4th of July weekend

The Stoker Family got together again for the 4th of July in Durango, CO. We decided to meet up at my grandparents house so that Seth didn't have to make the drive all the way to Provo. It was great to be able to enjoy some family time and we were definitely happy to know the next time we got together we would be headed out on our big move!

Jackson playing in the Animas River

Jackson and Buzz Lightyear waiting for the fireworks to start!

Jackson riding in Grampa Thom's tractor! He even got a special tractor hat from Grampa to wear for the ride!

Jackson and Daddy take a drive in the golf cart

Jackson and his BFF Brek

Our afternoon at the lake...

More tractor rides....This cabin is the perfect place for a little boy to play!

Fathers Day Weekend

Jackson and I were so happy to have Seth come home for Father's Day weekend! We went up Provo canyon on Saturday for a picnic and to enjoy some gorgeous sunshine! I think Provo canyon in the summer is another thing we will miss so much about Provo! Another hightlight of the week was getting my ultrasound to find out Stoker Baby #2 is a GIRL!!

Jackson, of course, was so happy to have his daddy.
And I was pretty happy, too!


Playing games that only dads can play...

Summer days

On June 7th, Seth moved down to Rio Rancho, NM to start his first job as a college grad. Jackson and I stayed in Provo to tie up loose ends. It was really hard to live apart and we weren't quite sure how all the details of our plan would play out, but it was a great experience for our family. We learned a lot about our own strength and we actually grew closer together during the 6 weeks we were apart. Of course Jackson and I really missed having our dad around, but we tried to make the most of our time together and luckily we had some great friends around to entertain us! The great friends we had in Utah are definitely something we will miss the most after our move!

Jackson and I passed the time playing at the park and at Seven Peaks with some of his little buddies. We are so grateful to everyone who kept us busy while we were waiting around for our big move!

Memorial Day Weekend

The Stoker family took off on a road trip adventure over Memorial Day week/weekend to New Mexico and Arizona. It was a great, much needed break after two long years of getting Seth through school. Although the trip did have it's stressors, considering we were first headed to investigate Rio Rancho, NM-our new home-to-be! Seth accepted a job with EQC technologies on Friday, May 21st and 5 days later we were headed down to Rio Rancho to meet his boss-to be for the first time! It seems a little crazy and scary, but after spending the weekend talking, thinking, and praying about it, we knew it was the right thing to do! We are really excited to open this new chapter of our lives and we can't wait to see what Rio Rancho has in store for us. I didn't take any pictures on our visit to Rio Rancho, but we were really only there for a day. I did, however, take this cute video of Jackson dancing at Johnny Rockets in Rio Rancho. This video was taken when the employees of Johnny Rockets had to go out in the middle of the restaurant and perform a choreographed dance! I felt really bad for the employess, but I thought Jackson was pretty cute trying to dance along!

While in Rio Rancho, we tried to look around for housing a little, but it ended up being really stressful, so we just decided to move on with our trip and trust that everything would work out :) Seth plans to start his new job on June 8th, so he will be returning to Rio Rancho then and Jackson will finish up business in Provo. From Rio Rancho, we headed to Mesa for a mini family reunion to welcome my baby brother Brian home from his mission!


Here we are waiting at the airport for Elder Brian to land!

Coming off the plane!

The Woodbury kids all together for the first time in 2 years!

Brian served in the Seoul West, Korea mission-the same city as Seth! It was fun for them to be able to speak in Korean to each other, to share stories about the people, and to stop by the Korean market in Mesa and bring home some goodies to cook us all lunch!

Brian brought the girls these beautiful fans from Korea!

Can't tell they are brothers, can you? It was actually pretty funny because Jackson had the hardest time telling them a part! One or the other of my brothers have been on a mission for Jackson's entire life!

We went swimming on Memorial Day and it actually wasn't too hot in AZ to swim! We had a lot of fun playing games and watching Jackson boss everyone around. He ordered everyone to form this "choo choo train" in the water and lucky for him, all aunts, uncles, and grandparents are willing to beckon to his every call-it will be interesting to see what happens when his has a little competition for attention come November!

The big kids even formed a "choo choo train" of their own down the slide!

Of course, we had to take our missionary boy out to his first taste of 5 guys-so yummy!

It was a great trip and a nice chance to relax before starting in on a hectic next couple of months! We have a lot to look forward to, and it certainly won't be easy, but we are so excited to move on to a new stage of our lives!

And welcome home Brian! It was so great to be there when you got home and it will be great to have you around again!

Random playtime

Last week Jackson and I went with some friends to the Living Planet Aquarium in Salt Lake. Jackson loved to see all the different fish, sharks, eels, turtles, snakes, etc.

Jackson and friend Emma playing "ring around the rosie". Too cute.

Graduation weekend

It's true~Seth graduated from BYU this past weekend and for the first time in our 5 year marriage we are NOT BYU students! Definitely cause for celebration and celebrate we did! We had both of our parents come from out of town to be here for graduation and we were so glad to have everyone together. I am so proud of Seth and I am so happy he is finished! He is amazing~ he completed his undergrad degree in just over 2 years! It took a lot of hard work from both of us and we really had to sacrifice over the past few years, but it is so great to now say we are DONE!

These are just some cute pics of grampa making Jackson laugh during his bath....We really enjoyed having our family in town and we (especially Jackson) was so sad to see everyone go. We had everyone over last Friday night for a BBQ and it was so great to have almost all of our family together. I was so sad when I realized I didn't get a picture!

On Saturday, my sister and I took my mom on a Girl's Date for her birthday...these are our pedicures...but we also went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Pointe and out to lunch at Los Hermanos! It was a great girls day out!

Saturday night, Seth and I headed up to Salt Lake to celebrate our 5th anniversary. We figured we needed to take advantage of having so many babysitters around and we stayed the night at The Inn on the Hill, a little bed and breakfast just north of temple square.

It was a darling little place and I think we will definitely go back the next chance we get.
The view from our private patio:

And last but not least, we took the opportunity with everyone together to have Jackson make a little announcement for us:

Stoker baby #2

Coming November 2010!!!

Easter

Jackson and I died Easter eggs with some friends during the priesthood session. We had a great time trying out all the colors, but the kids ended up just wanting to eat all the eggs. I didn't even known Jackson liked hard-boiled eggs, but I think he ate 2 or 3 eggs all on his own!

It snowed the night before Easter Sunday, so Jackson ended up having to do his Easter egg hunt in the backyard snow. I don't think he minded too much once he saw all the treats the Easter bunny brought him!