Katy opens her FIRST Christmas gift EVER!!!

I apologize for the sideways movie but it is worth the sore neck! A momentous occasion!

A Merry Stoecker Christmas!

Three generations of Stoeckers

Mark & his dad, Chip

Mark wielded the camera most of Christmas Day so here is the lone shot of him, courtesy of Lizzie!

Lizzie is just so beautiful it almost breaks my heart!

Katy had too much new stuff to look at all at once!

Lizzie "helped" Katy open her gifts...

Grandma Dee cried over the new family pictures...

Mike got a video game (surprise, surprise!)...

Mr. & Mrs. Donnie Kaufman's first Christmas!...

Can you guess what Lizzie got for Christmas? (Besides what's pictured here?!? Hint: it rhymes with shmance lessons!)

Katy is more interested in my reaction to our AWESOME gift than in the gift itself...

One of Katy's first Christmas gifts...

Katy knows where you put a tic tac...

Lizzie, glammin' it up in her new hat & scarf...

Beautiful little cousin Emma...

When one baby cries, they all cry. And, apparently, clasp their little hands in despair!

With cousin Emma on Christmas Eve...

My girls in their Christmas dresses on Christmas Eve...

Before & Halfway to After

At the request of some of my boot camp buddies I am posting some different before & halfway to after pictures. One of my friends (who I LOVE more than words can say!) said I just look too good in the picture I posted with my Turkey Trot update from November 28. So here it goes. Enjoy if you can!

5 Years Ago Today

My life changed in so many ways 5 years ago today. I was blessed with an amazing husband who loves and adores me. I was blessed with a father to my son & a father to children not yet conceived but very much desired. I was blessed with a trusting friend who is always there for me. I was blessed with a provider who works hard to care for our family & to bring us the things we want & need.
I may not be the smartest woman in the world (and let me tell you, he is smart enough to back me up when I claim that I am!) but I made the best & smartest decision in my life when I said "I do" 5 years ago today.


I am as happy today as I was in this picture. The joy in my heart is as overwhelming and abundant as it was 5 years ago today. The love I have for this man is even bigger & richer than it was 5 years ago today. When I look at my life & wonder on what decisions I made that could have changed my path I thank Heavenly Father that I made the choices that brought Mark into my life. Being his wife & the mother of his children is so much more than I once dreamed I would ever have.
On a traditional 5th anniversary a gift of wood is given. In the modern "tradition" a gift of silverware is appropriate. When I think back on the five years since the day in these pictures I realize that I lack nothing in my life that I would as for today. I have all the gifts I really "need" & my one desire is that Mark can say the same.

7 Months Already!

Katy my love is 7 months old (as of yesterday) and I can't believe that much time has already passed. She was being incredibly cute yesterday after eating her lunch that I couldn't resist taking a few pictures to commemorate her day!

Katy's Big Day

On Friday November 27th we blessed Katy at my mom & dad's house. My dad performed the blessing & this is a picture of the special girl with her grandpa.

We have had two REALLY awesome missionaries in our area that we have grown to love quite a bit. They stood in the circle while Katy was blessed. It was great to have them there for the special day. Unfortunately Elder Naglis (the blond) was just transferred! We will miss him & look forward to keeping in touch with him when he gets home. (Elder Curtis is great too!)

Here is the family together for a little picture. There are a couple others where Lizzie DOESN'T look like she's in front of the firing squad but Katy has her head on my shoulder & I LOVE that!

By the time we had this picture taken Lizzie had completely lost patience with the whole thing so we are missing her. Other than that I think it is a nice picture of our family & mom & dad.
It was a wonderful time all around & I am so grateful for the MANY honorable men in our family who could participate in the ordinance. And thanks to all the other amazing men who make up the male side of our family. You guys rock too!

I am the Champion, my friends

Aug. 29, 2009
(I'm on the right in the green dress, you can't miss me)

In Mesa, AZ every Thanksgiving there is a 10K run held. It is the largest 10K in all of Arizona. You have the option of running either a 1 mile fun run, a 2 mile fun run or the 10K (in case you don't know that converts to 6.2 miles). On Thursday November 26th, 2009 I ran the 10K. I finished in 1 hour 27 minutes & 41 seconds.

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I ROCK!!!
(In case you can't tell, I'm the skinny girl in the hat!)

Our little football fan

This is a pretty cute "conversation" that Mark & Katy had a couple weeks ago.



And here's a picture of our little superfan!

Happy 6th month brithday Katy!

Happy 6th month birthday my sweet little Katy! I am so happy that you are my daughter & I am so blessed to have you in our family. Your sweetness and love add to everything we do & I cannot imagine not having you here!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

The whole family

If you look closely you can see the snakes in my hair & that Mark isn't just "posing" he's frozen in place. We were Medusa & a man turned to stone. I think we pulled it off pretty well.

I thought about making my Katy-bug a lady bug for Halloween but the thought of the wings made me rethink that plan. Then I saw this ADORABLE flower costume & I knew it was perfect. The prettiest flower around!

Jay as black Spiderman (NOT Venom!) doing his best web-slinging pose!

Beautiful Lizzie as Cinderella. The costume was a little itchy that explains the white t-shirt underneath. Not sure how to explain the goofy side smile!

We had a blast at a couple different parties & trick or treating yielded PLENTY of candy for the kids. I almost can't wait for next year!

My mad chili making skills

My ward had a fall festival party on Friday the 30th & part of the festivities was a chili cook off. I am pretty confident in my skills as a cook but I am not so confident that I would KNOWINGLY sign up for a cook off of ANY type! However, I did sign up for this (I originally thought I was just signing up to bring chili for a potluck, I didn't realize until AFTER I had signed my name in pen that it was actually a cook off!). Well, I decided to really go all out. Even though it has been FOREVER since I made chili with the beans made from scratch I decided to do that this time. I soaked my beans overnight on Thursday & when I got up on Friday they had done what dry beans do and that is they absorbed the water and tripled in size! My ENTIRE crock pot was full! Thankfully I mentioned this to my friend Kym & she graciously said she would take some of them off my hands. After getting those beans (Literally HALF of them!) I started my beans cooking. I diced up some onion & minced some fresh garlic and put them on low with LOTS of water! When they were nice & tender I started browning and seasoning the ground beef (all 2.25 lbs of it!). I added my diced tomatoes & tomato sauce & some seasoning. I have recently discovered how much I enjoy the flavor of cumin but I went INCREDIBLY overboard while seasoning my chili with it. It was ALL I could taste! I called my mom & sister for some advice on what to do to make my chili taste like something OTHER than cumin & the "helpful" advice I got was to add a ton more garlic & chili powder. Well, I did, and wouldn't you know it? It worked! I gone THIRD prize out of around 20 different chilis! I was SO shocked & excited. I didn't get to have a whole bowl of my award winning chili but I still have a little leftover & I have had one request so far to make it when the family is all together for Thanksgiving this year. Anyway, here is a photo of me with my "trophy" and a close up of the trophy.

In case you were wondering...

THIS is what happens when the baby & the big sister start sharing a room & nap time gets interrupted! Go ahead & laugh, we did!

Katy's BIG milestone

Katy started doing this (watch the video!!!!) earlier this week & Mark was able to catch her on video yesterday. We are SOOO proud!

Mr. & Mrs. Donnie Kaufman

My beautiful sister-in-law, Sarah, got married to a really great guy, Donnie Kaufman, on October 10th, 2009 in Billings, MT and we were so blessed to get to be there for that. Lizzie & Katy were the flower girls and Grandma Dee made them the CUTEST dresses. We had such a fun time in Montana, seeing family we hadn't seen for awhile & meeting and getting to know new cousins. We are so happy for Sarah & Donnie and so glad they are our family! Here are some pictures from the reception.

One of the favors were purple m&m's in cute little jars. This is the aftermath for Lizzie!


Jalen danced ALMOST as much at this wedding as he did at Mark's & mine!

Instead of a traditional cake Sarah wanted a cupcake cake. Her topper was a precious moments figurine, a tribute to the collection she's had since she was young.


Mark got to "play" DJ for the reception. He had fun & Lizzie liked being up there with him.


Jay was having fun, Lizzie wouldn't come near me so I nabbed my Katy for a quick photo. She was SUCH a good girl for both the ceremony & the reception. She did pretty good for picture time too!