Oh the changes that happen in our lives

Sometimes we just need a good change....Even if that requires a new bedroom!!! Yes, I bought a chair and spent hours figuring out my bedroom and now, I feel like a whole new woman!!! I love it and my room is so cozy!!! Just what I needed....
I traveled to Idaho last weekend for an awesome football game played by Josh, #42!!! If he could, he would play every position. He is the "yeller" for the kickoff!!! Also plays running back and linebacker. But, this game he played center. And he has also played quarterback and probably a receiver too!!! Josh is an awesome football player and as a big sister, I am so proud of him and how he conducts himself on and off the field. Congrats on a big win last week and last night!!! Good job Savages!!

Say hello to the newest missionary in the Stokes family....Sister Mary Stokes. Her mission call arrived and for Mary, ok for all of us, Josh's football game was the longest ever. I swear there were more penalites than ever! We were waiting until after Josh's game to open it. Right there in the South Fremont High Parking lot. The Stokes' like to open their mission calls in random places, especially parking lots! I also opened mine in the parking lot at the Idaho Falls Temple.

We waited and waited and finally, everyone was there. Becuase of the ridiculous Idaho weather and it being 35 degrees, we all crammed into our suburban and waited in anticipation. Sister Stokes will be serving in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission and leaves January 13!!!! I am so excited for Mary and she will be wonderful. And soon, we will also send out Elder Nathan Stokes! Crazy!!
What a fun few days to spend with the family. Soon, our family will be all over the place so it's fun to get together when we can!!!

An Afternoon of Good Friends and Play-Dough!

Please no one be jealous of my awesome work schedule!! Considering that school has been in session 7 weeks, and we have only had one full week of school. Yes, you read correctly one full week. This past week, Fall Recess!! Thank you for two days off and a Monday work day. So, one of those days, I decided to go to Logan and see some friends.

We had a great day. Went to the most awesome hamburger place for lunch and then AriAnna, Hunter and myself hit up the shopping. In the process, AriAnna bought Hunter a play-dough thing that makes hamburgers. He was so excited and held on to it the whole time. He almost made it in time to play with it but about ten minutes from the house, he fell asleep.

So, the little guy is asleep and what do two 27 year old women do..... Play with play-dough!!! It was so funny! We just started looking at it and then decided to see how it works. And boy, we made some masterpieces!

Oh the happiness on our faces to be playing with playdough. Below, the wonderful masterpiece!



Every time AriAnna and I get together, we have such a great time. We talk for hours about everything and it's so good to get together and visit. And even if it's conversation admist a bunch of play-dough made for kids 3 and up, it is so worth it!

Once a Cowgirl, Always a Cowgirl

I don't mean to have a theme for these blogs but I guess lately, it's cowgirls!!! I went home to Idaho a few weeks ago to watch my little brother Josh play a mean football game and also to help with the annual "Moving Cows" weekend. Bringing cows down from the upper place has always been a fun family affair. Gas up the motorcycles, four wheelers and pickups and get to work!

Not only do we get to ride all over on our "toys" but it's beautiful there too!!!
Nate and Josh on their bikes. They got a little muddy but of course they loved it!

My awesome dad! We always have so much fun bringing the cows down and working them. It's a super busy time but always a fun time and that also means that fall is coming!!!

Just a little bit of Randomness...

I love the Keplers and the Johnsons. I went to Logan a few Mondays ago to have dinner with my best friend and her family. It was so good to catch up with Keith and MarLa. They are great! And Hunter was on a roll!!! Threw a crayon right in Ryan's drink!!! I think basketball should be in his future!!!
This is pretty much the sweetest bruise I have had in a while. While up at Snowbird on a date with Josh, I had to show off a little bit when it came to riding the mechanical bull. As I climb on, I hear from Josh, "Let's see it cowgirl" Talk about pressure...So, I got situated and this was the result. The arm form was excellent but I am only about a 3 second rider. As I hit the "soft" landing and did some crazy volleyball roll and in the process came out with this sweet bruise. So, yes- I am a true cowgirl, but this cowgirl can bruise!!!

We have been living in our house for a year now. What a year it has been. Though we don't see each other much, we've had a great time in this house. We decided to have a "Wednesday Weannie Roast" to celebrate the occasion. It was just a select few. The important people in our lives!Josh and I



We have had a great year in this house. We just signed another year lease so I am looking forward to another great year.

Boating: The time of my life

The Annual 30th ward Boating Trip happened last weekend. Melissa and I went up Friday afternoon. We loaded the car with coolers, sleeping bags, swim suits and towels. After we finally found the place, we had a good time getting to know people from our ward and also make some new friends.

After a fun night of chatting, eating and boating people started leaving and about 11 we started to prepare for a long nights sleep in the Honda!!! We ended up not having a tent like planned so in the Honda we were. It was a long night but we had a good time. Because of the nights sleep,we ended up getting up pretty early and hitting the lake. 7:30 am, Melissa, Ryan, Devin and I were on the lake. And it was that morning where I got up for the first time on a Slalom ski!!! Thanks Devin for taking us out that early morning and for kindly encourging me to get into that freezing cold lake!!! You're awesome!!!

Horray for a fun day of sunshine and skiing. And Melissa on the wake board!

I love boating and love to be outside! It was a fun weekend and can't wait for the next boating adventure and my chance to attempt the Slalom one more time!

A Day with the Girls

Well, since I am by far the slowest blogger ever. Ari Anna and Chelsea blogged about this at least a week ago but at least I am getting it done. What fun to get together with two of my greatest friends. Chelsea and adorable little Karlee were in Utah for some family things and I was so glad that we were able to get together. Ari Anna and cute Hunter came down from Logan and we just spend hours together talking and laughing and catching up. They both are the cutest moms ever and it was fun to see them and their babies that are growing up so fast!
I really felt like I needed to hold something! It was so funny trying to get both Karlee and Hunter to look at the camera at the same time.

We just had so much fun. I love that I have great friends that even though we haven't seen each other for awhile, we always seem to catch up right where we left off. We lived together for so long in college and have made so many memories, it is weird to think back on all of that and where we all are in our lives. We have all come so far and have accomplished so many things but we can still come together and continue to create great memories as friends! I love you both and am so grateful for wonderful people in my life!

Camping, derby's and family vacations! What a great summer

To sum up the rest of the summer, here it is..... Wallace Lake! Beautiful, cold and small fish. Here we are getting ready to swim. It was so cold and it took Sara and I about 20 minutes to get in. It took threatening by Nate and Josh to get us in there. But we did it and it was great.
We did a bit of fishing. You can barely see the tiny fish that my dad caught! He was pretty proud of his catch!!! It was definitely a catch and release day! I attempted fishing and....nothing. Fish don't like me. I enjoy fishing but not the worm or touching the fish. It's a good thing I didn't catch anything!
Mom, Sara and I. Once fishing was over, we just hung out around the camp fire. Played a few rounds of intense PIT. Good thing we had no neighboring campers! It was great. To bed early and an early rise!
I was able to attend the Tooele Demolition Derby with some friends. We were late at buying our tickets and almost didn't make it in. But, some kids saved us and sold us their tickets. The line was so long but we made it in. I love events like this. I love to watch people and there are some very interesting people at these things!
My friend Steve and I. We had fun and played a game who could find the best "white trash" there. Steve won, hands down! I attempted and between the two of us, we had some good ones but who would have thought that the winner would be seated just a few rows in front of us!

Next up, a quick family vacation to Lagoon! Not far for me and because of church duties, went up late on Monday night. We camped at Lagoon Campground and then the next morning went to the Hill Air Force Base Museum and Lagoon.


My little brothers are not so little anymore. They are now bigger than me. I can't believe soon we'll have two missionaries out! Crazy!




What a great summer! I can't believe that it is over. Now begins football games (yea!!!), lesson plans, hormonal high schoolers, long nights at school, stomps, dances and many more good times. So, goodbye summer! It's been a great one!