Friendship

It is hard to tell when an acquaintance becomes a friendship, or even when a casual friendship becomes something more meaningful.

You seldom realize how dear to your heart those people have become until you have to say goodbye.

It seems like recently we have been saying goodbye to a lot of our friends.

As you prepare to say goodbye or while you are stuffing yourself with a bowl full of muddy buddies after they leave you start to notice how they have changed your life.

  

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go.

Others stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts

And we are never the same."

As we look back on our first year in Madison we realize we have truly been blessed to meet some amazing people.

Our eyes have been opened to different view points and cultures,

We've spoken different languages,

We've tried new foods,

And we've learned our house isn't child proof!

As we try to stay in touch with what we hope will be lifelong friends in different parts of the world the most valuable thing we've learned is the importance of time.

Publication

So remember when a long time ago I was working in a lab and writing a journal article?

Well after months of going through the review process and making edits my paper was published!!!!

I put so much of my time into that research and then writing the paper my last two years of my degree so I am so happy it all didn't go to waste.

Unfortunately you can only access the paper for free if you have access to the journal's database through an academic institution but if you want to see a preview click here.

A Weekend of Goodbyes

So as I have mentioned before our good friends the Millers are moving (well now they moved but I'm trying to stay positive). 

They left yesterday so Ryan and I offered to watch their kids on Friday so that they could get some packing done and then attend the general graduate graduation without kids.

We took Cooper and Lynndon to the park, Lake Mendota to feed ducks, and to Ella's Deli for ice cream. 

It was weird going from having no kids to having two kids but it was a lot of fun.

Cooper loved these rocks and he made sure everyone had one to sit on. 

Ella's Deli is pretty crazy inside.  It has all of these motorized toys traveling across the ceilings.  All the tables have displays inside them.  There is plenty to look at.  Cooper and Lynndon loved it!  After Cooper was so excited to ride on the carousel but when it came time to get on a horse he got scared.  First he said Ryan could sit on his lap and then he said they should just ride on the bench.  Ryan said if he'd known they were going to ride on the bench then Lynndon could have come but she enjoyed waving to Cooper and sticking her head in between the fence posts.

Saturday morning we slept until 11:00 am.  We have never done that.  I guess you can say we aren't quite ready for two kids.  Haha, Ryan said we should have done less park and more movies to conserve energy.  Saturday was Bret's graduation BBQ and then on Sunday we had to say goodbye to the kids because Bret's parents were taking them up to Appleton so all the final moving preparations could be kid free.  Ryan also had to say goodbye to Bret and Charise that night because he started his internship Monday morning.  The Millers spent the night at our apartment Monday night and left Tuesday evening.  It was so sad to see them go but I'm glad we had the chance to get to know them.  We wish them the best in New Mexico!

Mother's Day

We had the BEST Mother's Day!

"Forget Me Not" by Pres. Uchtdorf book from Ryan

Phone call from Elder Anderson in Moscow Russia

Francisco came to church with us

The Elder's Quorum took over Primary so I was able to attend Relief Society

Cards and flowers from my two favorite kids who live next door (Lynndon and Cooper)

NAP!

Delicious tortilla for dinner made by Ryan

Skyping with our own mothers

 Apartment get together for homemade ice cream

Yeah, it was a good day

Ascot Lane BBQ

When we moved to Madison in the Fall we knew we were going to have LDS neighbors but we didn't realize how great all of them were going to be. 

They have become like a second family since most of us live far away from our actual families.

I love that we can just randomly get together outside for play dates, have game nights after the kids are asleep thanks to baby monitors, and have more planned activities like homemade ice cream nights and BBQ's.

Last weekend we got together for a BBQ since a lot of our neighbors will be moving this summer :(  It just happened to be the one day it rained but thank goodness we have a great basement to fit the 17 adults and 9 children that were in attendance.  

It's pretty hard to get 9 kids to look at the camera for a picture.

Charise and her husband Bret really made the move to Madison so much easier!  I don't know what I'm going to do when they move next week.

Charise's kids Lynndon and Cooper.  I LOVE these kids!