The rest of the weekend...

 

Thanksgiving weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the year.

I love the HOLIDAY, food, decorating, and relaxation time.

It's one of those holidays that can just be enjoyed and not over done with the gifts and parties, and everything else that sometimes makes holidays exhausting.

We started our Friday morning by picking out our Christmas tree at a local nursery in Elwood.

Kyler loves going to this nursery because it has several animals that he can feed and play with.



Friday evening we got together with the Grover side of the family for another

Thanksgiving Dinner. This is one of my favorite get together.

The food is great and the company is even better.

 

 

Saturday Kyler and I finished decorating our house for Christmas while Jason

went to the USU football game. That evening we enjoyed having my family

in for leftovers since we hadn't gotten together on Thanksgiving Day.



Such a great weekend, which makes it even harder for Monday to come.

I'm excited for the holiday season and all of the fun that comes with it.

It's the most wonderful time of year!!!

 



Thanksgiving 2012...

 Thanksgiving Day went a little like this:

 

5:41 a.m. Put a turkey in so we would have leftovers.

6:00 a.m. Went to a 90 minute Turkey Burn Zumba.

 

10:00 a.m. Carved the turkey and

 started making the stuffing for the family dinner. 

 

 

 

1:00 p.m. Sat down to this delious meal.

Shared a Thanksgiving toast with the ones I love.



3:00 p.m. Kids playing outside and enjoying a beautiful fall day. 

4:00 p.m. Went on a little walk to the cemetery.  







7:50 p.m. Stood in line for over an hour in the cold to

be one of the firsts in the store for Black Friday. 

 

10:30 p.m. Crashed in bed after a long day of enjoying

family and food!!!  

 

Gone Too Soon...

 

 

Today we should have celebrated

 Gary's 64th Birthday.

 

 

Instead of being able to celebrate with him, we got together

and celebrated by doing something he would have loved.

We went and had pizza as a family followed by the new

James Bond movie.

 

Things my Dad taught me:

(Jason shared this list during Gary's funeral.)

 

A love for the Gospel

How to recognize and follow the Spirit

Love and importance of family

Example of a wonderful husband and father

How to ride a bike

How to shred amazing powder

How to laugh

How to swim

The joys of a hot tub

How to survive the wilderness

How to be kind

The importance of making your life about others

Importance of traditions

The need for travel

A love of Christmas pine trees, and snow

The importance to always tell your family you love them

That the best way to show someone your love is to spend time together

How to make someone feel like a friend

The importance of temples

A love of history and politics

A love for pizza, rootbeer, and chocolate

Love for a good spy novel or James Bond flick

A love for science fiction and adventure

How to pull a Cook face

How to shave

How to sharpen a knife and clean a gun

How to drive a stick

How to change a tire and check oil

How to tie a tie

The importance of ice cream

A love of education and the USU Aggies

The importance of honoring the Priesthood

How to show pure love

What a good mustache should look like

How to mark your scriptures

How to be a good missionary

How to work hard and play hard

How to get the guts out of a pumpkin

How to get the guts our of a fish

How to laugh and how to cry

A love of eggnog

A love of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs and dill pickles

 

 

Happy Birthday Gary...

We miss you!!!

1 tree up...1 tree down

With the cozy weather that we had this past weekend

I couldn't resist putting up some Christmas decorations.

The weather has a big effect on me and my holiday spirit.

So I took advantage of it and got 1 room in our house all

decked out for the holidays!!!

 

Kyler loved helping decorate the tree and by the looks

of how closely he placed the ornaments I think he

could get a job decorating Tai Pan's Christmas Trees.

(Seriously who can afford to decorate a tree that much?)

 

This is the sight that we woke up to Friday morning.

I'm not sure if this big branch broke from the heavy snow or from

the winds that we experienced.

Either way it was huge mess and was a pain for Jason to clean up.

 



Kyler had fun pretending to cut it with his chainsaw, but

he was in heaven when he got to be a big boy and really help dad

with a real saw. 

Happy Monday...

Here's to being one week closer to Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, and officially kicking off the Holidays:)!!! 

(And hopefully the best part of my Monday will be receiving our first email from

 Elder Walker. I'm dying to hear how things are going.)

See you in 2 years...

Wow what an emotional week!!!

Today was the big day that Elder Walker finally

entered the MTC. It seems like we have

been talking and preparing for this day for several months.

We have crammed in as much fun and bonding time as possible.

We have gone on a couple of mini vacations, had family dinners,

done a few temple sessions, went on motorcycle rides, took lots of pictures, and shed many tears.

 

I couldn't be more proud of Ty and the wonderful young man that he is. I know he will be an amazing missionary and the people in New Hampshire are lucky to have him.

 

 

 

We decided to say our goodbyes the night he was set apart instead of making that long depressing drive to Provo. I have never been very good at expressing my feelings and saying goodbyes.

Kyler helped lighten the mood that night by dressing up in his

woody costume, if only he understood what was happening.

 

We Love You Elder Walker!!!! 

"God be with you until we meet again"

Thanksgiving Part One...

Sunday night we got together for

Thanksgiving Dinner.

 Ty won't be home for the next 2 years and it is

every ones year to go to the in laws.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I look forward to it all

year long, but I'm afraid this one might be a little different with

all the recent changes happening in our families.

 

 

 

The meal was wonderful as usual, but the mood

wasn't as happy as it usually is for Thanksgiving Dinner.

 

After dinner, Kyler had to have one last

motorcycle ride with uncle Ty. 

 

 

 This picture was taken on Thanksgiving Day 2009.

This is how much things have changed in 3 years.

I can't wait until Thanksgiving 2014 when Ty returns home

from his mission and hopefully there will be a few more in the picture:)!!! 

A Great Man...

 

This past weekend was a sad one for the Cook Family.

 

Jason's dad passed away after months of being sick and

in the hospital and years of struggling with a neurological disease.

I wasn't lucky enough to know the real Gary, but if he was anything like Jason (which I know how alike they were) then

he was one fantastic man!!!

 

I have to smile at the picture below. Gary would always

tease me when I would say how much I wanted a girl that the Cook Family only has boys. By the looks of this picture it must be true. 

 

 

 

I have worried and wondered what Kyler thinks about all of this.

This is the second grandpa that has passed away in the past

3 months. He is so young and doesn't really understand.

After the funeral we were talking and he told me that a helicopter

came and took Grandpa Gary up to Heaven.

 

 

Saturday was such a Beautiful Fall Day.

The spirit was so strong during his funeral service and is was

so nice to be surrounded by so many family and friends. 

Gary Alton Cook

November 17, 1948 ~ October 26, 2012

BRIGHAM CITY – Our loving Gary Alton Cook, 63, passed away on Friday, October 26, 2012, with his family at his side in Salt Lake City, Utah. Gary was born on November 17, 1948, in Logan, Utah, a son of Alton Dudley and Donna T. Cook. He graduated from Box Elder High School in 1966 and Utah State University in Political Science. Gary was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. Gary married his high school sweetheart, Shirley Grover on September 2, 1975, in Brigham City, Utah. Their marriage was solemnized in the Logan LDS Temple on January 17, 1987. Gary served in the Central States Mission from 1968 to 1970. He served in various callings: Bishopric Counselor, Gospel Doctrine and Sunday School Teacher, Scout Leader, Activity and Nursery Leaders, Young Men's Leader and Home Teacher. Gary was actively involved in local, state and national politics: Brigham City Planning Commission, Utah Board of Water Resources, Governor's Commission for Women and Families, and Surrogate Speaker for Ronald Reagan. Gary spent his career doing what he loved, traveling as a manufacturer sales representative for various high end apparel companies including: Pendleton Woolen Mills, Geiger and Guiesswein. Gary was also the founder of Educational Equipment Foundation and Managing Trustee CRDS Trust, President PW Cook Family History Organization and a member of the National Ski Patrol. Gary enjoyed scripture study, snow skiing, fly fishing, traveling, reading, football, swimming/hot tub, anything Christmas and spending time with his family at Bear Lake. However, his greatest joys were his wife, sons’ families and grandchildren. Gary was a giant of a man, scholar, scripturian and humanitarian. He was generous beyond description. He always strived to make the world a better place. Gary had a gentle guiding hand, humorous personality and always gave sound advice. He will be so missed by all who called him family or friend, and we know we will see him again. Until then we will treasure the lessons he taught, cherish the memories he has left and the significant ways he has touched our lives. Gary is survived by his wife, Shirley; three sons, Jason (Kaylee) Cook; Casey (Rachael) Cook; Jacob (TBD) Cook; three grandchildren, Michael, Laker, and Kyler; his mother, Donna Cook and sister, Trudy (Boyd) Malan. He was preceded in death by his father, Alton Cook. We would like to express our appreciation to the LDS Promise Hospital doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists and all others who helped during his courageous battle. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Gary Cook Education Fund at the Box Elder Credit Union, 30 East 700 West, Brigham City, Utah 84302. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, November 3, 2012, at 11:00 am at the Box Elder Stake Center, 420 South 800 West, Brigham City, UT. A viewing will be held on Friday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Gillies Funeral Chapel, 634 East 200 South, Brigham City, UT and at the Stake Center on Saturday from 9:30 to 10:30 am prior to the services. Interment will be in the Brigham City Cemetery.