~Beginning of 2nd Year of School~

Well, as much as I fought it, it came; Monday came and Travis returned to school. Before he did though, he was able to go snowboarding on Saturday and then get his temple recommend renewed while Pres. and Sis. Neilson were in town; it was one of our nicer Sundays (And not just because I gave a talk... jk ;)

Travis going back to school has not been as bad as I was fearing. Maddix and I have been having a ball together, and Travis has been around more than I thought. Typically he is around to cook dinner with us; I think it takes twice as long to have all of us in the kitchen cooking and having Maddix really be apart, but it is so much more fun! It's one of my favorite parts of the day. So far we have:

Made cupcakes for the Elders

He also helped make frosting

Helped "clean" the dishes

Made homemade Hamburgers and Onion rings, as we
try to make it through the last of the
onions I over bought! I have to say how proud I am that Maddix
helped with all the onion ring prep work.
He was great at rolling them in the batter!

Built a boat fort where this was our boat
to keep us safe from the
crocodile!

We have a nice routine going where every morning we read our scriptures then turn on an episode of Super Why before getting breakfast. This is another favorite part of the day because it's the only time he will cuddle with me. He actually lets me hold him for 20 minutes straight; and on top of that, this show has helped his learning accelerate more than I could have hoped for. He has almost his an entire alphabet down, spelled the work "dad" with me over and over, and can identify T,I,O,D,E, and sometimes C,B,A. We've also been working on the piano and can almost consistently point out all the "C" keys on the keyboard. I also think he has made up his mind that he wants to potty train now (knock on wood). So I'm just an overly proud mother, I guess:)

Meanwhile Travis is liking the new topics so far; he says they are more interesting and the textbooks are written more clearly this semester. He has been dong the Insanity work outs on and off to prepare for his Spartan race this June. He loves dinner time because that's when Maddix is most funny and we're all together. He is really hoping our residency cards will be here by the end of June so we can go on a spring break trip, and he loves talking about where we could possibly go:) He is busy busy busy every Sunday with meetings for his calling, and trying to do Young Men's Activities (if they'd come). He gets extra happy on Saturdays when he can call home because if anyone knows Travis, they know how much he loves his family. And he desperately misses Nala. I think that is about all he's up to.

I'm just plugging along. Now that I'm not sick all the time and two weeks away from getting of bed rest (fingers crossed), I have this renewed desire to be here. I play the hymns every Sunday, teach Institute on Wed, love the Saturday's we get together with friends, and during Maddix's naps I work on projects that I have started. People ask how I can handle staying here, and truthfully when I've spent too many days in a row without leaving the apt I become depressed and stir crazy, but with May approaching and the idea of going back to work, and having to live with other ppl again (although I'm extremely grateful, I just like my own kitchen:), as well as that I'm NOT coming back out makes me sad that my European adventure is over in 2 1/2 months! I feel guilty at how many weeks I spent wish it was just over. I guess that's life, right? That's the part we're here to learn to overcome. That life is a journey... enjoy the moments... and fight off that natural man of always wanting summer when it's winter and vise versa. Well, sorry this blog turned so long. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!