Train Ride to Sante Fe

On our first weekend as New Mexicans (I'm still not sure I'm ready to say that), we rode the train to Sante Fe, NM. We had heard Sante Fe was a nice tourist spot and we knew Jackson would love to ride on the train, so we made a day of it. It was really fun to spend the day together especially since I don't think either Seth or I could remember our last full Saturday together. We were greeted in Sante Fe by a pretty bad rainstorm, but it cleared up by the time we were done with lunch and we had a great afternoon walk on the streets of downtown Sante Fe.

Jackson and Daddy waiting for the trainJackson and Mommy riding the train
Jackson and Daddy soaked after a walk in the rain! They let mommy use the umbrella :)
We found this cute t-shirt on sale at a boutique in Sante Fe. Seth was sold as soon as he saw it had real Korean writing on it! The Korean letters say "Spicy! Spicy!"-So cute!

Happy Birthday to Jackson

My baby boy turned 3 right in the middle of our very hectic move! We tried to celebrate the best we could, and I think it ended up that he had 3 or 4 birthdays depending on who was available to celebrate with him and where! Oh well, I don't think he really knew the difference. 2 days after his 3rd birthday we were on the road headed to our new home in Rio Rancho, NM. Here are some pics of us having a birthday celebration with my family while they were in Provo helping me get ready for the big move.

Needless to say, Jackson's birthday week was very busy-and I am so thankful to everyone who helped me to get ready to go because there is NO WAY I would have been able to do it all myself! I am especially so grateful my sister Dana came to live with me for 3 whole weeks and watch Jackson while I worked. I am pretty sure she is a close 2nd to having daddy around and she was a life saver! We will miss having our auntie Dana 5 minutes away! And thankfully my mom was able to stay with me the entire week before we moved and do all the dirty work of cleaning my house and getting it ready for the renters. I don't know if either of us have ever cleaned so much in our lives-at least that is what it felt like. Not to mention packing up 4.5 years worth of STUFF that was hiding in my house! I was shocked when we nearly filled our Penske truck! Plus, my dad was there to make repairs to things around the house that I had no idea even needed repair, so I was glad to have a much-needed handy man. It was really scary making all the preparations and knowing I was leaving my little home for strangers to live in, but with all the help, I think we did a pretty good job. However, I don't necessarily want to do that again anytime soon!

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.