My friend Jeannie

It has been a year since Troy and I have been married. I was going through pictures the other day, the ones that my friend Jeannie took. Two words about Jeannie- she is artistic and a lot eccentric. We have been friends for 10 years. She knows my "crazy" and I know hers.
She came to our wedding, which was awesome because she never goes anywhere out of her comfort zone. She took these pictures. She was so excited to give me the one of the two horses. She said it was a sign that we would be together forever. I didn't have the heart to tell her that they were two male horses. She was raised in NJ, she doesn't know farm animals like people from the country do or Springville for that matter. She is responsible for the two painting in my house that cause people to stare and just not "get it". These are her pictures. Black & white pictures are her medium for the most part. She has a great eye for catching the moments.

One thing I love about Troy is his love for music. I am so lucky that he loves to hear me sing and thinks I do wonderfully. I love that he plays the saxophone- although he has only played once for me. It was awesome!!! It is great that I found a partner in crime that will go to symphonies and the next night to a hard rock concert. We haven’t been to the symphony yet this year, but we will be going soon. Troy’s favorite composer is Mozart and when the Utah Symphony plays him we for sure get tickets.
For my birthday this year Troy bought me tickets to Nickelback, Three Days Grace & Buckcherry. I loved NIckelback and I was so excited to go. He bought general admission tickets thinking that there would be no assigned seating. What he didn’t know is that meant NO SEATING. He felt horrible, we did get to stand the whole entire 4 hour concert but we were so close to all the bands. It was awesome and we weren’t the oldest ones down there either. There were a whole bunch of older women trying to dress like teenagers. They scared me.
The next night we went to Collective Soul, one of Troy’s favorite bands. It was the last night of their 18 month tour. The concert was sold out within 10 minutes after they were released online. Thanks to my coworker that actually got in and purchased them for me. There were about 5 of us trying to get our tickets. CS put on a very good concert. Troy was MUCH happier at the Collective Soul concert. The Nickelback concert wasn’t as good as the Collective Soul. I left the Nickelback concert not much of a fan of their any longer. The Collective Soul concert was pretty good and we had seats…

How much I LOVE candy

The last 3 parties I have gone to- or helped at- or been in charge of, there has been a candy bar. Let me tell you why... I just love candy. It is my favorite thing. It is my comfort "food". I thought it would be interesting to show these different candy bars and the awesome days that each represent. My wedding celebration was in October and the candy bar represents the falls colors. It also represents the thoughtfulness of my mom in putting it together for Troy & I. We get comments to this day of how over-the-top it really was. But the kids loved it. When I say kids I mean anyone from 20 to 70 years old.
The second candy bar was at my dear father's birthday party/open house celebrating his 60 years on this earth. It was in July and how awesome my mom was again for putting this together for our family & friends. The kid's loved it and I got a kick out of the little ones stuffing their faces with as much candy as they could.
The third candy bar was at my littlest sister’s open house/baby shower. Once again my mom rocks! I bet you can't guess what is she having based on the color of the candy. It was wonderful seeing all our family and friends at each one of these gatherings. I am reminded on a daily basis, how incredibly blessed I am having the people in my life. I am also very happy that I have a much larger family to call my own. The merger between Troy and I has been a wonderful thing.
In hindsight I think I love our candy bar the most. It was an amazing day that we were able to share with our family. I would change only a few things, but NOT the candy bar. It was perfect.

Our Saturday in Tremonton

Last weekend one of Troy's good friends got married. I won her in the merge. She is awesome & has turned into one of my favorite people. She was so beautiful and she looked so happy. We went to Tremonton for this, so ya, it was a big deal.

When I met K*** she was going through a divorce and was pretty unhappy with the way that things had turned out. To look at her last Saturday was to see a whole different girl. When she looked at her husband there was such a soft look of love.

It reminds me of when I married Troy. How much I love him and his tenderness towards me. I would do anything for him. I can't believe we have been married a whole year now. It went so fast. Every day I fall more in love with him. I am going to post his proposal on this blog and pictures of that day. Shortly. It is amazing to me that I have finally found true love after really being on this earth 40 years.

Camping

One of the constants at our reunion was the weather, the severe rainstorms and lightning and thunderstorms that lit up the area almost every afternoon. Troy was able to get awesome pictures of the clouds and us in our rain gear. It was very cold and even sparked a forest fire by Jenny Lake. We took a couple of shots of the fire when it first started. The mountains were so beautiful and the air was so clean. I was so amazed that the air was so clean and the water you could see through to the bottom.
We did not let the weather affect our activities. We seemed to wait 10-15 minutes for the weather to clear and we were back on the trail. The elevation was so high that it really was cold during the night and for sure during breakfast. But everyone had a smile on their face, (ISH). Everyone knows that I am NOT a morning person. Troy stayed away from me with the camera. Good for him, he made it through the family reunion alive.
I love this picture of Jenny. It is really about the solitude and the beauty of our world.

The Lake

One of the best things about being a kid is the complete lack of having to work for dinner. Let me explain. During our summer camping trip the grownups had to do the cooking while the little kids got to play by the lake. They got to skip rocks over the water and play in the dirt. And let me also say, that Grandpa was included with the kids. He didn’t have to cook either Troy was down there playing with the kids and was taking pictures while they skipped rocks into the lake. He was right at the water’s edge, backing up for a shot when he slipped on a rock and fell. He did sacrifice his body and saved the camera from going into the rock piles or the water. Our viewer got scratched but he was ok. He was very glad that he was able to take the pictures of the kids that he did. Sometimes the little kids picked up the biggest rocks to throw in. Even the littlest one of the bunch was super excited that he got to throw rocks. The lake was the best babysitter while the grownups HAD to cook. The little ones, and Grandpa, were entertained. Oh and so was Troy

Squirrel!

Recently the David Osmond Cook family reunion was held in Wyoming. We were on Jackson Lake, Coulter Bay, in the cabins on top of the hill. We were there from August 3rd -8th. This little blog is about our picture day of the reunion.
I have many cute little nieces and nephews. They are full of energy and a love of life. They are very close in age to each other, ranging from 2-6. While we were getting ready to get our pictures taken, I was reminded of the movie, “Up.” In the movie there were dogs that would be easily distracted by squirrels. The voice box on the dog actually said what the dog was thinking. The dog would be paying attention to the matters at hand and then all of a sudden yell, “SQUIRREL”. Troy and I have older kids, and we were very amused by the little cousins running around after squirrels. Our sister-in-law is the photographer trying to get the kids all placed and ready for the picture. Her kids were leading the pack for the majority of the time. The kids kept after the squirrels. Someone would yell SQUIRREL!” and it would be a mass congregation at the place where someone saw a little critter. It was very fun to watch, because it wasn’t our kids running around.
For the rest of the trip the kids were running around after squirrels. Here are a few pictures that we captured of the kids running around trying to find those furry little creatures. Notice the smallest of them all, a 2 year old, keeping up pretty darn well.

The BIG 6 0

The BIG 6 0. My dad reached this milestone recently. My father has always been the young guy, the skier, the active participant in life. He still is. “Age aint nothing but a number” is what really comes to my mind when I think of my dad. My parents have always been the youngest parents. My mom and dad were the parents that came outside while I was young and played games with the neighborhood children. My dad worked at a hardware store and he would bring home wood pallets and we would have BOMB fires in the backyard. Not bonfires but BOMB fires with gasoline and everything. We would play kickball in our backyard. I had a very charmed childhood being raised in the same hometown as my grandmother & my father. My dad used to let us skip school on Thursdays and go skiing with him. I have fond memories of a great day on the slopes and then we would stop on Provo Center Street and pick up postum and a bagel. (Postum is gross, but the bagels were great.)
60 doesn’t seem old. It just doesn’t.
My mom organized a surprise open house on Sunday July 25th, 2 days before my dad’s birthday. I don’t know how she did it. She can’t keep those kinds of secrets. We started the day with a family dinner and when we pulled up to the house Jenny & John were here from Texas were bringing rolls around from the backyard. It was the GREATEST surprise. It had been almost 2 years since I had seen them due to their overseas adventure in Australia. We had a very quick family dinner and then something was up. All of us kids jumped up to clean up so that we could get ready for the open house.
My very awesome in-laws showed up first and they came bearing a carrot cake. Carrot Cake happens to be my moms and my husband’s favorite dessert. We hurried and I am grateful for my mom Stark. She helped us all get ready for the open house. Many people came to wish my dad a happy birthday. People I haven’t seen in years. Remember I am from a small town and everyone knew me growing up including during my amazingly awkward stage. There was ice-cream from BYU and Utah State Creamery. There was a huge cake and a family staple the candy “bar”. The Cook’s always go big.
It was a wonderful day to mark a great milestone in Dad’s life. I am again reminded how blessed I am to have the family that I do on both sides.

Service Star

This week I won a very awesome award. My employer's Service Star Award. It recognizes individuals whose actions support the company's mission of providing user-friendly services and promote a work environment based on the Company's core values: Service, Respect, Integrity, Excellence, Communication & Profitability. I won for the Utah/Idaho/Montana market area for the month of June for service. I know I always tell people how awesome I am, but this was a very humbling award.
This is what was written about me,

"Tiffany has always been a great resource and help when it comes to just about any question I have. Specifically lately, it has been with understanding High Bandwidth. Mostly understanding what is put on the contract vs. what product do I really need to choose in ICC and why. It doesn't matter how many times I ask her the same question (I feel it’s always the same question) she is always very cheerful and patient with me - I only do about 2 or 3 high bandwidth products a month, but still, she is always explaining why this product instead of that one,' which I really appreciate. I always understand better if I am told 'why' rather than just do it this way'. Last week, when I had some questions in our training about High Bandwidth, I asked some questions that she wasn't quite sure about, so she had a list of things to find answers for me on. She will always say if she doesn't know and will go out of her way to find an answer rather than just giving me an answer to be done with me. I think she represents the company's core values in more than one area with her work ethic and how she treats coworkers as well as customers - Service, integrity, communication and respect. I think she should be recognized for always doing her best and being helpful and understanding as she helps other's understand what is going on. Thanks!"

Natasha & The Vacation

It was 107 degrees when we were eating. Natasha didn't want to eat and I am sure she will be thrilled that I posted this picture. We ate outside because all of the older people were inside where the A/C was running full blast.

Natasha shopping is like Tiffany shopping, we are in and then OUT. Neither one of us loves to shop. But we had a smoothie and a credit card, what could be better than that?

I had a great time hanging out with my daughter. She is fun! I am so glad that we got to spend time together.

St George

I had the opportunity to take my daughter to St. George to see the outdoor plays at Tuachan this past week . My youngest is starting her senior year this coming fall and after that she will be going to college. It was a great trip. I needed some R&R and Troy wasn't able to come with us.

Natasha and I packed up the truck and headed down. The trip didn't take too long, we were there in time to check in and head to Tuachan. It was 104 degrees when we pulled into town. We rushed up to dinner at Tuachan provided by a Buffet place. We weren't very hungry this entire trip, cause it is hard to eat when it is hotter than Hades. Then we settled down to watch Cats. Neither one of us read the program, or else we would have known the story line but we just didn't get it until after the whole play. There was a girl sitting next to us that was about 6 or 7 and she sang badly, off-key the entire time during the whole play. What fun for me... The costumes were cool and the girl that played one of the leads, was the most beautiful singer that I have ever heard. When she got finished singing "Memory" everyone around us just said, "WOW". She is a Grammy award winner & Tony nominated for something or other, but that girl has talent.

The next day we went shopping. I like going with Natasha because she won't let me buy Grandma looking clothes. She doesn't have a problem telling me that the clothes I pick out are ugly. So that was a lot of fun. She picked out some great clothes for me. It was 107 degrees.

The next night we went to Disney's Tarzan. It was amazing. The music was awesome and the flying actors were awesome. It was a great setting for this play to be performed. The stage was perfect for water & storms.

The next day we were smarter and went to a movie in the A/C it was 106 degrees outside. We stayed in the room and read and relaxed. What I like about St. George is the beauty of nature. Natasha took these pictures and really it was hard picking out a few, Utah is a very beautiful place.

The moral of this story is, maybe St. George in July isn't the best place to vacation when it is over 105 degrees.