Ok so I'm a slacker... are you really surprised?

Hey there! I'm pretty sure everybody has deleted us off of their blog lists because I never update... But such is the trend of my "journaling" efforts throughout my life. Anyways, if you are reading this, we are still alive!
I'm just going to do a quick update because I haven't blogged in over 10 months, and to catch us all the way up would take forever.
Autumn's turning 2 this Sunday and I cannot believe that she is so grown up. That girl has stolen our hearts and has no intention of returning them. We wouldn't have it any other way. She is sassy, and smart and we LOVE her!
We have had a fun Fall so far, driving up the canyon for lunch and looking at the leaves, going on trips to the witches at Gardener Village and frosting Halloween cookies with Autumn's playgroup, hitting up the pumpkin patch with friends, and spending chilly evenings together eating my favorite soups!
September was filled with driving and good times. We drove to California for Todd's sister Stacy's wedding. We went early and got to take Autumn to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo and enjoy time at the beach. She loved everything about the whole trip. One of the highlights for me was the San Diego Temple. It was just beautiful! I've never really seen the grounds and it was just a stunning place to be.
Summer was good times all around. We spent a lot of time swimming, playing at the park, hitting up splash parks, going to the zoo, riding every Merry-Go-Round we could find, and just enjoying the warm weather. I loved having so many friends in the neighborhood willing to keep us entertained, and I loved being so close to family so we could do so much together!
This past spring we got to go visit Todd's sister Steph and family in Seattle. It was an amazing trip!! I loved the atmosphere up there, with everything so green and beautiful. Autumn got to enjoy her first airplane ride, and overall it was just a super great time. Hopefully we'll all be heading up again soon!

Annnnyways... I'm sure you were all super interested in the last 10 months! haha. Hopefully I'll be better about blogging in the future, but really no promises. I'm an awful person about keeping track of time.

New Year, New Goals

Ok, I am hopping on the Resolution Bandwagon... I kind of hate doing these because I feel like I pick the same things every year because I need to work on the same things all the time. haha. So obviously I just need to DO IT!!! So here is to a new year and some new goals, intermingled with the old stand by's...

1-Get into shape! Good shape, to be precise. I already am in a shape, I just want to be in a better shape. My plan is to have a 6 pack before I get pregnant again. I've never had one and I really think it would be cool. haha. I am also running my first 5k this month so that should help a little.

2-Cook dinner at home more often. I love sit down family meals and sometimes, I let the day get away from me. I really think eating together and spending that hour together is important, so I want to be better about this.

3-Scriptures and Temple work... This is one Todd and I make together every year. It kills me, but we just haven't made this part of our lives a priority and we both want it to be. So here is to starting fresh and making our wants into real habits.

4-Organize my craft room, hang stuff up in my bedroom, and basically just finish moving into my house.

5-Last, but certainly not least, learn to STOP TIME! My baby is growing up so fast and I just want to freeze her at this age. She is so much fun and I am goin crazy with all of her learning and growing! So in case I can't stop time, I should probably just settle for documenting our lives better. This means better journaling and picture taking... I am hauling my camera everywhere now, so hopefully it will result in some more pictures on here as well.

It may be 5 days after the new year, but it is never to late to start improving my life! Here's to it.... Raise your Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider for a toast!

Oh, and I want to get out of the house or just be around people more. Any of you awesome bloggers want to join me once a week for play time somewhere with the kiddo's? Let me know and we will plan some play dates...

Farewell 2009... It's been real.

Wow time goes fast! We all love a year end recap, right? Sooo here's ours. 2009 was super full of awesome things and some pretty awful things and may be one of the most eventful years of our little lives. We started the year off with a bang! On Jan 2, Todd started workin for the man and celebrating his new cubicle lifestyle. It was also our anniversary and we got to go out on a date to the monster truck derby...

We were living in my parents' basement until the end of March when we bought our first little house! We moved in and got settled (well mostly... there aren't any boxes left to unpack, but some walls and rooms are still pretty bare, haha) and I got busy being a stay at home mama! Todd and I love guests and visitors and so throughout the year we have had friends and family galore coming to stay at our house and hang out with us. I have gotten really good at washing sheets and towels and making beds (takes me back to my Tropic housekeeping days).

Autumn has gone from laying down and spitting up to walking and talking all in just one year! She is the sweetest/sassiest little babe I have ever hung around. She is already talking back and telling me how it is... I can't wait until she is a teenager, shudder. We had her first birhtday party on the 24th of October and she got to dress up as a little witch and she loved her hat! She still loves hats, actually, and put pretty much anything on her head.



The end of this year was actually pretty difficult for my family. We lost my beautiful niece, Kylie. She passed away on the 19th of November and is missed every single day. I have a lifetime of memories with Kylie, I actually thought of her more as a sister than a niece since we were really close. I just love her so much and feel so lucky to have known her throughout her life. I got to sing at her funeral and Todd spoke. It was such a good experience to be able to do one last thing for her in this life and I can't wait until we can all be together again! Although her passing was probably the hardest thing I have experienced, I feel so strengthened knowing I will see her again and am so grateful for my wonderful family who has been together through all of this. We miss you, Kylie Rae...


We had a fun Thanksgiving at Grandma Jackie's this year and I didn't take any pictures.... Naturally. haha. But it was super delicious and we had a really good time.

Christmas came so fast this year! Toss was out of town for almost 2 weeks in the end of November and throughout December so we never really did anything to get us ready. I got our tree and decorations up, but that is about it. We usually go to see the Lights at Temple Square and see Santa at the Mall, and make gingerbread houses and snowmen. We did none of those things this year. We put lights up on our entryway, but Todd tried to fix one of the bulbs and ended up destroying the whole strand, so no lights either. Basically it was a failed pre-Christmas experience. Luckily, Christmas was a major success! We went to Grandma Jackie's for Christmas eve festivities and Autumn even got to visit Santa. She was so funny and wasn't scared at all! I think it was mostly because Santa had a candy cane and Autumn has a sweet tooth.
Here's Autumn with ClaireGreat Grandma, Grandma and the Girls in their matching Jammies.All the cousins who put on their jammies, They also got special Santa headlamps and Hula Hoops. It was such a fun night!

I was so excited the few days before Christmas, I couldn't wait for Autumn to come out in the morning and see her presents. She just loved walking out and seeing her toys! It was so so so fun having a little one that understood presents and wrapping paper.



For New Years, we headed down to Bryce Canyon. My nephew Cameron was baptized on the 1st of January and it was so cool to get to head down and be a part of that... Bryce Canyon is so beautiful and feels like a second home to me, since I spent so many summers down there growing up. It was good to be with family again!

So basically, enormous amounts of joy and blessings this year as well as tragedy and sorrow... Luckily I have Todd and Autumn to help keep me grounded and remind me of how lucky I really am. It has been an eventful year and I am happy to start a new one and see what it brings us! Happy 2010 everybody!

Our baby is almost one!

I wanted to spend a few minutes and put into writing all of the wonderful things we love about Autumn. She'll be one on Saturday and I can't believe how fast this year has gone... We seriously love our little chunky monkey, and this past year has been the best of my life. So here are some reasons why:

-She makes you work before she rewards you with a smile or chuckle, so when she does it melts your heart.
-She loves her Daddy the most, when he goes to work on Monday morning she walks around the house yelling DA DA DA and looking in all of the rooms.
-She is a wonderful eater with a HUGE appetite!
-She had always slept so wonderfully.
-She travels really well, which is great for our many road trips down south.
-She is so smart and loves books more than any other toys. We can sit and read together for 45 minutes if I find enough books.
-The dog is her very best friend.
-She talks a bunch, Dog, Balloon, Ball, No, Mom, Dad, Up, What is it?, Milk, Cup, Get it, Cracker, Cute, Pretty, Uh-Oh, Hi! Baby, Bye... and more I can't think of right now.
-Her hair is darling in pigtails.
-She loves shoes (just like her mom). She has a basket in her room and she will pull out one at a time and try to put them on. I'm finding single shoes all over the house. She has also started this with the clothes in her drawer.
-Her song repertoire is quite impressive. She has actions for Popcorn Popping, Once there was a Snowman, Wheels on the Bus, I'm a Little Teapot, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-cake, Head Shoulder Knees and Toes, 5 Little Ducks, and more. Singing is her favorite after reading.
-Her blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair is the most beautiful sight.
-I am always greeted with a smile and a big HI when I walk in to get her each morning.
-Overall she is just a bright, empowered little person. She is strong willed and as individual as they come. Always independent and happy to be learning and exploring. I just feel lucky when she wants to let me be a part.

Happy Birthday Autumn!! We love you so much!

Boutique Open House!!

I am super excited about this and I hope all of you blog readers out there represent and show up for some super cute stuff!

Yay Todd!!

Todd got the results to the first section of the CPA exam last night and..... he PASSED!!! Yay!!! I just wanted to put this out there and tell him how proud I am of his accomplishment. He studied so hard and it all paid off. Now we just need to blaze through the next three sections. Good luck babe, you are amazing! Thanks for who you are and all you do for our family. We love you so much!

Bryce Canyon

This year for our Cowan family adventure, we headed down to Bryce Canyon. We had a blast and fit a bunch in to a small amount of time. We drove down on Thursday and Autumn was so good! She travels really well and the drive went pretty quickly. Friday morning I went on a bike ride with my brothers and Dad. I am the weakest link and had to head back sooner than everybody else.

Friday afternoon we all headed out to hike Calf Creek falls. I've probably done this hike 5 or 6 times, but it is always beautiful. Autumn did great on the hike as well. She even napped in her snuggli back pack thing on the way back. Saturday morning, the atheletes ran the 5 mile Bryce Canyon Rim Run. I was so impressed with the runners! It was Todd's first race ever, and he did so well! His goal was to finish in less than an hour and he did. I think his final time was like 56:42 or something. Anyways, he finished under an hour and I am glad he ran!

We took another little hike on Saturday afternoon, but Autumn and I didn't stay up to Mossy cave or the waterfall too long, it was nap time. That night, we got to go to the Rodeo at Ruby's Inn and watch my cute nephews ride sheep. Autumn loved the horses and I got to put her on one for the first time.

My camera is dead so my pictures will come later. These are pics I stole from Natalie, our family photographer. haha. Thanks, Nat!

Sunday we headed to the Cedar to spend a day with Todd's family and visit some friends. Overall, it was an amazing weekend and it was great to get away and spend some time with family.