Holiday Spirit

I have to say, fall is fabulous! I never realized how much I missed the cold, but it feels as though I've found the missing frosting to the holiday season. Although still delicious, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas never feel quite right without the desire for a warm blanket wrapped around you, a hot beverage, and home baked goods. I feel giddy over holidays in a way I'd forgotten. I love being back in Utah.
The season has also been one of change as we have purchased our first home. I love our new home, or should I say I will once completed. We decided to renovate the kitchen completely, torn out walls, floor and all. I've learned so much, and can hardly wait to move in. The home is in Sandy, only 1/2 hour away from Alta, yippee! Check out the progress:)

Summer Delights

A few pictures to share from our beautiful Timpanokie hike.

Full Circle

Thought a new post would be appropriate just days from my last posts one year anniversary. Never being one to conform to the unnecessary deadlines magically created by electronics, I feel waiting a year since my last update actually gives me something to write about!

This past year has been an exciting one for us. In October we went on our first cruise, which had mixed reviews but was fun none the less. Our favorite stop on the Mexico tour was Cabo San Lucas. We came prepared with our own snorkeling gear and put it to good use in the crystal clear 80 degree water. We also managed to find a Dairy Queen to help us cool off!

Brady's sister Lindsay and her husband Dusty came to visit us in November to run in the famous San Diego 10K Mud Run. Splashing in the mud was invigorating, but we were exhausted from the obstacle course over estimating our athletic ability not being properly trained, opps!

Mid December Brady graduated from the Art Institute of San Diego voted top student of his graduating peers by the professors (yes I am bragging:). Brady's parents Daryl and Marie along with my mother Lisseth and step-dad Glen came into town to help celebrate. We had so much fun with them relaxing, indulging in San Diego's fabulous shopping, and being spoiled eating out almost every meal.

After graduation we decided to try moving back to Utah. Although San Diego had been everything we'd hoped for, it came with a high price tag. Once one of us landed a job, we would make the move. In February I was offered a job by Mission Pharmacal, continuing on in women's health care sales. Yipee!

Shae, Brady's older brother, and my mom were kind enough to fly down on short notice to help us move. The move was intensely bitter sweet. We'd made so many amazing life-long friends who made it very difficult to move. My book club threw farewell party, and we were treated to our final San Diego dinner by our close friends the Teemsmas and McLellans.

So far being back in Utah has been good. Nervous to start a new job moving back only a few days prior went surprisingly well. I love my new teny tiny company which makes me feel like family. Brady has been freelancing and is enjoying answering only to himself doing what he loves.

Only being away for a little over a month, we decided to turn a business trip into a little get away to So. Cal. We finally made it to Disneyland, a first for both of us. It was nice to visit San Diego and really enjoy it as a vacation!

Currently we're living in my Aunt Connie's condo in Bountiful where we started almost five years ago. Being able to be there for our families special moments and eat Sunday dinner with our parents makes it all worth it. Talk about coming full circle!

Hard to believe we're just around the corner from our 2 year anniversary of becoming San Diego residents! The past 7 months have been a typhoon of delight, burns, growth, love, and conquest. Just 5 months from Brady's graduation we're experiencing a little whip lash from the ride while trying to decide which attraction to jump on next.

Brady is at the Art Institute of San Diego and loving it. In the spring he participated in an invitation only National Advertising competition (NSAC). His group took 3rd place in his district, and were also awarded "best creative" on which Brady had been the lead. He's enjoying his Christmas gift of season Padres tickets, and plays on a rec team with a bunch of his buddies. He also spends way to much time updating his fantasy team... ugh!

Currently, Brady is rolling out a campaign for the movie "The Spirit". Yeah, the real deal! Unfortunately it is not paid but his and a group from his school designed and created a number of posters, signs, clips, and gimmicks which the producer loved and decided to roll out nationally! Being this close to Hollywood has had some great perks for Brady's education:).

Staying busy with his calling as ward clerk and working part time at the Container Store, Brady and I have also started training for the San Diego Mud Run in November. It is a 10k obsticle course, and to be honest... I have no idea what we were thinking! We'll be running in a team with our buddies Jared, Elaine, and SD friend Dan. Should be memorable if nothing else!

I'm still working for Organon (now a part of Schering Plough) Pharmaceuticals in women's health. Things have been a bit hectic since our purchase by Schering Plough, but I'm still lovin' it! I was recently made the Computer and Regional Trainer for my district of Southern California, where I help peers with development technically and train new hires. Crazy, I can hardly believe it! I work with so many amazing people who have helped me to grow in many ways professionally and personally. I'm so grateful every day to have a job that has allowed Brady to fully focus on his education and live in such a beautiful place.

My calling as Young Woman's president has also kept me occupied. I love the girls so much and although a lot of work, it has been such an amazing experience and blessing.

We were also just called as Temple Workers! We were a bit shocked but so excited for the opportunity. Every Saturday from 5:30-11:30 am we will be serving in the San Diego Temple (funny, when we chose this time the temple president kept saying, “Now, you know you have to be up here and ready to start by then… are you sure?” We’re going to have to learn some real discipline! Afterwards from 12:00-3:00 we’ll be across the way surfing, sweet double bonus!

Some of my gal pals and I recently started a book/ restaurant club which has been a fabulous estrogen fest! Each month we select a book and restaurant, enjoying the ultimate girls night. Currently we're reading 'Twilight' (which was an insane page turner, I finished the first 2 books in 4 days!) and 'Modoc, the Greatest Elephant that Ever Lived'.

We've made some wonderful friends who have become our SD family. Recently we vacationed with our pals Dan and Autums and their gorgious twins Owen and Giddeon in Arizona over the 4th of July. I know, crazy to be there in heat of summer, but the company made the trip! Brady and Dan were able to catch a Diamond Back's game while Autumn and I hit up my all time favorite store Last Chance. We got some much needed RR, played my new favorite game 'Dutch Blitz' and enjoyed cooling off in the pool.

With some saved up vacation time, we also were able to visit family and friends in Utah. We could hardly stand how home sick we'd become! A definite benefit of changing the proximity to your family from 3 miles to 1,300 is you really begin to appreciate the incredible people they are. Hard to believe we are related to the most generous, loving, selfless, beautiful, and funny people I've ever met, we miss them every day!

Although San Diego has been a dream come true, one thing is for sure... we miss our loved ones! So, after much deliberation we've made the choice to move back as soon once we get all our ducks in a row. Probably some time early 09', we'll keep you posted!

Playing Catch-UP

Our extended three week visit to Utah has fortunately afforded us the opportunity to hang out with a lot of family and friends. It has been so much fun playing catch up!
Thursday night we went out to Herriman to hang with Brady's sister Angie, her husband Cody, and their son Kyan. At only 1 1/2 year Kyan is becoming quite the basketball player. Cody taught him how to dunk and now that's all he wants to do! He was so cute shooting with his left hand. For dinner Angie made a delicious vegetartian lasagnia, which Kyan seemed to enjoy a little more than the rest of us!
After putting Kyan to bed we played a fun dice game and watched the movie "Licensed to Wed" with Robin Williams, Mandy Moore, and half of the cast from "The Office". I give the movie a C+. Nice clean flick, at times offensively tacky, but with a good take away message. We love hanging out with Angie and Cody and look up to them so much!
Friday I went to lunch with the girls and Brady met up with some of his buddies. Darci, Jana, Brooke, Ashley and I met at "The Fire House", a recent culinary addition to the Centerville line-up. I ordered the "ratatioui", and awesome vegetarian personal pizza. This restaurant is a must visit and #1 in the area (I know, not exactly tight competition). Rumor has is they have some mean cookie and ice cream desserts!
That evening we celebrated Glen's 49th birthday (sorry Glen, everyone get ready for the big 5-0!). His kids Chris, Spencer, Emily, and Aubrey helped us to celebrate and my mom provided a fantastic turkey dinner, mmmm!
Our friends Jason, Darci and their son Austin came to hang out after dinner. Austin is sooooo cute! He's the kind of baby that makes you think, "hey, I think I could have a baby if they were like him!" Darci is working part time at a Dental office and still cuts hair on the side. Jason sells for IKON and loves his job. They recently put a down payment on a condo in Farmington and hope to move in this summer. They have the most adorable little family and we are so grateful for their friendship. So many loved-ones, so little time!

A Family that Loves to Party!

Ahhh, the day after Christmas... The sales, the wrapping paper collage on the floor, and the new 5 lbs. added to the scale bringing us that much closer to Santa Clause. For most families this would be a time to relax and regenerate after all the parties and last minute gift purchases, but not my family! Party on!!!


The day after Christmas is my cousin Amy's husband Aaron's birthday. We took advantage of this opportunity for yet another fun get together. We met at Typhoon, a Thia restaurant at the Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. All fourteen attendees shared their plates for the ultimate Thai buffet! The popular favorite was the Indian Princess with chicken, mmmhh, so good!


This party was extra special as we were also bidding farewell to my Uncle Pat's nephew Dave Houy. He is off to serve a 60-90 day assignment for the United States Air force this Sunday. He is a Master Sargent, which means he's only 2 steps from the top! Staying on base in Iraq, Dave is an electrical mechanic who leads work on F16's. He also served in 2003 during the war and in 2005 for 4 months and in addition volunteered at the hospital in his spare time in the surgical unit. His wife Jana works full time at the Layton post office and will probably spend a lot of time hanging out with her family in Draper while he is away. Although they are not directly related to us we are so grateful to have them in our lives and think of them as nothing less than family. We are so grateful for David's service and he will be in our prayers as we hope for his quick return.


After saying our goodbyes we were walking to our car when I totally slipped on the ice in one of those horizontal falls but was luckily caught by Brady. Unfortunately I was caught slamming against the car and sustained a royal bruise on my back! Laughing and hoping nobody else had seen me we were off to meet up with Brandon and his girlfriend Danielle to watch a couple episodes of "Arrested Development".


December 26th is also Danielle's birthday and Brandon hooked her up with a new set of head phones which she loved. They seem so happy and are such a cute couple! Danielle has only one semester until she completes her undergraduate degree at Utah State in Interior Design. She is very artistically talented and showed some of her skills in Brandon's Christmas gift. Reminiscent of Andy Warhol, Danielle painted him some colorful sneaker portraits. I don't think I've seen Brandon so excited over a gift. Ahhh, puppy love!

Merry Christmas!

What an amazing Christmas we've had! Brady and I started the celebration by quietly opening the gifts from each other in our room. We had decided to do things simplistically as possible only giving a couple gifts and filling each others stockings. It was perfect! It's amazing how much more special the gifts became when they were so few. We did however have one extra big and special gift. As it is Brady's last year of school and we may be starting a family in the near future, I gave him a trip to anywhere in the world (with a little help from my Aunt Connie and Uncle Pat's Delta hook-up!). I thought for sure he would know immediately where we'd go as he's been talking about Europe recently. Instead, he is taking this assignment very seriously and feels he has to do a lot of research before he makes his choice. I'm pressing hard for Thailand!




At 10am sharp we were able to call Brady's little bro Trent who is serving a mission in Helsinki, Finland. He said the Finnish people do most of their celebrating on Christmas Eve. They also light candles on the graves of their loved ones to pay honor and respect. Trent is loving his mission and has been going out of his comfort zone by tasting the local cuisine; his least favorite...Fish! It's amazing how quickly people can grow on a mission. Once shy and quite, Trent was talking almost non-stop for 3 hours! Only 6 months into his mission, we're looking forward to his growth and the service he will be giving the Lord in the months to come.

We then opened gifts with Brady's parents. They have a tradition in the Cook family of giving a gift to Christ every year (makes sense, we are celebrating his birthday!). We write what the gift will be on a piece of paper and put it in a stocking that has been put aside for him. The gifts we wrote the previous year are then read aloud anonymously and we check ourselves to see if we followed through. Unfortunately, we accidentaly forgot to do it this year, oops! We're going to try to do a make-up on Sunday evening:).



After saying our goodbyes we were off to meet with my mom and step-dad Glen who had just picked up my brother Brandon from the airport. Brandon and Mary had been spending Christmas with my Dad in Florida. They had a great time in 85 degree weather hanging with dolphins, and winning a sand castle (or should I say sand cabin) competition which awarded them a return trip next year!



We found ourselves in yet another blizzard of wrapping paper as we opened the gifts from my side of the family. My favorite gift hands down was my new camera (thanks Mom and Glen!). Brady was given cash for a new suite, which my mom insisted on being present when is purchased. Everyone was so generous, there is nothing else we could possibly need!








The day ended at my Aunt Connie's where we ate ourselves sick and laughed to tears as we caught up with the gang. It was so fun to have a white Christmas in Utah. Our greatest gift this year was being with our family. I hope everyone had a wonderful Chirstmas and that all your wishes come true in the new year!