It's Autumn Time!

It's autumn time! It's autumn time!  The leaves are falling down!
It's autumn time! It's autumn time!
It's all around the town!


(Yes, I'm in the Primary ... it's a great song!)


Autumn is my favorite seasons for many reasons.

1.  My Birthday!

2. Red, Yellow & Orange

3. Family

4.  Halloween

5. Jacket & Sweater Weather :) 

6.  Thanksgiving Food!


Our autumn time has been full of fun adventures and spending time with our family. 
And it all starts with....

!!!!!My 23rd Birthday!!!!

I'm not sure how other people celebrate birthdays, but I like to make them a big deal.

I'm getting older and there's nothing I can do about it...

so I might as well have a good time celebrating!

On Thursday (the real birth-day), Tom and his buddy Shane made reservations for us to go skeet shooting at the Browning facilities in Mountain Green.  

It was REALLY cool :) 

We didn't get to take a full tour of the facilities, but we did get to meet some really nice people and we got to shoot until we basically ran out of shells. 

If you don't think that's fun, then you don't know what you're missing!

I think that shooting clay targets is a blast!  

I would never, ever shoot an animal (just thought I'd clear that up!)

BUT

 I'll shoot clay targets all day long :)

Well, at lease until my arm is too bruised to continue!

Tom was excited to try out his new shotgun! 

It's a Benelli Cordoba, for those of you who care?

I'll stick to the 870 - it kicks less and I'm a wimp :)

We planned a weekend trip to 

Downata Hot Springs and Logan 

for the rest of the birthday festivities!!!

Tom had never been to or even heard of Downata

Haha ... and he wasn't the only one. 

When people would ask what we were doing for my b-day, 

I'd tell them I was so excited to go to Downata

(it's a HUGE Cook family tradition!)

and they would say, "I've never heard of that.  Where is it? What is it like?"

REALLY??!!!

So, now I've decided it's kind of like a Cook Family secret treasure, 

and I'm just going to keep it that way.

Secret or not, TOM LOVED DOWNATA!!!

We had such a good time. 

It was their off-season, so it was not busy at all. 

In fact, there were only two other parties in the whole resort!
One group had some nice British gents with the best accents and shorty short swim trunks!
They had stopped for the night on their way to Yellowstone.  Cheerio mates!

We basically had the pool, sauna and cafe to ourselves -- kind of fun :)

In front of our little cabin...

 At the Pool  

Candlelight Steak Dinner - YUM!

Tom has all sorts of plans for next summer at Downata :)

... Funny Story about Downey, Idaho ....

It's a VERY little town.  
They have ONE grocery shop (not store - there's no way it meets "store" criteria). 

I forgot my brush - needed a new one. 

We went into town (aka one little main street), and found the grocery shop. 

As we pulled up a very cute, little old man was walking out.

If you knew my Grandpa Wayne, 

 you understand when I say,

 this little old man wore exactly the same type of one-piece outfit :)
That's what made him SO cute!

As we pulled up, he gave us a friendly, little neighbor wave.

I thought he'd keep walking, but he waited for us at the front doors.
When we walked up, he turned and said to Tom,

"If April showers bring May flowers, what does September bring?"

Tom just smiled and shrugged his shoulders..

with a grunt he says, "WINTER!!!", and quickly walks away. 

Hahaha! I'm sure the look on our faces was priceless. 

I like to think he had been waiting to tell that joke to some random strangers 

for at least a decade :)

....LOGAN...

The next day, we headed back to Logan.

 We had decided that we wanted to do things we loved to do when we went to Utah State.

SO, we:

-Bought some yummy treats at Pepperidge Farm Factory

- Drove by La Tienda

- Went to the Cheese Factory - but it was closed! 

Seriously, who has an employee appreciation party on my birthday ... sad, sad day :(

- USU Bookstore: Bought a USU notebook - woot, woot!

-USU Football Game (surprisingly different from the last time we went - they won!)

 and

- Hamiltons!!!!!  

Can you say Mmmmm...to thee best Chicken Cordon Bleu in thee world!

We also stopped for some Brigham City peaches on the way :)

USU Football

It was a GREAT Birthday!!!

...FALL PICTURES...

When the colors started to change, 

we took a nice Sunday drive up to Fernwood

 with my parents, sister and doggies for some Fall pictures.

We Are a Happy Family

Lucy girl cracks me up!  

She was so excited to run and play with Lily in the leaves :)

...OREGON...

Tom's parents moved to Oregon in August. 

We decided to visit them in October. 

It was a long drive, but the time away from work and school was much needed for the both of us.

It was nice to visit his family and to visit my uncle Rob and his family in Boise.

 We love to visit new places and see new things - the world is so amazing!!!

Our night in Boise, ID with the Burton's was so much fun!

Rob took us on a little Scentsy tour in Eagle. 

I could not believe how HUGE Scentsy is!

I had absolutely NO idea.

He is so blessed to work for such a great company and live in such a nice area. 

I was truly impressed by it all. 

I LOVE and MISS them SO much, but I definitely felt like they were in the RIGHT place!

Amree is my one of my favorite little kids!

She is always smiling and has the sweetest personality :)

 Eating Dinner at the Trailer Trash Diner ... a fun environment and delicious food!!!!
Even if the music was a little obnoxious ;)

In front of my uncle Robbie's beautiful home!  

Thanks so much for letting us stay :)

THE VERY LONG DRIVE 

TO BEND

 Sisters, Oregon

Fish Hatchery

Wizard Falls

Cute Little Critters

Mr. Chipmunk 

Kate and Jim's New Poodle, Tisha

Tumalo Falls - Bend, Oregon

Cascade Mountains - Sister's

The Anderson's are such great hosts!  

We always feel welcome and there is never a dull moment with Toad around.

We had such an excellent time in Oregon and hope to visit again soon. 

We would LOVE to see the coast! :)

During our trip to Oregon, we also were able to witness the Lord's hand in our lives.  

Tom and I always say prayers before we travel, but in our haste at 5:00am in the morning, we forgot.

I am so glad that 5 minutes into our trip, we decided to pull off the side of some random street

 and ask Heavenly Father to bless us on our way home.  

We unknowingly drove 250 miles on a separated tire 

before we stopped at Les Schwab in Eagle to have it fixed.  

It was a pure miracle.  

I am also thankful that some guardian angel steered Bambi away from my car.  

Although it was funny after the fact, 

because that deer's face was literally next to Tom's window going 60mph (Bahahaha!!)

It would have been a terrible and frightening way to end our trip.

I would have seriously cried for my car and for Bambi. 

So, thank you Heavenly Father for all your bless us with!!!!

...HALLOWEEN...

DUN-DUN-DUN

BAT GIRL!!!

We don't have any little ones ... so this was our Halloween entertainment :) 

Isn't she a cute crime-fighter? 

Please Mom!  Let me take it off :)

...HAWAIIAN VISITORS...

My sister, Abbie, visited from Hawaii at the beginning of November. 

It was so nice to have her here.

Abbie, Maddie and Mom came into Salt Lake and stole me away for some lunch. 

Gotta love Olive Garden.  I know we do :) 

 We had a fun day shopping in Park City too!

I love those kind of "girly" adventures :)

Rory, Abbie's husband, was playing in a basketball game against BYU that night. 

SO many of our family members came to watch him play. 

It was really cool to see how supportive, loving and caring my family can be!

Each family took time off and drove all the way to Provo to see Rory play that night :)

It was a fun night - even though they didn't win!

B-Y-U.........HAWAII!!!

All of Rory's "little" fans

GO SEASIDERS!!!

Abbie is one of my best friends, and I miss her so much. 

Tom and I are planning a trip to visit them in Hawaii soon!

Can't Wait!!!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving and the upcoming Holiday season. 

We love to spend time with our family and friends, 

and we love to EAT - let's be honest :)

Let's just keep the snow away for a little while, please!

Hope you enjoyed the update!