The end of another semester!

As relieved as we get to have these classes behind us, that relief is always overshadowed with crazy amounts of stress...

However, we're LOVING that our (Mitch's side) whole family will be together in just one week!! It may be the last time in a long time; Mitch's sister Dani and her husband Danny are graduating and moving to Seattle to start jobs and "real life" (watch for a preview of their graduation pictures on my photography blog!), Mitch's brother Ethan will be here at school with us until July, and then will head off on a 2-year mission for our church, and his youngest sister, Jayna, is headed to college in September! We plan to make the most of our time together, and we all just can't WAIT to be together!! 

Dani & Danny's graduation will be the main event, and my good friend Amy has promised me her "stalker lens" so we can capture awesome, close-up pictures of them receiving diplomas! Mitch has to work the graduation/convocation events, but has been assigned Dani & Danny's convocation so he can still sit & be with us. Their parents are driving from Gillette, WY and their grandparents are coming from St. George, UT, not to mention Danny's family is coming from Seattle! I can't wait to hurry and get finals week OVER with so we can have fun with family!

Mitch is very hard at work in school. His grades look amazing and he's very confident about classes for the first time in a long time! It's crazy what finding a perfect major (Recreation Management) and minor (Business) will do for confidence and determination! He plans to go into the government side of recreation, and I always tease him that NBC's Parks and Recreation depicts his future :o) Anyway, he already has two finals open to take (finals don't officially start until Monday) so he's off working hard today, taking advantage of that and getting ahead of the game where he can!

Nathan has been a great napper today, and I've actually gotten a lot accomplished too, including writing a 7 page paper, cleaning the house and getting a lot of laundry done. Nathan has found plenty of "new games" to play and places to explore around the house. Honestly, if picking up my Tupperware drawer's contents off the floor for the umpteenth time today means getting more work done, have at it kiddo!

And now for some picture updates of our favorite kiddo ever!

Nathan has discovered that our curtains make fun peek-a-boo toys! He stands on the ottoman/toy box and loves to peek through at the dog, who he thinks is playing peek-a-boo with him. Apollo's really just staring, wondering what's going on!

I love seeing these little fingers on the piano keys, as long as they're clean! One day he'll learn not to "pop his bubbles" (flatten his hands) :o)

He's into making weird faces for the camera!

Nathan loves to play outside in this awesome weather we've had lately! This week it's been into the fifties so we only get to go out for a bit, but whenever we do he runs straight to our neighbor's four wheeler! He's fascinated with wheels, bikes, and anything else that moves.

Helping daddy pick up after Apollo...haha not really, he was just following him around.

We got a basketball and he is just enthralled with it all the time! He loves to chase it and throw it.

In the stroller after a walk...MAN does he have a sweet double chin in this one!

I love it when little kids rediscover that toys they've had for awhile can do more than they thought! Nathan got this bunny almost a year ago from his GG & Papa Dooley but is totally in love with it as of recently. He giggles when it laughs and carries it around all the time!

This is the main purpose his "friend" serves, and we always find this little green triangle stuffed in his mouth :o)

  Nathan was running around acting crazy after the bunny pictures...what a weirdo! :o)

We decided to paint a picture for grandparents. The plan was to fingerpaint it, jump in the bathtub, then after it dried we'd cut it in half and send one to each set of grandparents...

Notice there was ALREADY paint on his lips by then...

contemplating eating more...good thing it's non-toxic, right?

hmm....

ewww....

nothin' but pro supplies for us! Paints, paper, and crayons all from the dollar store...

I only pretend to be artsy...

Mom, crayons don't taste good either!

A combination of paint-drenched paper and a bit of frustration tore the paper...so much for mailing it off!

One day I'll get the buckle! Haha, probably not...

We jumped right in the bath, where he proceeded to make a ton of funny faces! Here are a few...

Nathan is full of fun these days. He will be 17 months old on April 2nd. We are already practicing going to our church's nursery, where kiddos 18-36 months go during the last 2 hours of church. He does really well. I stay out of his way and he comes back to show me things or whatever all through the two hours (I love that secure base theory!). The only time he really needs help is during snack time.

Nathan is mostly still babbling, but now it is CONSTANT. He is always trying to repeat words that we say. The only words he can say perfectly are mama, dada, and baby (lots of our friends just had babies, so he's getting exposed to them a lot!). The words he says every day in his own little way include:

cheese
please
thank you
nummies (aka food)
more
doggy
bike (baaah!)
Jesus
amen
(he's getting really good at sitting through prayers at home and church)
 ball
banana (nananana)
juice

...and that's about it. He LOVES bikes and cars (specifically the wheels). If he sees a bike anywhere he yells, "DAAAH! DAAAH!!!" and won't stop until you say "bike". If I'm driving and just say, "Yeah, Nathan! What do you see?" He won't ever stop saying it. He loves to hear words and try to repeat them, like I said earlier. I love how much he can understand. It really makes his days go a lot smoother!

Well, that's it! Hope you enjoyed my long, looong post and 35 pictures...especially you, grandparents and great-grandparents!