Well I am moving and I hope all my friends come see me at my new blog home. You can find me at http://thelifeofmarkandkatie.blogspot.com/
Please be patient as I try to figure out the ins and outs of blogger. I will be a pro in no time. 
See you soon!
This past weekend Mark and I went to Gatlinburg to stay with his family in a cabin in the Smokies. It was so nice to be lazy and hidden in the mountains. We had a few days of games, fun, laughter, conversation, fellowship, and eating. We arrived Saturday night just in time for dinner and had a nice lazy day on Sunday. Then Sunday afternoon my parents came out to the cabin, we grilled out and went to play a round of Hillbilly Golf. It is always so nice to get our families together. We had such a great time! Monday we drove the Roaring Fork Trail and went to Ober Gatlinburg to ride the alpine slides. We had a great time but I am still ready to just be at home for a while.
Rachel loves her uncle Mark
The whole crew
We loved getting our hands and feet in the water.
We saw a black mam bear and his cub
This time to the west coast to San Francisco, CA! Last week I was in San Francisco all week. I hate flying to the west coast but it wasn’t too bad this time. I can say that now that it’s over. I went out for work but did have one day to do some sightseeting. I was very excited about this trip but once I saw some of the city I was not that impressed. I am so glad that I did get to see some of the things but not sure I will go back for pleasure. Again, we only had one day of sightseeing but I think we covered a lot of ground. If we had had any more spare time, I’m not sure what we would have done. I just didn’t see that much to do there. We took the double-decker bus tour through the city, saw the Golden Gate Bridge, visited Alcatraz and rode the cable cars. Those things were fun and I’m glad I was able to experience it. We had a great time touring and at the conference but I am so glad to be home. The time zone really messed me up too. I have been staying up until at least midnight every night since I have been home. I’m sure I will be back on schedule in the next few days.
Fisherman’s Wharf
The “Full House” Homes but I’m not sure which one the Tanner’s actually lived in.
Golden Gate Bridge
On the cable car
Lombard Street – the crookedest street (8 sharp turns on one city block)
Hanging onto the cable car as we go up and down the streets of San Fran. 
The skyline
Alcatraz
Jim took us to a fun little place for lunch last week. We went to Hot Diggity Dogs. They have every kind of hot dog you can think of, the New York dog, Chicago dog, Nashville dog, etc. It was so delicious! I definitely will go back soon. The place is ran by a woman who has about 3 others helping her in the kitchen every day and they all are so nice. Jim goes there enough that they even recognize him. Another thing I loved was the ketchup cups. They are so handy. They are much larger than the paper cups you get at McDonald’s, they have lids and are stackable! They were just so nice. Random, I know but nice. They would be great for picnics!
This weekend was so nice spending time with my parents and Drew and then having lunch with my extended family on Sunday. We got to keep Drew all day and all night on Saturday and we had a blast. He has gotten so big since I saw him on Mother’s Day! He is smiling ALL the time, laughing, and playing. He is the sweetest thing ever!
Some pool time with Drew
Grandad is so funny!
Spending some time outside
What a happy baby!
Happy Father’s Day!
Drew and I had so much fun on his play mat.
Bradley’s first Father’s Day!
At the first of June, my friend Katie and I went to visit our friend, Laura in New York City. It was too bad that I was soooo sick. I had a bad case of allergies and felt awful. I had a great time seeing all the sights and spending time with friends. I wish I had felt better but overall we had a great time!
Each time I have been to NYC we have yet to see the Statue of Liberty so we did that, along with the hop-on, hop-off bus tour, good eating, the wax museum, and more.
Whew, I am so far behind, I have just been going non-stop for the past couple of months. Anyway, here are some updates.
Mark and I were able to celebrate the marriage of a long time friend Brett and Hillary. The wedding was beautiful, it was great to see old friends and celebrate this special time with a wonderful couple. Congratulations!
I have been so busy since we have been back that I haven’t gotten to share the details about the rest of our trip. So everyone knows what happened Thurdsay! It was definitely one of the best days of my life. Mark did such a perfect job with the engagement, I love him so much. We are thinking of having the wedding in April 2009. I want to enjoy being engaged and enjoy the planning process. So stayed tuned for the planning details.
Friday – after we finally came down off of our high (still engaged ) I started showing Mark my favorite city. It was a little cool so we went to the Shedd Aquarium and spent half the day. It was huge and I’m not sure if we got through it all or not. They had some pretty neat fish, dolphins and other animals. Then we had Chicago’s famous stuffed pizza at Giordano’s. Since it was such a clear day we decided to go up to the Sear’s Tower Observatory and take a look at the city in the daylight. It was so clear and so nice. Friday night we took a dinner cruise aboard the Odyssey. It was so beautiful to see the city/skyline from the lake. We even had a “Congratulations” dessert. 
Saturday we slept in, had breakfast and hopped onto the double decker city tour bus. This thing took us everywhere. We got off at Millenium Park and rented segways, what I call vesbas. Mark had the best time on these things. They made me a little nervous because they are motorized by your body weight and balance. I definitely had a few episodes where I thought I was going to wreck. But I have to admit they were a lot of fun! A great way to ride through the city. For dinner we had a great meal at the famous Harry Caray’s. They had great crab cakes! Yummo!
Sunday we spent half the day at the Field Museum where we say the T-Rex, Sue. I am not big on museums but there was some pretty neat stuff there. We then walked to Navy Pier and visited the shops, had lunch and wanted to ride the ferris wheel. It was about to storm so they shut it down for a while. We had reservations for the architechural boat tour along the river. This was something I was so excited about. It was very interesting hearing about all the neat buildings and seeing the city from the river. We definitely saw the city from every angle while we were there. We had a nice italian dinner at Rosebud’s.
Monday we were so excited about the Cubs game. We headed to Wrigleyville about 10am. We had lunch at the Cubby Bear and then met Michele, who we work with and went to the game with. We had the best time. And get this, they had “Congratulations Mark and Katie” on the scoreboard during the 5th inning. It was so cool. The sign is very small because they have the original scoreboard so the screen for words/advertisements isn’t very big. I was so surprised and excited. It was the neatest thing! We love Wrigley Field, it is so pretty, close and intimate. We had a great time!
MARK AND I ARE ENGAGED!
For those of you that don’t know, Mark and I are spending the long holiday weekend in Chicago (have I mentioned this is my FAVORITE city?) for a vacation as well as celebrating our anniversary. Mark has never been here so i am very excited to show him everything! We just arrived yesterday morning and it was much cooler than we expected, so we immediately changed from our short sleeves and flip flops to sweatshirts and tennis shoes. Yesterday I had a few things to do for work so we grabbed lunch and I headed to my meetings. Mark told me that we had dinner reservations at the Hancock building at 7:30pm then we were going to observatory deck afterwards. I was very excited, as I have eaten dinner at this restaurant before and it is DELICIOUS. It’s located on the 95th floor overlooking the entire city and lakeshore. It was beautiful, we snagged a seat by the window and oooed and ahhhed over the view and the delicious meal. We were able to see the sunset during dinner as well. We then went down to the Cheesecake Factory and ordered some cheesecake to-go. It was finally dark and we then went back up to the observatory for a nighttime view of the city from all angles. Mark took me over to one side of the building where we were somewhat secluded. (we rode the elevator up with a bunch of kids so we were trying to get away from them. He began by explaining his unconditional love for me and how this past year has been the best and he wouldn’t want to spend his life with anyone else, blah, blah (I’ll keep the rest to myself). He then gets on one knee and yes I am crying by this point. I really couldn’t believe this was happening, the then puts this GORGEOUS ring on my finger and I of course said YES! I am an emotional basket case by this point, I can only imagine what my makeup looks like. I immediately told him I needed to go to the restroom to check my face. I was so surprised, I really didn’t know what to do at this point. I was so excited, I just looked at the ring for a few minutes, I couldn’t even focus on the view anymore. So we took some pictures and headed downstairs so I could use the phone to call friends and family. What a special moment and what a way to celebrate our anniversary and start the vacation!
At the hotel before our first evening 
Our view during dinner 
I had a very nice visit with family this weekend. Saturday we spent the day at Bradley and Casey’s while Dad and Bradley worked in the yard. We had a great lunch AND dinner and had lots of time with Drew! Jessica stopped by too but Drew was gassy and a little fussy so I didn’t get a picture of them together. They will see each other again soon. Sunday we went to church with Mamaw and Papaw, which is always a nice visit. Bradley, Casey and Drew came by mom and dad’s Sunday for a quick lunch and visit so they could make their other rounds on Mother’s Day. I am so blessed that I have the opportunity to spend time with my mom and celebrate her and what she has done and continues to do for me and our family. Thanks Mom! I love you!
Three Generations of Stooksbury’s
Mom and all her kids
This was taken last week but I hadn’t posted it. Isn’t he just the perfect “Future Mr. Right?”
Oh, what a yawn!
