Unforgetable moments in New York City

Last December my little bother, Preston, decided to surprise his girlfriend of six years by proposing to her a few weeks before Christmas in New York City in front of the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. He is such a romantic. My parents didn't want him flying alone so Luke and I decided to go with him and help him out. You don't need to twist my arm to go to New York City! We flew in and that night he surprised her by running into her in front of the tree and got down on one knee and proposed. It was such a sweet moment. Of course she said "yes" and she ended up joining us in the city for the remaining two days. The day before we left we went and visited the 9-11 memorial. It is such a sacred place. It is in the middle of this big bustling city and when you get there it is strangely quiet and everyone whispers. Across the street from the 9-11 site is the oldest church in New York City. It is the church that is in all the pictures from that horrific day. We went into the church which is filled with pictures, items, and stories from 9-11. The church is surrounded by a really old graveyard and big old trees. The stories in the church told about how when the World Trade Centers collapsed, all of the buildings around them received extensive damage, but this little old church stood strong and tall and not one of the windows shattered. The people of the city hold that it is protected. The church became a site where the firefighters would basically live while trying to shuffle through the debris to find anyone who might still be alive. It was a sanctuary . People from all over donated toiletry items, food, and money to the church to keep the firefighters going. It was a very hard time for the firefighters. It told how many of them would come into the church and weep, sleep on the pews for a few hours, get a hot meal, and then go back to search through the debris. Many people came and volunteered at the church and played music or sang for the firemen to lift their spirits. The most played song was "Amazing Grace". After we read through the stories and looked at the displays we sat down at a pew and pondered. As we were sitting an usher approached us and begin talking to us. He asked where we were from and we told him Utah "Oh you guys must be Mormons". He then said that all Mormons know how to sing and asked if we would sing a song for the people who were there. We told him that we didn't sing, but he insisted that if we are Mormon's we could sing and we should share our testimony with the people coming through the church. We didn't know what to do but he found us all hymn books and gave us song suggestions. We were strapped. Neither Preston, Tessa, nor me can carry a tune for the life of us. Luke is the only one who can sing. But I didn't want to put him on the spot. The usher asked if any of us played the piano and we said that only Luke did. I could see Luke wanted to play but was nervous, but after a few seconds he said "okay I'll play something". The usher asked which song from the hymn book he was going to play and Luke told him that he didn't need the book he would just play what he felt. Preston, Tessa, and I all sat on the front row and watched as the usher untied the rope and let Luke sit down at the beautiful 7-ft Steinway grand piano. The church was full of people and some of them saw him sit down at the piano and sat down to listen, a hush fell over the chapel. He began by playing "Come Thou Fount" and finished up with "Amazing Grace". The chapel filled with music. It was beautiful. I looked at the pews behind us and more people started to sit down. The spirit of peace and love was so strong. After he finished people clapped and we left. It was a moment I will never forget.

I have attached a picture of Preston proposing to Tessa, a picture in front of the church, and then a short video I took with my camera while Luke played. If you want to hear him playing you just have to pause our other music first.

Luke's Dream Fulfilled

For the last few years Luke has had a burning desire to go skydiving. He had talked and talked about it. So for Christmas last year I gave him a gift certificate to go. He had no idea what I got him and was thrilled that I was okay with him going and actually bought him his dive. The real reason I wanted him to go was because if we had kids I don't know if I would have been okay with him going so I wanted him to get it out of his system. He decided that he would go in May around his birthday and when it would be a little bit warmer. So as May approached he started to get excited and I started to get nervous. He called and set up his jump date for June 7th. As the day got closer I started to feel butterflies and the yearning to join him. I started to think about how I had a mental list of things I wanted to do before I die and skydiving is on that list. What better time to do it then with my husband and before we have kids? Two days before the jump I explained this to him and he was thrilled that I had this desire. I made him promise to not tell anyone about it because I didn't want to think about it or have people talk to me about it. I am the person who will not jump off the 10 ft cliff at Lake Powell. So, to say the least, I am terrified of heights. The day arrived and the sky was clear, sunny, and wind-less. We drove up to Tooele with me screaming about every 20 minutes and Luke beaming. When we got there we called Amie Jo so she could meet us there to watch us jump. As we waited for her to come we watched a 15 min instructional video, did a 10 min class with our instructors, and got fitted in our gear. I could not stop shaking. Luke seemed to be totally at ease. Amie Jo arrived and we spent a few minutes trying to talk her into joining us, with no success. Finally it was time to board the plane. Luke paid extra $ to have a camera man record my entire journey so people would believe that I really jumped. While I was boarding I had a man following me around talking to me. We boarded the little plane and took off and watched as Amie Jo got smaller and smaller and soon we were so high we could not see her anymore. We climbed higher and higher, even the mountains were small below us! Luke went first. I watched as he edged his way to the door of the plane and crouched down and jumped! My heart was pounding as they announced I was next. I scooted to the little door. The camera guy was already out hanging onto the side of the plane waiting for me. My toes hung over the edge and I looked down to see the patchwork of farms below me. The instructor counted "one, two, jump......" and we went! It was crazy! Like nothing I have ever felt and can describe! We flew down and across from me was the camera man yelling like a mad man and below me I could see Luke flying as well. It was exhilarating! After about a minute of free falling we waved goodbye to the camera man and I pulled the parachute which jerked us up about 20 ft. We slowly meandered our way to the ground doing 360's (which made me really nauseous). Soon Amie Jo and Luke were in sight and I put my legs up and skidded to a smooth landing. We had done it! We conquered our fears and jumped out of a plane at 12500 ft AGL falling at about 120 mph! It was amazing!

Kyah's bad habit

a few words about our pictures....

So as I have been playing around with the blog thing I have posted some pictures in a slideshow. I have posted some of our favorite things we have done this past year. For my birthday this year all I wanted to do was bike the Alpine Loop and Luke, being the great man he is, did this with me. It was amazing! Probably my favorite thing I've done all year. We started from our house and went up American Fork Canyon then down through Sundance, down the Provo River Trail, and then ate lunch at Luke's parents house and then home. I have also included some pictures of New York City last Christmas and our recent trip to Northern California. And of course I could not show pictures without including our backpacking trip on the breath taking Na Pali Coast. Last September the Cook family took a trip to Hawaii. Three days into the trip Matt, Amie Jo, Luke, and I flew to Kauai to hike for three days. It is by far the most amazing place I have ever been to! It is a grueling 10 mile hike in and then we camped for three days showering in a waterfall. We even swam to a hidden beach that was ranked as the most beautiful beach in the world! It was quite the adventure. I have also attached a few random pictures. There is a great video of Luke by the stop sign, you should watch. Enjoy.

To my chagrin

After much persuasion (Amie Jo) and resistance, we have joined the blog world. Yeah! We have done it in honor of our chocolate baby, Kyah. Some people may say we have let Kyah replace our need for children in our lives; however, she has not replaced our need because she actually is a child.

We are still in P.G. in a cute 100 year old house that is drafty at this time of year, but has so much charm. I am still working managing the family business. Luke is attending school at the U and graduates in a few weeks yeah!!! He is getting his degree in English and then is planning on going on to MBA school. He already took the GMAT, and did better than we expected, so we are hoping to go to school back east in a few years . He needs to work a few years before he can apply so he just got a job at Fidelity which starts the day he finishes his last final! We seem to be at a pivotal point in our life and it feels good to move on to the next phase. I hope this works!