Merry Christmas!!

Baby Bowen is a.....

BOY!

Here's a recap of my pregnancy (and other fun things) so far...

August 2014
Mandie took a pregnancy test on the first day possible. She had a feeling that she was pregnant, and knew that if she was, she wanted to do something special to surprise Jonathan. It was positive! She waited until the next day to tell him. We couldn't believe it and were so excited!

September 2014
We're so bad at keeping secrets. We just wanted to tell everyone our news! Luckily, we were headed to Utah over Labor Day weekend. Even though Mandie was only 6 weeks along at that point, we knew that it would be the last time before Christmas that we would see all of our family again. We really wanted to tell them in person, so we gave each of our parents this little gift.

They were SO excited.

Jonathan spent the majority of Labor Day weekend with his brothers and dad on a fishing trip in Montana. They had a great time!

A few weeks later Jonathan headed out to Michigan for the Utah game in the big house. Though it was a quick trip that involved some crazy weather, they had a great time!

October 2014
We decided it was time to let the social media world know about our good news. We went to the pumpkin patch (a yearly tradition) with our friends Carson and Anne. They helped us take a picture to share the good news!

Jonathan also scored some World Series tickets through work this month and had a great time cheering on the Giants to victory!

Jonathan and I headed down to Yosemite for the weekend. It was GORGEOUS. We absolutely loved being out in the mountains and seeing everything in person. Plus, Jonathan was able to perfect his cross-dog (polish dog wrapped in a croissant roll), so it was a win-win for everyone.

We also snapped a pre-baby bump photo this month, since I haven't really started showing.

November 2014
We took a quick weekend trip to Disneyland with the Haskell's. I cheated and rode Big Thunder Mountain and the Radiator Springs Racers even though they're technically not pregnant friendly. I couldn't help myself! Even though I couldn't ride some of my favorite rides, I made up for it with plenty of shopping and dole whips. We had a blast!

We hosted our first ever Thanksgiving this year, with my family. It was a small group, but we had a lot of fun. The food was delicious! We kept up with all the normal traditions (decorating for Christmas afterwards, and making gingerbread houses) and added a new one as well. Jonathan and I cut down our very first live Christmas tree this year. It was really cool!

We're having a baby!

Our Lil' Pumpkin

Due April 27, 2015

London

Jonathan and I LOVE traveling, and we have been so lucky and blessed to see so many different parts of the world. But... there was one thing that we have never done.

Go on a trip... Just the two of us.

In our three years together, we have never taken a trip together alone. We moved out to California the day after we were married, never had a honeymoon and have always traveled with family and friends during our adventures.

We decided it was time for an adventure on our own.

And we chose London!

Jonathan lived in London several years ago for a few months while doing an internship, and it was fun for him to go back and show me around. We were even able to catch up with old friends and housemates during our week there!

And now for some pictures...

{Our first stop at the antique market on Portobello Road}

{A rainy day at the London Temple}

{I literally gasped the first time I saw Big Ben, so cool!}

{Stonehenge selfie}

{Yes, I made Jonathan show me Platform 9 3/4 and take the dorky tourist picture. And I loved it.}

{Walk across Millennium Bridge} 

{Picnic in Hyde Park}

{Touring Centre Court at Wimbledon}

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Thanks for a fun trip London, we'll definitely be back!

Luck O' the Irish

We were LUCKY to spend a week with friends and family in Ireland this summer. Here are some highlights from the trip!

{So beautiful and SO GREEN}

{Riding the ferry across Killary Harbour}

{The traditional ladies picture}

Hands down, Galway was our favorite city in Ireland. A quaint, little, bustling town with cobblestone streets, shops, street acts, delicious food and a surprise Drewish dragon parade. What more could you ask for?

{And yes, there was a rock band playing on the back of the dragon}

A visit to the local bird preserve resulted in Jonathan's favorite picture of me

{The bird was scary}

Our favorite scenic stop was the Cliffs of Moher. Unreal. 

{The Cliffs of Insanity!}

For anyone who didn't pick up that reference.... Enjoy.

We were given the royal treatment at Ballyseede Castle for two luxurious nights...

...and acquired the gift of gab from kissing the Blarney Stone!

We finished out the trip with a tour of Trinity College,

a stop at the Dublin Disney Store,

a round of golf with the guys,

and a traditional pub dinner at Merry Ploughboys.

Tá m'árthach foluaineach lán d'eascanna!

Winter Happenings

Gosh... I'm so bad at updating this blog!

We've had a busy couple of months here in the bay!

January

We celebrated our 5-year anniversary of when we first met! Crazy, I know.

For those of you that don't know... Jonathan and I met on Bourbon Street on New Year's Day in 2009. I was there with Crimson Line, and Jonathan made the 30 hr drive to New Orleans with some friends. It was one of the best days ever! Not only did the Utes kill Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, but little did we know that the person we had just met would be the person we would spend the rest of our life with.

February

Jonathan celebrated his 29th birthday this month! Next year is the big 3-0. He is getting SO old! :)

To celebrate Jonathan's birthday, we moved to a new apartment in Menlo Park! We're still in the process of unpacking, hanging things on the wall and picking out some new furniture. We are loving all the extra space!

Jamie (Jonathan's younger brother) and Brittany came and visited us, and we took a tour of the Giants ballpark. We got to explore the locker room, hang in the dugout and walk on the field. The two boys were in heaven.

My cute cheer comp team celebrated a 3rd place victory at nationals in Las Vegas! I am so proud of them and all of their amazingly hard work. It was such a fun and rewarding season.

March

Adam (Jonathan's older brother) also came to visit us for a couple of days. He recently moved back home to Utah, but stopped to visit us in the middle of his drive there. I was so impressed that he fit everything he owned in his small car. Kudos to him!

Here we are exploring Land's End up in the city. There was a cool hike that we took around the point that gave us spectacular views of the Golden Gate bridge. So fun!

I promised the girls I babysit that I would take them to a Stanford gymnastics meet, so they made a poster to celebrate. "We Love Gimnastics" They are so darling and couldn't take their eyes off of the girls during their routines. It was so fun to spend a girl's night with them!

The next weekend, my parents and little brother Matt came into town! We went to the tide pools, ate lots of tacos, went to the Stanford vs. Utah basketball game, hiked in the Muir Woods and spent a day in Monterey. It was so fun to have them here!

Since our new apartment doesn't have any wall decor hanging yet, I decided to create this mega bracket on our wall for March Madness. I love March Madness. Every year, each member of my family fills out a bracket to compete  against each other. We take it very seriously.

To cap it all off, Jonathan spent last weekend in Tahoe snow camping with the scouts. Both he and I were put into YM and YW immediately after moving into the Menlo Park ward. We went to church our first Sunday and then got callings the next Sunday! We are having a lot of fun getting to know the youth in this ward, and more people in the stake. 

So long from sunny California!