Year in Review

I was going to write a Family Newsletter about the year to go out with our Christmas Cards but with our hectic lives recently we were late getting out our Christmas Cards, let alone trying to get a letter done to go along with it. So I figured I would blog about our year instead of mailing out one.
The 2011 Year started out as it always has for Joey and I, we were in Mexico with Charity Anywhere doing service for the poor and celebrating the New Year with the ward down there. (We are sad that we won't be celebrating New Years in Mexico this year but our new addition is definitely worth giving up the tradition for the year). Emily graduated from USU with her bachelors degree in Family Consumer and Human Development in December and Joey finished up his degree in Business Entrepreneurship in May. Emily tried to stay busy in the Spring searching for a job but had no luck which was fine because on March 23rd we found out that we were pregnant. Luckily Emily's pregnancy was very easy.  She was hardly sick compared to other pregnant women we have associated with. Our main focus this year was on the pregnancy and welcoming a new baby into our lives and family.
In May, Joey and Emily were both able to walk at Graduation. It was pretty cool because Emily was able to walk with Joey so that we didn't have to spend the whole day at Graduation. Emily figured that she probably knew more of the professors and the Dean for the Jon M Huntsman School of Business than she would have if she would have walked in the Education Graduation. After graduation we packed up and moved to Bear Lake to work for Chuck and Ginger (Joey's brother and sister-in-law) at Bear Lake Cabin Rentals. Also this was the first time that Emily and Joey have lived somewhere without sharing the house. We moved back into the trailer that we lived in the summer that we were first married. A big thank you to Brent and Randi Hirschi for the place to stay.  Joey spent the summer doing maintenance for the cabins, coming up with marketing options for the renters, and building/promoting the brand image. He created this package booklet for renters to book their next stay along with other benefits and activities to do during their stay. Emily stayed busy doing laundry and cleaning some of the smaller rental properties.
In October the trailer was sold and we had to move. Luckily, Joey started working for his cousin Brian who owns Boat/Seadoo/ATV/Snowmobile rentals in Bear Lake. Brian has the "Fun House" for his employee housing and since he doesn't house employees during the winter we were able to move in. Joey is now working on Website and Online Reservation projects for Bear Lake Cabin Rentals and Brian's rentals. He has also done some other website design projects for other people in Bear Lake.
This summer Joey decided that he needed to do something adventurous since we hadn't really had time and with Emily being pregnant it was a little hard to do any rock climbing or caving. Joey and his friend Ryan decided to Kayak across Bear Lake from the North Shore to Rendezvous Beach. On Oct 19th they decided that the weather was good enough and it was past the boating season so they wouldn't have to worry about other watercraft on the water. They had a lot of fun!
Our due date was November 9th as the day came closer we both realized that we were going to be welcoming a baby to our family and that it was really happening. November 9th came and went without any sign of him coming soon. We had a date set up for an induction if he didn't come (Nov. 17th). Many family members really wanted him to come on 11/11/11 but he decided that he didn't want to come until the next day. Theophilus Kwame Stocking entered our life on November 12th 2011. After a few days in the NICU we were able to go home and begin our life as a three person family. We have really enjoyed having Theo in our family and he teaches us something new everyday.
We have had a wonderful time since his birth with our families celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas. In our next post we will post some pictures of Theo's first Christmas!

We wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! We hope that 2012 will bring everyone happiness and adventures!