On Wisconsin!

Last week we visited Madison Wisconsin. It was the MBA preview weekend at the University of Wisconsin Madison and we were invited to fly out for the festivities. When we first arrived we were both a little overwhelmed and a little freaked out by the idea of uprooting our lives and starting over there in Madison. As the weekend progressed and we talked to people about there experiences and got advice our nerves began to calm. The school put on a wonderful event for the prospective students and they fed us really well. I think McKays favorite part was sitting in on the weekly meeting that the Applied Securities Analysis team has to discuss how where the economy is and how their investments are doing. I think that really got McKay excited about going into their program. For me the best part was meeting up with a bunch of the other Mormon families who are also in the MBA program there. We all got together at the Day's house for dinner and dessert. I felt so welcomed and was able to get so much information from them and it put my mind at ease. Thank you Robin and Bethany! Madelynn was an absolute Gem the whole time and most of the people there fell in love with her, how could they not? She was absolutely adorable. We did a couple of other fun things while we were there. We visited the Capitol briefly and went to a specialty cheese shop where we got to try all kinds of Wisconsin cheese. I found out that I am not a fan of super aged cheddar or goat cheese, but monastery style cheese is pretty amazing. We also got to briefly drive around the outside of Madison and see the "country" that McKay remembered and loved from his mission in Wisconsin. Now we get to savor these last 3 months in Utah and then it is On Wisconsin!

Easter 2012, Madelynn's First Easter.

Holidays with a child are so much more fun. Even though Madelynn was only 5 months old it gave me a reason to be excited about Easter. We had 1 party  to dye eggs, 2 Easter dinners and 3 Easter egg hunts. On Saturday we got  together with McKay's sister Sasha's family and some friends to dye Easter eggs. Then on Sunday as soon as church was over we had our own small Easter egg hunt just the 3 of us outside our apartment. Our nosy neighbor lady was very concerned that we were putting our Easter eggs in the grass for Madelynn to pick up because she had seen a dog poop over on our side of the lawn a while ago. She saw the owner pick it up, but nevertheless, there had at one point been something yucky on our side of the lawn. We had our egg hunt anyway.  Madelynn is obviously too little to understand what is going on or what she is supposed to do, but she picked up a couple of the eggs. At the Youngs house Madelynn had another Easter egg hunt with her cousins Benjamin and Joshua, and her eggs were filled with yummy swiss chocolates from Grandma Nicci that McKay and I got to eat. After dinner and a few games with the Youngs we wen't up to my parents house in Pleasant Grove and had another Easter egg hunt, this time money was involved because every one else involved in the hunt besides Madelynn is 15 or older. My parents had our friends the Smalleys over to celebrate as well. We ate more food and then played a couple of games as well. It was a very eventful and really fun Easter. Next year it will be very different on our own in Wisconsin, so it was nice to have a big family filled day. Now enjoy a picture overload.

Messy Pink Face

Today I went on a walk with Madelynn because the weather was amazing and I needed some exercise, fresh air, and to get some shopping done. I picked up some Easter stuff at Target and didn't have room to put the Easter basket under her stroller and she kept trying to grab it, so I just let her hold it while we walked home. When we got home and out of the sun I lifted up her car seat cover and this is what I found...

Madelynn had been eating her purple Easter basket and it turned her mouth, hands and face bright pink! When I got home I tried to wash it off but it won't completely go away. I guess she will just be pink for a day or two.