California

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to go to California to visit our family friends and help watch their children.  It was a busy week, but we had a lot of fun!  Their family is amazing and I loved every moment there!

We had fun at the park. 

I was able to hear them perform a song they had been practicing in choir.  

We hung out in the sun. 

We went to their YW auction night and had a delicious dinner! 

They enjoyed acting goofy, especially when I pulled my camera out. 

We spent the day at the beach. 

  

Played in the water.

 There were dolphins swimming super close to the shore the whole time we were there. 

We had a sandcastle building contest.

We had a picnic next to the ocean. 

We of course played many games, had a spa day, watched some movies, ate too many treats, and just spent time playing! Oh, and they did some school too. :) I can't wait to visit them again, hopefully soon!

Changes and Some Family Time

The last few months have brought quite a few changes here, all good of course!  In February, I turned 25! I had a wonderful birthday and don't feel a day older. 

In March our stake had some boundary changes.  We found out Dodgeville, where we live, was being taken out of the Platteville branch, and put into another branch that was just being formed.  We are now apart of the newly formed Mt. Horeb Branch.  We're excited to meet new people and be apart of this change!

I was very sad to be leaving the sweet girls of the Platteville branch. I had fun working with the Young Women there! 

This was from our last mutual together, minus a few girls.

Matt is the branch clerk in our new branch (which he was doing in the Platteville branch, so he knows what he's doing).  I received my calling shortly after, and am now the Young Women's president! I am so excited to be able to work with the Young Women again.  While I am still slightly terrified, I have an amazing presidency to work with, and great girls that I know will be supportive.  

Another fun adventure we just had was my family coming to visit! My Dad, Mom and brother Connor flew out for their spring break.  It was soooo much fun having them here! We stayed busy having fun and being spoiled. :)

Connor being a goofball in our hotel in Milwaukee.   

We went to the Mustard Museum in Middleton.  We learned about mustard, saw mustard from all over the country and world, tasted several different kinds of mustard and played games.  It was pretty fun!

My picture attempt for mustard from Brazil. 

My favorite find--Condiment Man Mustard

A mini hot dog with some mustard. 

We also toured the State Capital building.  They have been there before, but it was fun actually taking the tour and learning more about the different rooms.  It is such a pretty building!

We spent a day in Galena, Illinois.  It's the city where President Ulysses Grant lived.  There is a lot of history there and tons of fun shops along their main street! We splurged and took the Trolley Tour to learn more about different places. 

An old mansion. 

Just a few of the many fun shops!

Ulysses Grant's home. 

We had lunch in the oldest operating hotel in the U.S. 

While they were visiting, we also went to the outlet stores, explored Milwaukee, went to the Jelly Belly distribution center (where Connor tricked my dad into eating a vomit flavored bean, ew), had a wonderful Easter together, spent time shopping in Dodgeville and other places, organized my  pantry, played games, and more. 

On their last morning there, I made Connor some coffee cake for an early birthday treat, since I won't be there for his birthday.  Can you believe he'll be 15?! He's growing up so fast!

I always love having family come and can't wait for our next visitors!

South Dakota Trip

For President's Day weekend, Matt and I drove to South Dakota! We left early Friday morning and made a few stops along the way.  Our first stop was in Blue Earth, Minnesota to see this Jolly Green Giant Statue who was 60 feet tall.  

There was also a gas station with this little green guy.  They sold DELICIOUS fudge and jelly bellies, two of my favorite things.  

A few hours later we stopped in Mitchell, South Dakota to see the Corn Palace.  They decorate the outside of it every year with a new design made with corn and corn crops.  It was fun to see the designs for this year, and to see all of the previous designs.  

Saturday morning, we went to Mt. Rushmore. It was a beautiful day (in the 50's), a perfect day to walk around. It was so neat to to learn more about Mt. Rushmore's history.  I'm so glad we were able to see it!  

After Mt. Rushmore, we went to see Crazy Horse.  They began building it not too long after Mt. Rushmore was built, but haven't made a ton of progress on it.  We walked around the museum they have.  In the picture below, there is a statue of what it is supposed to look like when it is completed.  In the background on the mountain, you might be able to see the progress they have made so far.

We did a bunch of other random things during our trip.  We drove through Custer State Park; we walked down Main street in Rapid City, while enjoying the fun shops and taking pictures with a bunch of president statues; we went to a "Dino Park" with a bunch of dinosaur statues and a great view of the city; we ate out at some fun new restaurants, including the Firehouse Brewery located in the old firehouse; we went to the Journey museum, which had a lot of cool history about South Dakota; and we did some relaxing, because that's what trips are for!! 

It was a quick trip, but we had an amazing time!  We're excited to see where our next adventure takes us!

Donkey Ball

Last week, Matt and I joined our friends, the Merkle family, at a nearby High School to watch some Donkey Ball! It was hilarious watching students, teachers and FFA alumni play basketball on donkeys.  

We enjoyed seeing them try to ride on their donkeys, pull their donkeys down the court, and for some of them, just try to stay on their donkeys.  

It was a great night and another great memory of our time here in Wisconsin.