Oh yeah, this thing.

Sometimes I just enjoy reading other people's blogs so much that I forget to write on my own! Things around here have been busy and wonderful, and it's hard for me to find those times to step back and record it! I know that recording is super important though, which is one reason I have this blog. So, here's what's been happening at the Cook house!

Two weeks ago, I spoke in church. This past Sunday, it was Tom's turn! He did a wonderful job speaking on how to love God more than we love the world. It's been mulling around in my mind all week, and I am so grateful for Tom's insight and wisdom! As my family would say whenever they hear that word..."HE IS SOOO WISE!"

I was moved to a new position in my same office, and I am now the Training Specialist. This has been interesting thus far, as I haven't quite left my old position but still have to do my new one. It's stressful, and completely impossible to do all the work that needs to be done in the 20 hours a week. So I do a lot of work at home as a "volunteer". I strangely enjoy this though! This position is right up my ally, and I am loving it.


As of late, Tom and I have been making a lot of sweets. Not for ourselves. Usually. One of our favorite things is making whatever baked goods we have available in the house and then giving them away so we can't eat them. Sneaky, right? We've loved meeting new people and catching up with old friends with this new Sunday tradition.

Except for that one week where there was leftover chocolate cake batter from the cupcakes. And anyone who knows me doesn't even need an explanation when they hear the word chocolate cake; they already know. We made our own mini cake and...ate the whole thing together. Whoops. Now maybe you can see why we bake to deliver?

One of the best parts about being up here is having Kenna with us! I love having at least one sister near by :) We enjoy Sunday dinners, devotionals, and occasional other visits from Nursekinz. But last weekend was her 21st birthday! We had SO much fun at the South Fremont Elementary Halloween Carnival we volunteered at, and then we met up with more of Kenna's friends to eat at Gringo's, followed by Score cake and ice cream at our house. I could kick myself for not getting real pictures of real people on the fun night, but here is a picture of the decorations I put up (at least, part of them), and it will represent the evening.

 Since Halloween was yesterday, we had been in prep-mode for a few weeks before. Halloween is not my favorite holiday...I really don't like anything haunted, bloody, or slightly scary. Our first date was to a Haunted Mill, but that was only because I wanted him to hold my hand. So...Halloween is not my thing, but Tom LOVES it. We balance each other out. This year there was no haunted anything, but you can bet that we celebrated!

Naturally, we carved pumpkins. This is a dearly beloved tradition of the Cook's, and it was so great to watch Tom get so excited! We carefully selected a pattern - Bowser! I poked out the holes with a pin, and Tom followed with the knife. We roasted the pumpkin seed - another first for me! But boy they were good!

For our Ward party, we wanted to go dressed up, but didn't have any money to spend on costumes. So what did we do? We went as couch potatoes. We just went in our sweats, with couch cushions tied to our behinds, and it was terribly comfortable. And guess what, we won the costume contest! 

For Halloween itself, we kept it real simple - we got some candy and a loaf of berry Great Harvest bread, and watched Monster  House with Kenna and Skyler. It was a perfect holiday :)

Consider yourself caught up!