Madison Farmers' Market

Everyone here has told us wonderful things about the Madison Farmers Market, we just had to check it out. It's held every Saturday morning right on the capitol square, surrounding the capitol building.

It was huge! We couldn't believe how many farmers, bakers, and cheese makers were there selling their products. We got freshly made squeaky cheese, and a hot loaf of cheese bread. It was delicious!

(Yes, that's me wearing a cowboy hat. Travis thought I'd look nice in one...)

We took a minute to sit down and enjoy our food while listening to the local music groups. After the market, we walked to the Monona Terrace that overlooks Monona Lake. We've really enjoyed Madison since we've been here. It's probably one of the nicest capitals I've been to.

Smack, Smack...

We discovered this past weekend that Jaxon loves spaghetti, which is great because we have it all the time!

He's also crawling a lot better now, standing himself up in his pack 'n play, and he can wave at himself in the mirror and occasionally when I say "Hola". It's pretty cute!

Beautiful Nauvoo

In continuation of our adventures in the midwest, we just spent a whirlwind weekend in Nauvoo! This was a first for Travis and Jaxon, so it was extra special. It's about a four hour drive, so we arrived late Friday evening and shared a tent with Travis's brother and his family.

Travis and I got up early the next morning to attend a session in the Nauvoo temple. Technically, our temple is the Chicago temple, but since we were in Nauvoo we couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was such a wonderful experience, and so beautiful. We kept thinking about the people who built the original temple, and how there were so many people who wanted their work done before moving out west. The spirit was so strong. Many thanks to Brady and JaNae for watching Jaxon while we were gone. :)

After the temple, our families took a fun carriage ride around Nauvoo and learned all about the history of the area. Travis and I then took a quick drive down to Carthage where he was able to see Carthage Jail for the first time. It's incredible that the original door is still in place and you can see the bullet holes. We loved every minute of it.

When we came back, we visited some of the recreated buildings and had a scrumptious dinner at Hotel Nauvoo. To end the day, we watched "Sunset By the Mississippi" (a hilarious musical program put on by senior and volunteer missionaries), and the BYU Ballroom Dance team which was on tour in Nauvoo!

We got home at two in the morning and woke up early for church the next day, but it was well worth the trip!

Madison and The Dells

We've been having so much fun exploring Wisconsin- it seems like there's so much we want to do in so little time! This weekend, our family took a day trip to Madison, Wisconsin's capitol. Travis spent the day on a service project with other Lands' End employees, while Jaxon and I explored Madison.

Madison is a beautiful capitol, I really enjoyed it. We dropped by the Monona Terrace (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) which sits right on the lake in front of the capitol building. After that, we found the Henry Villa Zoo, which is free! There were a lot of kids there on field trips, and Jaxon didn't really seem interested in the animals, so we didn't stay long. We spent the rest of the day walking around Lake Monona and playing in the sand.

That evening we drove up to Wisconsin Dells and met up with Travis's brother, cousin, and their families. It's fun being so close to them, and we're looking forward to lots of adventures with them this summer. The next day we took a nice, rigorous hike at Devil's Lake State Park. About ten minutes into the hike we decided to ditch the stroller and borrow Bryce's baby carrier. We climbed rocks for what seemed like forever, but we had such beautiful views of Devil's Lake that it was worth it.

When we got back, we went swimming at the clubhouse pool and enjoyed hot dogs and s'mores around a fire. It was so much fun to be with great company in such beautiful surroundings. I can't believe how beautiful Wisconsin is turning out to be.