After church we went over to Camille and Juan’s for a family BBQ. We had a great time talking and eating together. Isn’t family wonderful! In the two weeks before we leave we have two family reunions, so we’ll be busy, but happy.
God bless,
Stewart and Becky
We had the first of three family reunions this last weekend. We went to a girl’s camp near Twin Falls. We made some PVC pipe rocket launchers. One of the uncles brought his air compressor, so we could recharge the launchers quickly and easily. I’ll bet our little paper rockets went 30 to 40 feet in the air. It was a fun, inexpensive, and all the parts are reusable. It was hard to say goodbye to family members and know that we won’t see them again before we leave for WV.
The week before that Becky went to go visit her family. She was gone for a whole week! We must still qualify as newlyweds because we really missed each other. Her younger sister had just returned from Chile so Becky wanted to get to be with her before we left. She spent most of her free time sewing and shopping. She got to be a kid at home again for the last time. On Thursday of that week I went to Rexburg to be with my family for a couple of days. I enjoyed being a kid at home again for the last time. Then on Saturday I drove over to Becky’s home and we were able to be there when her sister reported on her mission.
Today we went to a baby blessing for Blaze Hudson Pardo, Camille and Juan’s new little boy. Juan gave the blessing in Spanish, the 50% that I understood sounded very good. After church we went over to Camille and Juan’s for a family BBQ. We had a great time talking and eating together. Isn’t family wonderful! In the two weeks before we leave we have two family reunions, so we’ll be busy, but happy.
God bless,
Stewart and Becky
2009 June: Robertson
Greetings everyone,
June was a busy month - probably too busy. I will try to keep this short and just focus in the highlights. We were in Rochester a lot this month celebrating birthdays and going to stake meetings. The time for youth conference is winding down so I have been riding the youth on my committee pretty hard to get their assignments in and done. It’s hard trying to get others to accomplish a task without procrastinating when their inclination is to do just that. But I think that the youth conference will go off just fine. I finished one internship for the common book on campus and started the other internship for the film class. I had to miss a week and I have been struggling to get back into the swing of things with that class. I picked up a temporary job over the summer evaluating papers and assignments from the business department on the WSU campus. The business department is trying to get accredited with some prestigious business program. In order to do that, they need to have a certain level of performance in their students and faculty. I was asked to go over the assignments and assignment sheets to see if 1) the students are performing at an acceptable level (they aren’t) and 2) see if the faculty are creating challenging assignments and rubrics that are straightforward and clear (some are). It has been interesting. My report to the business department by the time this is over will probably go something like “Good luck – you have a loooooong way to go.” But then I will have to say something constructive.
The biggest event of the month was the week I was gone to the Aaronic Priesthood Encampment. All of Minnesota’s 8 stakes were represented at the encampment. There were over 1200 people at a little scout camp. We had a blast at the camp. The mission president talked to the young men about serving missions. President Gibson, 1st councilor in the General Young Men’s Presidency, spent a few days with the young men and talked to them. There were Sacred Grove experiences for the youth and then typical Boy Scout activities – climbing walls, guns, canoes, service projects, etc. I spent the week getting my leader training which entailed me spending most of all day everyday inside sitting on a chair. But I am now fully trained Adult leader for Boy Scouts. Next stop is Woodbadge. The only down side to the camp (as far as I am concerned) was the ticks. In the 6 days we were there, I found about 20 crawling on me and another three that were attached to my person. I dispatched of those blood suckers promptly with my pocket knife. There was a tick battlefield full of tick carnage on the inside of my tent. Other than that, it was great.
While I was at camp, Morgan and the girls spent the week at her parents’ place. They went swimming about everyday and the girls loved it. They started to actually jump into the pool. Morgan was also able to spend some time with some of her old friends who moved back to Rochester. Morgan’s favorite part of the week was all of the extra help that she received in watching the girls. She was able to relax a bit more than normal.
After I came back from camp, I took Morgan on a date. We went to see The Tempest put on by the Great River Shakespeare festival here in Winona. It was a very good play. I hadn’t seen it in a while and got a lot out of it as I watched it that I don’t remember from the last time I read/watched it. It was nice to be able and go out and enjoy each other’s company. Between the pregnancy, the girls, and school, it doesn’t happen as often as either of us would like it to.
I think that does it for us. We think about all of you often. Wishing you the best,
Derik and family
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
2009 May: North
Since our last installment we have moved in with my grandparents. They live just a couple of blocks from our previous apartment. We are living in a spare bedroom downstairs. We are saving a bunch of money on car insurance...wait that's not right...we are saving a bunch of money on rent and food (phew, I was afraid I was stuck in a Geico commercial there for a minute). Right now all our stuff is boxed up in a large, unfriendly pile in their basement. I can't believe how much stuff we have. During the day both Becky and I work, but we get our evenings to be together, which we enjoy.
We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Again, I am suprised at how quickly it has come. I am pleased at how our lives are going. Becky has made me a better man. I am grateful for her friendship. She has changed me forever.
As a combined graduation/anniversary present we spent a couple of days in Salt Lake. Sorry Jason and Rob, I would have contacted you, but we visited a couple of Becky's missio friends on the trip, and I wanted to leave some time for just she and I. We stayed at the Plaza hotel just off of Temple Square. We visited the Planetarium, the Zoo and the Temple. It was fun to get out of Dodge for awhile and be with each other. If any of you are looking for a good sandwich near down town SL look for Moochies on your way to Hogle Zoo from Temple Square, they make a mean Philly Cheese steak sandwich!
Well we wish you and your families all the best.
Stewart and Becky
We just celebrated our 2 year anniversary. Again, I am suprised at how quickly it has come. I am pleased at how our lives are going. Becky has made me a better man. I am grateful for her friendship. She has changed me forever.
As a combined graduation/anniversary present we spent a couple of days in Salt Lake. Sorry Jason and Rob, I would have contacted you, but we visited a couple of Becky's missio friends on the trip, and I wanted to leave some time for just she and I. We stayed at the Plaza hotel just off of Temple Square. We visited the Planetarium, the Zoo and the Temple. It was fun to get out of Dodge for awhile and be with each other. If any of you are looking for a good sandwich near down town SL look for Moochies on your way to Hogle Zoo from Temple Square, they make a mean Philly Cheese steak sandwich!
Well we wish you and your families all the best.
Stewart and Becky
2009 May: Hope
In the merry month of May we had a crazzzzzzy time. The first of the month was just like any other one; day to day normal routine. Then I started another semester at school. This semester is the half way in the schooling (YES). I am taking Dental Materials (we get to know what the dentist is using and what it is all made of), Geriatric (how to take care of the old and crazy farts), Oral Diagnosis (here we learn what can grow in the mouth from fungus such as thrush to your run of the mill tumors), PP Goals (no not learning how to aim when going PP, it is just personal goals when done with school), Public Health (just knowing how to go out into the community and help out), Research (this is a big wast of time so far we have had to find 10 words that start with our last name so mine was H that has to deal with something in dental, then find 5 different sources with definitions for each word and so it ended up being 50 total, then for each word we had to make up our own definition and a paragraph explaining why we used the words we did......a big wast of time), Then finally the best and one that I have been looking forward to Local Anesthesia (getting people numb) it has been a great class right now we are just learning out of the book about what each item is made up with and how much we can give each patient without killing them (yes people have died due to to much anesthetic, it is sad but it mainly happens to children and very stupid people), then later in the month was Kyles 3rd birthday that was coming up......we about a week before we found that water was under our cabinets and was growing mold on the inside and just at the right angle so you did not see it when getting something out, so we had to clean all that up which was big mess, we had landlords mad at us and we mad at them until it was done, but we had to get rid of some stuff due to the mold damage. Well we had Kyles party outside, it was a good time he had lots of fun with family and a couple of friends over, he is starting to be a little stinker. They both got a bike and they are now wanting to spend every waking moment out riding on them. Scott got done with his first time at pre-school, he is going throu Bus withdrawal. But now we are looking at other apartments and all that fun stuff, Well I hope all is well and well is all hope I Well. Talk to you all later.
2009 May: Bates
Well this months has been a hectic one. Tamara's sister Leah was preparing to leave on a mission March 13th. So we were doing fun things every day until then. In all this fun I managed to break my foot. We went to a trampoline store called "Jump on it." It was really fun (minus the injury).
We also went to a Rennaisance fair for Tamara's BDay. They had stores, a magic show, nerf-sword fighting, large quantities of greasy-roasted meat, and live action jousting. We had quite a good time (despite all the really creepy people who hung out there).
For our 2nd anniversary we went to Eden, Utah. It was a lot of fun. We saw a moose, and went on a hike along a trail lined with Marijuana (no it wasn't cinquefoil). We attending the ward up there, and it was quite pleasant to be in a ward where I have zero responsibilities. I could sit and snuggle with my wife while being uplifted by the good word of God. It was great.
Then, our plans changed rapidly: Leah got engaged. So, we went from full time fun, to full time trying to get Leah ready for her wedding in July-ish. It's been a busy month, but a great one.
Then, at the end of the month, I was called as Assistant Membership Clerk. Apparently we have stacks & stacks of old records that needed to be input into the computer, and they heard I was really good at menial computer labor. It was a match made in heaven. I actually enjoy the calling. I have been primary pianist so long, that I forgot what it was like to have a calling I was actually good at (slash qualified for).
Well, we hope you are all doing great,
The Bateses
We also went to a Rennaisance fair for Tamara's BDay. They had stores, a magic show, nerf-sword fighting, large quantities of greasy-roasted meat, and live action jousting. We had quite a good time (despite all the really creepy people who hung out there).
For our 2nd anniversary we went to Eden, Utah. It was a lot of fun. We saw a moose, and went on a hike along a trail lined with Marijuana (no it wasn't cinquefoil). We attending the ward up there, and it was quite pleasant to be in a ward where I have zero responsibilities. I could sit and snuggle with my wife while being uplifted by the good word of God. It was great.
Then, our plans changed rapidly: Leah got engaged. So, we went from full time fun, to full time trying to get Leah ready for her wedding in July-ish. It's been a busy month, but a great one.
Then, at the end of the month, I was called as Assistant Membership Clerk. Apparently we have stacks & stacks of old records that needed to be input into the computer, and they heard I was really good at menial computer labor. It was a match made in heaven. I actually enjoy the calling. I have been primary pianist so long, that I forgot what it was like to have a calling I was actually good at (slash qualified for).
Well, we hope you are all doing great,
The Bateses
2009 May: Robertson
Hello Everyone,
Okay, so I am trying to remember what happened during the month of May. Starting at the beginning of the month, I finished my crazy, hectic semester at school. I was a bit nervous coming out of those classes, but I managed to pull everything off. So, half way through my master’s degree, I still have a 4.0. I hope that I will be able to maintain this trend. So over the summer I will be working on two different internships (neither paid) for the university. Both aimed at building my resume. I have the first assignment that I need to work on for my comprehensive tests next spring. I need to get going on studying for those tests.
After school let out, I started helping different individuals move. During the month, I moved three different individuals/families. At least I know that I’m needed. During all of this moving of furniture, we were able to get Morgan’s parents’ old wooden table. I stripped the damaged finish off of it and have spent the past few days with Morgan refinishing the table. It is looking really nice.
One weekend I took the boy scouts on a 15 mile overnight camping/hiking trip. Friday night, it rained pretty constantly all night so we didn’t do a lot of hiking. Instead we sat under a tarp and kept warm by some hot coals. Saturday we ended up taking a wrong turn and going cross country for a few miles. Cross country ended up being hiking up and down ravine after ravine and through some heavy marsh areas. We eventually found our trail again. Our final destination for our hike was an old town site that was abandoned in the 1920s. The town was flooded (according to our map) 23 times in one year by the neighboring river. I don’t blame anyone in the town who packed up and left. On our hike, we were able to stop at a really old cemetery belonging to a family of homesteaders. It was interesting to see the little cemetery (only 9? graves) tucked away in a ravine. I doubt very many people even know of its existence. It was a good trip. I surprised myself by how well I was able to do with the long hike. I guess all of the walking I have been doing during the last year or so paid off.
Other than that my church calling has been keeping me busy and mostly out of trouble. Kyla and Daria, on the other hand, find trouble to be the ideal state to be in. They are constantly creating messes or fighting or demanding something (most of the time they want fruit snacks). When they are not terrorizing each other or us, they are really sweet. They like to give hugs and kisses. They are starting to say “please” and “thank you.” And both are starting to police the other when it comes to folding arms for prayers. Prayers will usually turn into both of them scolding the other for not folding her arms. It gets rather funny at times.
This month Morgan has fully admitted to herself that she looks pregnant. She brought out her maternity clothes and “had” to go and get some more. I just got a look for putting that word in quotation marks. She enjoyed having a primary activity this month where the children planted seeds, went article of faith fishing, and figured out other puzzles and games. She seemed to like the activity – even if it was sparsely attended.
We attended two wedding receptions this month in Rochester for some of Morgan’s friends from high school and growing up. It was nice to be able to spend some not so stressful time with her family. Other than that, Morgan is getting ready for the baby. She has gone garage sale hopping once so she could get some boy clothes for the little one. She can see her stomach move now when he kicks hard. Some of his kicks have led to some interesting jerk reactions. At least no one has been too badly injured from his actions. All and all, we are happy and doing well. We hope that everyone is doing well. We miss and love you. If anyone wants a road trip to the Midwest this summer, our door is open.
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, and Captain Obvious
p.s. as you can tell, we are still looking for names. Any suggestions would be great.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
2009 April: Hope
what to say what to say......well I finally got done with another semester without killing someone......at least I think I did.
For the break The boys and I went to Rexburg just to hang out with family and to get away from Utah (no not get away from Rob, but it was a nice break :) ) It was cold most of the time up there but we did have some good days, I took lots of pictures, some are up on my blog if you would like to see. Michelle had to stay and babysit some girls and work so she was not able to make it with us, I think she liked the time alone....a little to much :)
After getting back to Utah I helped out at my school during the WREB (Wester Regional Education Boards) I was a lot of fun and it helped a lot to know what to do when I take them next year. They are a clinic, anesthesia, and a paper exam for anesthesia. So for 4 days I did that. Mostly it was very boring just waiting for the students to get done.
Michelle has been up to the same stuff, nothing has really changed, Scott and Kyle are getting bigger and smarter, while up in Idaho we stopped by a friends house and they had a Ferret, and I was surprised that Scott wanted to hold it (he is usually scared of getting close to animals...a long story) but he held it (a pic is on the blog).
It has been a year since we lost my nephew Brantly, the time has gone by very quick.
Well that is about it for the Hopes. Hope everyone is great.
For the break The boys and I went to Rexburg just to hang out with family and to get away from Utah (no not get away from Rob, but it was a nice break :) ) It was cold most of the time up there but we did have some good days, I took lots of pictures, some are up on my blog if you would like to see. Michelle had to stay and babysit some girls and work so she was not able to make it with us, I think she liked the time alone....a little to much :)
After getting back to Utah I helped out at my school during the WREB (Wester Regional Education Boards) I was a lot of fun and it helped a lot to know what to do when I take them next year. They are a clinic, anesthesia, and a paper exam for anesthesia. So for 4 days I did that. Mostly it was very boring just waiting for the students to get done.
Michelle has been up to the same stuff, nothing has really changed, Scott and Kyle are getting bigger and smarter, while up in Idaho we stopped by a friends house and they had a Ferret, and I was surprised that Scott wanted to hold it (he is usually scared of getting close to animals...a long story) but he held it (a pic is on the blog).
It has been a year since we lost my nephew Brantly, the time has gone by very quick.
Well that is about it for the Hopes. Hope everyone is great.
2009 April: Bates
This month was packed. I had all the normal busy with work stuff, but we also did the following:
-Put a swing in our front yard. It's big enough for 2, so Tamara and I can swing together. Orianna loves it, especially now that it's getting warmer.
-We've done lots of yard work (including plucking the same amount of dandelions everyday. No matter how many you weed out and throw away, there is always the same number the next day).
-We went to Rexburg for Easter and had a surprisingly restful Easter. It was nice to be able to just chill and talk a bunch.
-We kicked our dog, Max, out of the house. He is now living in the garage, but has a dog run and a doggie door to the garage, so he pretty much has full reign of the back yard.
-We went to the zoo with Tamara's extended family, and had an absolute blast there. Orianna loves the animals. I actually just went during my lunch hour, but then when I was done with work, they were still there, so I went back and ended up seeing most of the zoo still.
-I went to a ghost town with Tamara's family (Tamara did not wasn't to go, so she stayed with the baby). It was pretty cool. They had a cemetery for all the villagers that were burned to death when the town burned down... twice. It's the town of Mercur.
-We had a BBQ in our back yard, and had a fun time cooking hot dogs. Max loves hot dogs, but refused to eat Tamara's Sister's Tofu-Dog when it fell on the ground (proof that Tofu is not fit for mammalian consumption [Rule of Sanitation: If a dog wont eat it, you definitely shouldn't]).
-We went to Comedy Sportz (an improvisation club) with Tamara's extended family. It was also a blast, though Orianna was very excited and kept talking loudly at the actors, so we had to take her out a lot.
-We had another amazing BBQ at Tamara's Aunt's house. They fed us gourmet steaks and BBQ chicken. I nearly exploded in a delicious blast of BBQ sauce.
-We also sent Erica off to Europe. I dropped her off at the airport for her BYU-I trip all around Europe.
-And finally we went to the Aquarium again (with Tamara's extended family). It was fun, again, and Orianna loved the colorful fish & coral, still. Then we came home and had a game night and played Domino-Train and Killer-Bunnies (2 quite fun games).
I know we sound like an adventuresome bunch, but really it is all Tamara's sister's doing. She is leaving on a mission in May, and organized a bajillion fun activities for us all to do. It has been super fun (but also super time-consuming and expensive). So, after the 13th of May (when she leaves) we will probably take a very boring rest for a few months while we make up for all the money we're spending now.
Hope you are all doing great! Cheers,
-The Bateses
-Put a swing in our front yard. It's big enough for 2, so Tamara and I can swing together. Orianna loves it, especially now that it's getting warmer.
-We've done lots of yard work (including plucking the same amount of dandelions everyday. No matter how many you weed out and throw away, there is always the same number the next day).
-We went to Rexburg for Easter and had a surprisingly restful Easter. It was nice to be able to just chill and talk a bunch.
-We kicked our dog, Max, out of the house. He is now living in the garage, but has a dog run and a doggie door to the garage, so he pretty much has full reign of the back yard.
-We went to the zoo with Tamara's extended family, and had an absolute blast there. Orianna loves the animals. I actually just went during my lunch hour, but then when I was done with work, they were still there, so I went back and ended up seeing most of the zoo still.
-I went to a ghost town with Tamara's family (Tamara did not wasn't to go, so she stayed with the baby). It was pretty cool. They had a cemetery for all the villagers that were burned to death when the town burned down... twice. It's the town of Mercur.
-We had a BBQ in our back yard, and had a fun time cooking hot dogs. Max loves hot dogs, but refused to eat Tamara's Sister's Tofu-Dog when it fell on the ground (proof that Tofu is not fit for mammalian consumption [Rule of Sanitation: If a dog wont eat it, you definitely shouldn't]).
-We went to Comedy Sportz (an improvisation club) with Tamara's extended family. It was also a blast, though Orianna was very excited and kept talking loudly at the actors, so we had to take her out a lot.
-We had another amazing BBQ at Tamara's Aunt's house. They fed us gourmet steaks and BBQ chicken. I nearly exploded in a delicious blast of BBQ sauce.
-We also sent Erica off to Europe. I dropped her off at the airport for her BYU-I trip all around Europe.
-And finally we went to the Aquarium again (with Tamara's extended family). It was fun, again, and Orianna loved the colorful fish & coral, still. Then we came home and had a game night and played Domino-Train and Killer-Bunnies (2 quite fun games).
I know we sound like an adventuresome bunch, but really it is all Tamara's sister's doing. She is leaving on a mission in May, and organized a bajillion fun activities for us all to do. It has been super fun (but also super time-consuming and expensive). So, after the 13th of May (when she leaves) we will probably take a very boring rest for a few months while we make up for all the money we're spending now.
Hope you are all doing great! Cheers,
-The Bateses
2009 April: North
One week from today I will get to join the rest of the Freakish Four in the college graduate club. I’m excited. It’s been 5 long years (and I’m only half way there, I think I’m going to cry). I have my Spanish final on Monday morning. I’m not really worried about that one. My Italian has benefited me a lot during Spanish. I have a friend who served his mission in Brazil who sat next to me in that class. We took turns trying to get the rest of the class to hate the other more (I say very loudly “Oh wow Nate, you really aced that test, you probably didn’t even have to study!” A few days later he says “wow Stewart, you sure set the bar high for that oral exam!”) I don’t know why, but every time I said something to get him in trouble people just looked at me like I was disrupting class, but when he said something everyone looked at me like “you jerk.” Rob, si quieres practicar puedes llamarme, necesito practica yo tambien. Also on Monday I have to turn in a paper for my botany class. It’s about why there are more flowering plants than non-flowering plants, even though non-flowering plants show up in the fossil record first. Now I know you are all dying to discuss it with me, it’s probably something you’ve been thinking a lot about lately.
Becky and I have found a new TV series that we enjoy. It comes from Canada. Becky has a co-worker who bought the DVD’s. It’s called Corner Gas. It’s set in this tiny little town in Saskatchewan. The humor is always clean, and other than a few bad words here and there, we enjoy it. If you’re looking for something new to watch you might check it out.
Well we wish the best of luck to you all, and may God bless.
Stewart and Becky
P.S. Becky reminded me that I forgot to mention one very important thing we did in April. We became an aunt and uncle. Now Jason, you've probably been an uncle your whole life, but for me, it's the first time. Camille and Juan had their first little baby boy on April 26 (I think that's the day). They named him blaz (pronounced blauss if you use the Spanish pronunciation, blaze if you use the English). He sleeps a lot during the day, and plays a lot during the night. Both mom and baby are doing well.
Becky and I have found a new TV series that we enjoy. It comes from Canada. Becky has a co-worker who bought the DVD’s. It’s called Corner Gas. It’s set in this tiny little town in Saskatchewan. The humor is always clean, and other than a few bad words here and there, we enjoy it. If you’re looking for something new to watch you might check it out.
Well we wish the best of luck to you all, and may God bless.
Stewart and Becky
P.S. Becky reminded me that I forgot to mention one very important thing we did in April. We became an aunt and uncle. Now Jason, you've probably been an uncle your whole life, but for me, it's the first time. Camille and Juan had their first little baby boy on April 26 (I think that's the day). They named him blaz (pronounced blauss if you use the Spanish pronunciation, blaze if you use the English). He sleeps a lot during the day, and plays a lot during the night. Both mom and baby are doing well.
2009 April: Robertson
We made it through April. Somehow. We really enjoyed General Conference and spending the weekend with Morgan’s family. The weekend right after General Conference was Easter and also our stake conference. Kyla & Daria had fun that morning looking for Easter Eggs. They found quite a lot of goodies. Daria refused to sit for even a moment during stake conference. She had everyone chasing her at some point or another. The girls are still growing and becoming cuter and more trouble every day. They like going outside and frequently ask for their coats so they can go out and play.
I, Derik, finished my semester at WSU. With everything that happened at the end, I think that I finished decently. I am a little nervous about a class or two, but I think that I will come out decently overall. I can look forward to less hectic schedules for the rest of my master’s degree. This semester was crazy.
I went to Fargo, ND for an English conference where I presented a paper on the political philosophy of Maria W Stewart, America’s First African American Female Political Writer and Lecturer. It was interesting driving through the city. There were sandbags and large piles of sand everywhere. For dinner the night we were there, I was able to talk the group that I was with to go to an Italian restaurant instead of a bar. It was absolutely amazing food. Everyone was glad that we went to the restaurant instead of the bar. However that night a bunch of the group went bar hopping. They wanted me to go to be the designated driver, but I stayed at the hotel so I could call Morgan and get some sleep that night. The next day was the day that we all had to present. The ones who went drinking all night were really hung over and didn’t present so hot. Oh well. I was complimented on my presentation and had some engaging questions afterwards.
We went to an end of the semester BBQ for the English department. The girls were the entertainment for the evening. They had a great time and made some friends among some of the other grad students in the department. The highlight of their evening was when they found a Jack-in-the-box. They thought that is was funny when it popped out of the box even though it would startle them pretty bad. Kyla would tell me to do it again and then she would crawl onto Morgan’s lap and hold on really tight for when it sprang out. There was a grad student from China who had never seen a Jack-in-the-box. She thought that it was just a music box. When the Jack popped out, she screamed. She probably startled the girls as much as the Jack did.
Early in April, Morgan had her first ultrasound. Initially the ultrasound technician told us that everything looked good but a few days later Morgan received a phone call from her doctor telling her they may have seen what is called the “lemon sign” which can indicate spina bifida or other releated problems. So a few days later she had her second ultrasound at a hospital in LaCrosse, WI (about a 30 min drive) so that a better ultrasound could be done. Morgan’s mom was kind enough to babysit on short notice so Morgan could go. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. There was no sign of any problems at all. That was a big relief. Oh, and IT’S A BOY! Yay! We’re very excited!
Morgan has also taken a few trips to Rochester while her parents are on vacation in Hawaii. She has spent 3 nights there helping out so grandma can get a break from the kids and so she can spend some time with them too. Grandma is doing a wonderful job in Jared and Krista’s absence, keeping up with everyone’s busy schedules. It’s been a fun excuse to visit with family while Derik has been busy with end of semester projects and finals.
That’s it from the Robertson family for this month. We hope you all are doing well!
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, and the very wiggly baby boy on the way (The ultrasound technician even asked if Morgan had recently had caffeine! ...which naturally she hadn't)Tuesday, April 7, 2009
2009 March: Hope
Lets see what has happened in the past month.....
Well Michelle still works her internet, babysits, and Mary Kay jobs, she is doing great. She just had her hair done with some color in it. It is a dark brown with some red stripe things in it.
Scott is about 90% potty trained and Kyle is about 40% = less $$$$ soon (hopefully).
Like always I am just at school learning about perio disease and what it can do to a person, and cleaning teeth.
So our lives are same old same old, I think I should let Michelle wright the next one, it probably be my longest one yet...... I am also thinking about learning the Bass guitar. But it is just a thought. So until we meet/talk again.
Well Michelle still works her internet, babysits, and Mary Kay jobs, she is doing great. She just had her hair done with some color in it. It is a dark brown with some red stripe things in it.
Scott is about 90% potty trained and Kyle is about 40% = less $$$$ soon (hopefully).
Like always I am just at school learning about perio disease and what it can do to a person, and cleaning teeth.
So our lives are same old same old, I think I should let Michelle wright the next one, it probably be my longest one yet...... I am also thinking about learning the Bass guitar. But it is just a thought. So until we meet/talk again.
2009 March: Bates
My big accomplishment this month was accidentally wearing a green shirt on St. Patricks day.
Orianna is now jabbering with reason. She doesn't really say any words, but she has sounds for "light", "hi", "mom", "dad", "banana", & "nurse". She likes to walk along walls and couches, clapping, and roaring (her new trick).
My mom came down to visit for half a week. We took her to the aquarium. Orianna LOVES colorful fish. The aquarium here is pretty cool, but fairly small.
Later we went to a pioneer/wild-west/taxedermy/geology museum. That was fun too, but Orianna just wanted to look at the taxedermied heads. So we took turns showing her the heads while the others looked at the normal exhibits.
I started working on some new projects with my business partner (I know, I know- I should finish some before I start new ones). The most recent is a water distiller.
Finally, Jason finished cleaning my teeth, and he used an awesome tool that sprayed water all over my face. It was pretty awesome.
That pretty much sums up March. Cheers,
-The Bateses
Orianna is now jabbering with reason. She doesn't really say any words, but she has sounds for "light", "hi", "mom", "dad", "banana", & "nurse". She likes to walk along walls and couches, clapping, and roaring (her new trick).
My mom came down to visit for half a week. We took her to the aquarium. Orianna LOVES colorful fish. The aquarium here is pretty cool, but fairly small.
Later we went to a pioneer/wild-west/taxedermy/geology museum. That was fun too, but Orianna just wanted to look at the taxedermied heads. So we took turns showing her the heads while the others looked at the normal exhibits.
I started working on some new projects with my business partner (I know, I know- I should finish some before I start new ones). The most recent is a water distiller.
Finally, Jason finished cleaning my teeth, and he used an awesome tool that sprayed water all over my face. It was pretty awesome.
That pretty much sums up March. Cheers,
-The Bateses
2009 March: North
Hi everyone, we're doing great. We are keeping busy. Congratulations Derik and Morgan. We are very happy to hear about your pregnancy! You must be excited.
Stewart and Becky
Stewart and Becky
2009 March: Robertson
Hello All,
I will take this brief moment to write a short little note about what we did this month. Beginning with the most important - Morgan. March had a few warm days for us here that Morgan was able to take advantage of by taking the girls to a park and play. They had a good time there until Morgan became fed up with all of the mothers swearing at their kids and the kids swearing at each other. Pretty sad. But that warm weather streak only lasted a day or two. The rest of the month has been filled with cold and snow. She attended a Primary training meeting in Rochester this month and was able to then go out to lunch with her mom after the meeting. She was excited that she was feeling good enough that day to actually do something. We think that her morning sickness is starting to go away. Over the past few days she has been feeling more or less like her old self. She also learned that her closest cousin who she grew up with is also pregnant and their due dates are only a few days apart. She is really excited. I think that they are planning a joint baby shower for the two of them sometime during the summer. Other than that Morgan has tried not being sick to varying degrees of success.
The girls are continuing to grow and be wild and crazy. It is becoming time to potty train. Daria and Kyla are constantly trying to take off their dirty diapers by themselves. Or, worse yet, trying to take off their diaper and soil their beds, the floor, our rug, whatever they happen to be standing over. It is time.
I have been really busy with school. I have been starting/finishing/reading about seven books per week on average for the past month. Trying to keep plots and details separate has been a challenge on occasion. Other than that, I caught a student plagiarizing this month. I hate it when that happens. It was an ugly situation. I have been accepted to to present a paper at a conference in Fargo, ND in April unless the town is under water by then. I also landed an (unpaid) internship for the summer that will further CV when it comes to writing and teaching fields. I will be preparing the common book for Winona state university. The common book is a book that the entire university reads in most every class. In addition to that there will be a film series, a community project, and lecturers all centered around the book. I will be in charge of writing the study guide and teachers manuals for the book as well as helping organize the films, speakers, and projects. It will be a big project. I will be able to earn credit for the internship so that I can cut down to the bare minimum of classes come the fall and spring semesters. I hope that by doing this I will be able to help Morgan out a bit more around home with the new baby. I think that does it for us. We hope that all of you are doing well. We love you and have you in our prayers.
Love,
Morgan, Derik and the girls
I will take this brief moment to write a short little note about what we did this month. Beginning with the most important - Morgan. March had a few warm days for us here that Morgan was able to take advantage of by taking the girls to a park and play. They had a good time there until Morgan became fed up with all of the mothers swearing at their kids and the kids swearing at each other. Pretty sad. But that warm weather streak only lasted a day or two. The rest of the month has been filled with cold and snow. She attended a Primary training meeting in Rochester this month and was able to then go out to lunch with her mom after the meeting. She was excited that she was feeling good enough that day to actually do something. We think that her morning sickness is starting to go away. Over the past few days she has been feeling more or less like her old self. She also learned that her closest cousin who she grew up with is also pregnant and their due dates are only a few days apart. She is really excited. I think that they are planning a joint baby shower for the two of them sometime during the summer. Other than that Morgan has tried not being sick to varying degrees of success.
The girls are continuing to grow and be wild and crazy. It is becoming time to potty train. Daria and Kyla are constantly trying to take off their dirty diapers by themselves. Or, worse yet, trying to take off their diaper and soil their beds, the floor, our rug, whatever they happen to be standing over. It is time.
I have been really busy with school. I have been starting/finishing/reading about seven books per week on average for the past month. Trying to keep plots and details separate has been a challenge on occasion. Other than that, I caught a student plagiarizing this month. I hate it when that happens. It was an ugly situation. I have been accepted to to present a paper at a conference in Fargo, ND in April unless the town is under water by then. I also landed an (unpaid) internship for the summer that will further CV when it comes to writing and teaching fields. I will be preparing the common book for Winona state university. The common book is a book that the entire university reads in most every class. In addition to that there will be a film series, a community project, and lecturers all centered around the book. I will be in charge of writing the study guide and teachers manuals for the book as well as helping organize the films, speakers, and projects. It will be a big project. I will be able to earn credit for the internship so that I can cut down to the bare minimum of classes come the fall and spring semesters. I hope that by doing this I will be able to help Morgan out a bit more around home with the new baby. I think that does it for us. We hope that all of you are doing well. We love you and have you in our prayers.
Love,
Morgan, Derik and the girls
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
2009 February: Hope
Well this has been a fun month, We started seeing patients for school and it was Scotts 4th birthday, and it is getting warmer. It has been fun seeing inside other peoples mouths. I thought it was going to be hard to get patients but I found that I got too many, so I will have to call them for the summertime cleanings. We are doing midterms now and they are going good so fare. Well Scott turned 4 so we had some friends and family over. The cake was to be a rocket cake but it turned out to be a Willy Wonka Candy Mountain (lets go Charlie) It was fun. We did our taxes, and thanks to Scott and Kyle we get a bit of change back. But an extra 50,000 would be nice. Other than that was are all doing good. Talk to you all later.
The Hopes
The Hopes
2009 February: Bates
February was fun. Here in Utah the winter ebbed allowing us to have multiple picnics and walks. We've enjoyed being outside and having sunlight.
Orianna is now standing using pretty much any object that holds still. She also has learned to say the same noises over and over for the same things. She knows that "ba... ba" gets her bananas, "ma... ma" will get me to take her to mom, and "da... da" will get me. It's not exactly talking, but it's fun to see her figuring things out.
With the warmth, we've started improving our home again. Slowly but surely we will have a nice home :)
Work has kept me busy as ever. I have let my side-projects slip a little because of it, but I did find the time to start writing a book. I'm not a writer though, so Marnee is going to re-write it once I finish the plot. I have about 10 chapters written so far, all written in February.
Tamara and I are having fun, and trying to do new fun things. We hope the month has been as kind to the rest of you.
-Rob & Tamara
Orianna is now standing using pretty much any object that holds still. She also has learned to say the same noises over and over for the same things. She knows that "ba... ba" gets her bananas, "ma... ma" will get me to take her to mom, and "da... da" will get me. It's not exactly talking, but it's fun to see her figuring things out.
With the warmth, we've started improving our home again. Slowly but surely we will have a nice home :)
Work has kept me busy as ever. I have let my side-projects slip a little because of it, but I did find the time to start writing a book. I'm not a writer though, so Marnee is going to re-write it once I finish the plot. I have about 10 chapters written so far, all written in February.
Tamara and I are having fun, and trying to do new fun things. We hope the month has been as kind to the rest of you.
-Rob & Tamara
2009 February: North
There’s not a lot of news to talk about this month. I am chugging my way through my last semester here at ISU. This next week is midterms. I can’t believe how fast it is going. Becky keeps a countdown timer on our blog and it says I only have 68 days until graduation; amazing. I had 3 tests this last week. Two of them were fairly long and tedious. I felt like I was doing the mental equivalent of a marathon, or at least a 5K. I paced myself and took my time. I feel good about how I did, but won’t get my scores back for a few more days. There’s a lot less stress when I know that I’m already accepted to medical school. I still try to do well because I want to learn the material, but it’s nice not to have the added pressure of having to look good for an admissions committee.
Becky is still working in the Academic Advising Office. She has had 3 co-workers quite (one was asked to quite) and they haven’t re-hired anyone full-time. So she is covering for 3 other people, but still only making what she did when she was doing only one person’s job. Everyone’s budgets are tightening at ISU, so it’s doubtful that she’ll get a raise soon. Oh well, at least its job security. I am grateful for her willingness to go to work everyday. Right now she is the bread winner for our family, and I appreciate her sacrifice.
Becky and I went to her parents’ house for the Valentines/President’s Day weekend. We got to spend some time with her family. I helped her dad sort out steers for a cattle auction he went to. I’ve never had the opportunity to do something like that before. It was kind of fun to get in the pens and work with the cows. Being up close and personal with those cows made me grateful that I’m a person. I just don’t know if I’d be content to eat and poop all day…what am I saying, I could get used to that again. J
A few weeks ago in Elder's Quorum I made a comment. In my comment I talked about a school teacher with whom I had been friends. I talked about spending time with him and learning that although he'd had lots of life experiences I believe he had learned the wrong lessons from his experiences. I talked about how we need the Spirit to guide us so that we learn the right lessons from our experiences. After the lesson another brother in the quorum came up to me and asked: "where did you go to school?" "Madison," I told him. He then asked "Is that Mr. Brookes that you were talking about in the lesson?" I was suprised but laughed and said "yes I was talking about Mr. Brookes." It turns out that he was also a trumpet player, a few years younger than us, and he had had similar experiences with Mr. Brookes. I just thought you'd enjoy that.
And speaking of experiences with Mr. Brookes, do you all remember the night the crazy, posessed girl came into our room? Hehehe, we had some strange experiences in band.
Have a good month everyone. Best of wishes.
We wish the best to all of you in what you are doing. Drop us a line and let us know how things are going for you.
Stewart and Becky
Becky is still working in the Academic Advising Office. She has had 3 co-workers quite (one was asked to quite) and they haven’t re-hired anyone full-time. So she is covering for 3 other people, but still only making what she did when she was doing only one person’s job. Everyone’s budgets are tightening at ISU, so it’s doubtful that she’ll get a raise soon. Oh well, at least its job security. I am grateful for her willingness to go to work everyday. Right now she is the bread winner for our family, and I appreciate her sacrifice.
Becky and I went to her parents’ house for the Valentines/President’s Day weekend. We got to spend some time with her family. I helped her dad sort out steers for a cattle auction he went to. I’ve never had the opportunity to do something like that before. It was kind of fun to get in the pens and work with the cows. Being up close and personal with those cows made me grateful that I’m a person. I just don’t know if I’d be content to eat and poop all day…what am I saying, I could get used to that again. J
A few weeks ago in Elder's Quorum I made a comment. In my comment I talked about a school teacher with whom I had been friends. I talked about spending time with him and learning that although he'd had lots of life experiences I believe he had learned the wrong lessons from his experiences. I talked about how we need the Spirit to guide us so that we learn the right lessons from our experiences. After the lesson another brother in the quorum came up to me and asked: "where did you go to school?" "Madison," I told him. He then asked "Is that Mr. Brookes that you were talking about in the lesson?" I was suprised but laughed and said "yes I was talking about Mr. Brookes." It turns out that he was also a trumpet player, a few years younger than us, and he had had similar experiences with Mr. Brookes. I just thought you'd enjoy that.
And speaking of experiences with Mr. Brookes, do you all remember the night the crazy, posessed girl came into our room? Hehehe, we had some strange experiences in band.
Have a good month everyone. Best of wishes.
We wish the best to all of you in what you are doing. Drop us a line and let us know how things are going for you.
Stewart and Becky
2009 February: Robertson
Greetings,
February has come and (Thankfully) has left without dealing out too much emotional trauma. During the first half of the month we were enjoying extended temperatures of mid to upper forties. It was great. The snow was melting, the sky was inviting, and I thought that the accursed groundhog had messed up for once in its infamous career. Hardly. Overnight the ice storms, blizzards, and arctic winds came and ripped my bliss from me. All I was left with were shattered visions of warmth and a faint ringing in my ears that sounded almost like a spectral rodent that can’t help but seeing his shadow and dragging winter out over and over again.
For some sick joke someone decided to celebrate love during this midget month. I enjoyed the festivities. I cooked dinner for Morgan and the girls – I also cooked breakfast and lunch. I figured that it was a good thing that Valentine’s landed on a Saturday this year so that my family could see me and I could enjoy their company. We had a nice quiet day together as a family and mostly just enjoyed each other’s company – because we could. That weekend, Morgan’s older brother had a birthday so we took a trip to Rochester to celebrate. It was fun to spend time with family. The girls really love going to visit and play with their youngest aunt.
Morgan got to have her first doctor appointment with her pregnancy. She had several blood tests done and all results came back great. She also got to hear the baby’s heart beat for the first time, which was a special moment. As far as we can tell right now, there is only one in there. I hope it stays that way.
Other than the same old same old, I have been running myself mostly ragged with all of my school work. I had an interesting conversation with one of my professors the other day. We had to turn in a paper proposal that day in class – I was the only one in the class that handed it in that day, everyone else asked for an extension on the assignment. I was also fighting a cold that day and that day happened to be my marathon day (Thursday – I am in a classroom from 10 in the morning until 8 in the evening solid with three 10 minute breaks in between my different classes). My professor pointed out that I had been in class for ten hours, I was sick, and I was the only student who handed in the assignment on time – she was impressed. I staggered home, took some cold pills, and was knocked out for several hours. Since then I feel that somewhere in that scenario I deserve bragging rights, so all of you get to hear about it.
That’s the news for us here in Winona, MN where all the women are mild-mannered, all the men are getting by, and all the children are on cell-phones (all the time).
Love,
The Robertsons – Morgan, Kyla, ???, Daria, & Derik
P.S. Jarom received his mission call to the Philadelphia, PA mission. I know Jason - so close and yet so far.Monday, February 2, 2009
2009 January: Hope
Well what to say about this very short month. One cool thing was that while doing homework one night about 11:00 at night with Michelle asleep on the couch and Kyle still up playing with toys, I happen to look to see what Kyle is doing because he kept on saying "No" then say "Yep" So I was wondering why he was saying this. He was putting an alphabet puzzle together and he would look at the letter and then point to another letter and say No and then put it in the correct place then say Yep. It is funny what kids will do late at night also it makes you happy to know that he knows where they need to go and to tell the other letters No that is this letters spot.
I started school once again for another semester. The classes are Pharmacology, Periodontal, Ethics (who needs ethics... by the way Rob has a weird thing growing on top of ................well maybe ethics is a good thing to have) (Sorry Rob I hope that is ok to use you), learning about kids and old wind bags, and process of care.
We also start seeing normal people in February and Rob will be one of my first patients (then I will have something to say :) J/K) So it is going good for now. Michelle is doing great she will be watching some kids for an extra 100 a week so that will be great.
Also Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl YES Go Steelers!!! [they won].
We also got some family pictures done finally, it has been a while since the last one. Scott is doing very well in school and is learning a lot, the other day he told me about Goldylocks and the 3 Beers (yes beer) when he says bear it sometimes sounds like beer. He also told me that Bears eat fishies and also Bats eat bugs. Kyle is also growing up he is speaking lots now and we can understand him, a great day in history.
I schooled Michelle in cards the other day it was funny (side note she told me to put). I also went to a concert with Rob, the band was called Shadow Game and the guitarist was an elder in the MTC with me but was going to Seattle. It was fun. Now I have their CD and it is awesome.
Well that is all that I can remember for now so if there is anything big that I forgot then I will let you all know. Hope all is well and all is bright.
I started school once again for another semester. The classes are Pharmacology, Periodontal, Ethics (who needs ethics... by the way Rob has a weird thing growing on top of ................well maybe ethics is a good thing to have) (Sorry Rob I hope that is ok to use you), learning about kids and old wind bags, and process of care.
We also start seeing normal people in February and Rob will be one of my first patients (then I will have something to say :) J/K) So it is going good for now. Michelle is doing great she will be watching some kids for an extra 100 a week so that will be great.
Also Pittsburgh is going to the Super Bowl YES Go Steelers!!! [they won].
We also got some family pictures done finally, it has been a while since the last one. Scott is doing very well in school and is learning a lot, the other day he told me about Goldylocks and the 3 Beers (yes beer) when he says bear it sometimes sounds like beer. He also told me that Bears eat fishies and also Bats eat bugs. Kyle is also growing up he is speaking lots now and we can understand him, a great day in history.
I schooled Michelle in cards the other day it was funny (side note she told me to put). I also went to a concert with Rob, the band was called Shadow Game and the guitarist was an elder in the MTC with me but was going to Seattle. It was fun. Now I have their CD and it is awesome.
Well that is all that I can remember for now so if there is anything big that I forgot then I will let you all know. Hope all is well and all is bright.
2009 January: Bates
"I am not an adult". I have uttered that phrase many times this month to explain many of my incompetencies.
Most depressingly, I realized that I have been low-level carbon-monoxide poisoning my family for at least a month. I have had constant head aches and we've all been sick and coughing. Eventually our Carbon-monoxide alarm went off, but because it is a smoke detector too, it is located near the ceiling. Carbon-monoxide fill up your house from the bottom up: so I had to fill my entire house with it before it alerted us. We also got a $178 gas bill for this month :)
The Good News:
-I now know where the furnace is
-I now know there is an air filter I have to change there monthly
-I no longer have daily headaches
It was really scary though, because something like tat can cause SIDS really easy (especially since babies are so close to the ground). So, luckily Orianna has great lungs... maybe she will be a wind-instrument player or a singer.
Orianna is now 7 months old. She is starting to stand a little and can almost pull herself up to a standing position with furniture. She is still crawling around like crazy and has added climbing to her repertoire. She is very active and already shows ADD tendencies (she truly is my little girl). She is super fun and we are enjoying her a lot.
I helped my sister, Marnee, by volunteering to judge during one of her speech and debate tournaments. For the first time I was mistaken as OLDER than I actually was. One of the High School students asked if I had a son competing in the tournament. So, though I may not be an adult, I am already old.
Other than that, I have been job searching (I think it may be time to move on to something else), but haven't come up with any great alternatives yet.
We were asked to speak in church, and yet again were given very little notice (I'm starting to think we're the bishopric's "fill in" couple, because we do that a lot for all sorts of things). I think we need to be less reliable, and maybe they will stop relying on us so much ;)
I hope you are all well, and having fun. Cheers,
-The Bates
2009 January: North
It’s a new year everyone! Not much has changed for us yet, but it promises to be a big year for us. We’ll let you know as it unfolds. I am, of course, back in school again. This semester is actually one of my easiest that I’ve ever had. I have a couple of hard classes, but overall it’s much less work than I’m used to. I’m taking a weightlifting class just for fun. I’m taking a head and neck anatomy class to prepare me for med school. I’m taking a plant and animal interactions class that is starting to get more interesting. If any of you biology nuts out there want to learn about some interesting plant and animal interactions I can tell you about a few that are pretty neat. I also have a seminar class for biology seniors. That’s the class I want to tell you about.
One of our assignments in that class is to prepare a 10 minute presentation on the life of one of the scientists whose work we are studying this semester. When she passed the list around on the first day of class I saw an Italian name and signed up because I thought it would be fun to research an Italian. As I started my research I saw that he was still alive. At first I was disappointed because it’s hard to get good biographical information of a person who is still living. A few minutes later I found out that he still teaches at the University of Rome and he had an email address up on the web. I decided to email him and see if he would give me some information, after all, the worst that could happen is he would say no. In my email I explained who I was and why I wanted information about him. I’m sure he was surprised to get an email from Idaho in somewhat choppy Italian asking him for biographical information. Well surprised or not he answered my email with just the sort of information I was looking for. I was able to put together a pretty nice presentation and tie it in very well with the paper we discussed in class. The class laughed when I explained how I’d gotten my information. Dr. Terrenato and I are still corresponding back and forth a little. It’s kind of fun.
Well best wishes for the New Year to you all. We hope things continue to go well.
Stewart and Becky
One of our assignments in that class is to prepare a 10 minute presentation on the life of one of the scientists whose work we are studying this semester. When she passed the list around on the first day of class I saw an Italian name and signed up because I thought it would be fun to research an Italian. As I started my research I saw that he was still alive. At first I was disappointed because it’s hard to get good biographical information of a person who is still living. A few minutes later I found out that he still teaches at the University of Rome and he had an email address up on the web. I decided to email him and see if he would give me some information, after all, the worst that could happen is he would say no. In my email I explained who I was and why I wanted information about him. I’m sure he was surprised to get an email from Idaho in somewhat choppy Italian asking him for biographical information. Well surprised or not he answered my email with just the sort of information I was looking for. I was able to put together a pretty nice presentation and tie it in very well with the paper we discussed in class. The class laughed when I explained how I’d gotten my information. Dr. Terrenato and I are still corresponding back and forth a little. It’s kind of fun.
Well best wishes for the New Year to you all. We hope things continue to go well.
Stewart and Becky
2009 January: Robertson
Dear Friends,
We started off January with Derik jumping back into a new semester of grad school. Derik is taking 9 credits (6 is full time), teaching a 4 credit class, and working in the writing center on campus. In addition to that, Derik is still busy as the Young men’s president in our branch. Needless to say he is very busy. Somehow, all of his classes have been lumped into only Tuesdays and Thursdays, so those days he leaves fairly early and comes home especially late. Our girls barely see him on those days. Thankfully, that leaves Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for all homework, office hours, and writing center hours among other things. I’m doing my best to help him not become overwhelmed with his work load.
On the 25th, our darling daughters turned two. We had a fun party for them with Morgan’s family in Rochester and we also celebrated the birthday of Morgan’s sister who turned 14 on the same day the girls turned two. So now we have two “terrible two-year-olds.” Emotions are definitely beginning to rule their day-to-day temperaments. They are still absolutely adorable though. Thank you for all the lovely presents and well wishes sent their way. They loved all of their birthday presents and they have really gotten into the spirit of opening their presents.
Our big news of the month (or maybe the year) is… Morgan is pregnant! She is due sometime in September, but we are waiting to have an ultrasound to find out the details for sure. She has some all day “morning sickness” but nothing unmanageable yet. We will let you know when we know more.
I think that is it for us for this month. We love you and miss you all very much.
Love,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, and …
Robertson
We started off January with Derik jumping back into a new semester of grad school. Derik is taking 9 credits (6 is full time), teaching a 4 credit class, and working in the writing center on campus. In addition to that, Derik is still busy as the Young men’s president in our branch. Needless to say he is very busy. Somehow, all of his classes have been lumped into only Tuesdays and Thursdays, so those days he leaves fairly early and comes home especially late. Our girls barely see him on those days. Thankfully, that leaves Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for all homework, office hours, and writing center hours among other things. I’m doing my best to help him not become overwhelmed with his work load.
On the 25th, our darling daughters turned two. We had a fun party for them with Morgan’s family in Rochester and we also celebrated the birthday of Morgan’s sister who turned 14 on the same day the girls turned two. So now we have two “terrible two-year-olds.” Emotions are definitely beginning to rule their day-to-day temperaments. They are still absolutely adorable though. Thank you for all the lovely presents and well wishes sent their way. They loved all of their birthday presents and they have really gotten into the spirit of opening their presents.
Our big news of the month (or maybe the year) is… Morgan is pregnant! She is due sometime in September, but we are waiting to have an ultrasound to find out the details for sure. She has some all day “morning sickness” but nothing unmanageable yet. We will let you know when we know more.
I think that is it for us for this month. We love you and miss you all very much.
Love,
Derik, Morgan, Kyla, Daria, and …
Robertson
Friday, January 9, 2009
2008 December: Hope
Hello All, well this has been a fun month. First off I finished my first semester of Dental Hygiene School. With 2 B's and 5 A's so I am very happy with myself. During the break I was at my sister-in-laws dental office to shadow the DH there and shadowed 2 hygienists. One of them I found out is on the board for my school. So we talked a lot about the school and ways it could be better. When I was there it was snowing like crazy and within the time there my car had a foot of snow on it and it was 90% covered. Michelle is doing good and just keep doing lots of stuff trying to keep the house in order. One day she was at the post office and she was backing out and another car was also backing up and they hit each other, well for the damage (was very little) the insurance paid us $450 dollars which came at a good time because you do not have to fix your car if you do not want to. Nobody got hurt. So we used it to buy a new video camera due to our cameras play thing was going out so have the time it would not play back. So it was nice to get that. Scott and Kyle are being silly as always if you look on my blog I put a video of them with sprinkles. Scott is having a blast with his school and can not wait to go back, mostly to ride the bus. Well for Christmas the boys got pajamas for the night before, on the Christmas day they did not want to go down to open presents they were very cranky. Finally they did and they had a blast, they got cars, bubble bath, clothes, candy, stuffed animals called Zoobies, movies, a play kitchen from a person from the ward, we got some clothes, games and a game for the wii, Guitar hero. On Christmas day we went to my brothers house and played games and had a blast we almost did not make it home because of the snow that day. We are doing great and hope everyone is haveing a great New Years.
The Hopes
The Hopes
2008 December: Bates
I was the slow poke this month and didn't write my newsletter... so here goes:
December was eventful. We went to Idaho for my father and sister's birthday. While there I did a bunch of computer things for different people.
Late that month we did a lot of computer stuff for neighbors. We've decided that we are going to tell people that I am a janitor- then hopefully they will stop asking for favors :)
Orianna crawled for the first time on Dec 23... and hasn't stopped since. It's been very fun to see her growing.
Other than that we've just been working and having the same old fun as always.
-Rob & Tamara
December was eventful. We went to Idaho for my father and sister's birthday. While there I did a bunch of computer things for different people.
Late that month we did a lot of computer stuff for neighbors. We've decided that we are going to tell people that I am a janitor- then hopefully they will stop asking for favors :)
Orianna crawled for the first time on Dec 23... and hasn't stopped since. It's been very fun to see her growing.
Other than that we've just been working and having the same old fun as always.
-Rob & Tamara
2008 December: North
Dear Family and Friends,
Wow, has it really been a year? Really where did 2008 go? It seems like it was just yesterday that we welcomed in the New Year. Well besides being in shock that it’s time to write this letter once again, Stewart and I are doing fantastic! Life is wonderful and we have been richly blessed
Last year around this time I (Becky) was on the lookout for a new job. I am happy to report that I found that job shortly thereafter. I still work at ISU’s Holt Arena when they need extra help selling tickets for different events. My new job however is working as a receptionist in the Academic Advising Center for Idaho State University. It is a great job, Stewart and I get good health insurance and because I work for the university Stewart gets to go to school for $5.00 a credit, which is a huge financial lifesaver. We lucked out when I got this job as it has helped us meet our needs.
Stewart is still going to school here at ISU. He will graduate May 9, 2009. Just one more semester to go! He has been extra busy this past year preparing to pursue his dream of becoming a D.O. Doctor (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). In May he took the MCAT, his score was a 28, which is competitive for D.O. schools. He then met with the Pre- Health committee for an interview, the reason being he needed a letter of recommendation from them to apply to med schools. That interview was not as helpful as we had hoped; many of the committee member’s slammed Stewart with questions that targeted his personal beliefs associated with ethics. It surprised Stewart that the very group whose job is suppose to help him succeed would try to drag him down for his standards/beliefs. Anyway, with the interviews behind him Stewart focused his spare time on shadowing a D.O. Doctor here in Pocatello, as well as volunteering his time at the Hospital in the E.R.
We ended up applying to four different Medical schools: 1) A.T. Stills, Kirksville Missouri, 2) West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg West Virginia, 3) School of Osteopathic Medicine (A.T. Stills), Mesa Arizona and 4) Midwestern University College of Medicine, Glendale Arizona. All schools invited us to do secondary applications but we decided to only reply to our two top schools (A.T. Stills, Missouri and West Virginia). Stewart was asked to fly out and interview with both of those schools, lucky for us… and our pocket book, both interviews were in the same week. So on September 26th Stewart took off and was gone for a whole week, it was the first week since we have been married to spend apart… needless to say, it was a long week. Both interviews went well, and we were accepted at the school in West Virginia and put on the alternate list for the school in Missouri. Because of time restraints, we have decided to forgo waiting on Missouri and accept in West Virginia. We will move to West Virginia come July or August of 2009.
Over the past year Stewart and I have had the privilege of serving in a singles ward. If you recall shortly after we were married Stewart was called to serve as the second counselor in his old singles ward bishopric. We loved being able to learn from the great men and women that made up that ward. Sadly, the bishopric was recently reorganized, resulting in us going back to our home ward. We now are serving as ward missionaries in our university married student ward. Even though we both miss the singles ward we are enjoying our new calling and the opportunity to serve together. It has been a great learning experience thus far.
This past summer we had fun going to two family reunions. It was fun to see many of our family members there and to learn what they have been up to. On a sad note my Grandmother, Lucille Willard passed away October 17, 2008. She was a great example to all who knew her and has been greatly missed. On another note, Stewart and I decided it was time to sell one of our cars since we needed the extra funds to pay to hold Stewart’s seat in med school. We sold our Toyota Corolla, making us officially a one car family. The car actually sold recently, so currently we are not sure how having one car is going to work with our schedules, but we will be just fine. This may sound corny to some, but I am really going to miss “Miles”, he was an excellent car and gave us no grief; I hope the new owner will appreciate him as much as we did.
Well, In conclusion, Stewart and I are doing well. We have been richly blessed and have felt the influence of our Father in Heaven guide us along. We are grateful to Him for his loving arms that have been extended to us. We know that without this gospel in our lives we would not be the people we are today. Life together gets better and better day by day! God bless you and your family this coming year.
Loves, Stewart and Becky North
Wow, has it really been a year? Really where did 2008 go? It seems like it was just yesterday that we welcomed in the New Year. Well besides being in shock that it’s time to write this letter once again, Stewart and I are doing fantastic! Life is wonderful and we have been richly blessed
Last year around this time I (Becky) was on the lookout for a new job. I am happy to report that I found that job shortly thereafter. I still work at ISU’s Holt Arena when they need extra help selling tickets for different events. My new job however is working as a receptionist in the Academic Advising Center for Idaho State University. It is a great job, Stewart and I get good health insurance and because I work for the university Stewart gets to go to school for $5.00 a credit, which is a huge financial lifesaver. We lucked out when I got this job as it has helped us meet our needs.
Stewart is still going to school here at ISU. He will graduate May 9, 2009. Just one more semester to go! He has been extra busy this past year preparing to pursue his dream of becoming a D.O. Doctor (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine). In May he took the MCAT, his score was a 28, which is competitive for D.O. schools. He then met with the Pre- Health committee for an interview, the reason being he needed a letter of recommendation from them to apply to med schools. That interview was not as helpful as we had hoped; many of the committee member’s slammed Stewart with questions that targeted his personal beliefs associated with ethics. It surprised Stewart that the very group whose job is suppose to help him succeed would try to drag him down for his standards/beliefs. Anyway, with the interviews behind him Stewart focused his spare time on shadowing a D.O. Doctor here in Pocatello, as well as volunteering his time at the Hospital in the E.R.
We ended up applying to four different Medical schools: 1) A.T. Stills, Kirksville Missouri, 2) West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, Lewisburg West Virginia, 3) School of Osteopathic Medicine (A.T. Stills), Mesa Arizona and 4) Midwestern University College of Medicine, Glendale Arizona. All schools invited us to do secondary applications but we decided to only reply to our two top schools (A.T. Stills, Missouri and West Virginia). Stewart was asked to fly out and interview with both of those schools, lucky for us… and our pocket book, both interviews were in the same week. So on September 26th Stewart took off and was gone for a whole week, it was the first week since we have been married to spend apart… needless to say, it was a long week. Both interviews went well, and we were accepted at the school in West Virginia and put on the alternate list for the school in Missouri. Because of time restraints, we have decided to forgo waiting on Missouri and accept in West Virginia. We will move to West Virginia come July or August of 2009.
Over the past year Stewart and I have had the privilege of serving in a singles ward. If you recall shortly after we were married Stewart was called to serve as the second counselor in his old singles ward bishopric. We loved being able to learn from the great men and women that made up that ward. Sadly, the bishopric was recently reorganized, resulting in us going back to our home ward. We now are serving as ward missionaries in our university married student ward. Even though we both miss the singles ward we are enjoying our new calling and the opportunity to serve together. It has been a great learning experience thus far.
This past summer we had fun going to two family reunions. It was fun to see many of our family members there and to learn what they have been up to. On a sad note my Grandmother, Lucille Willard passed away October 17, 2008. She was a great example to all who knew her and has been greatly missed. On another note, Stewart and I decided it was time to sell one of our cars since we needed the extra funds to pay to hold Stewart’s seat in med school. We sold our Toyota Corolla, making us officially a one car family. The car actually sold recently, so currently we are not sure how having one car is going to work with our schedules, but we will be just fine. This may sound corny to some, but I am really going to miss “Miles”, he was an excellent car and gave us no grief; I hope the new owner will appreciate him as much as we did.
Well, In conclusion, Stewart and I are doing well. We have been richly blessed and have felt the influence of our Father in Heaven guide us along. We are grateful to Him for his loving arms that have been extended to us. We know that without this gospel in our lives we would not be the people we are today. Life together gets better and better day by day! God bless you and your family this coming year.
Loves, Stewart and Becky North
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