We're off having fun in April

We had a great April. It was still cool and soccer games and practices have been a test of endurance. The picture at the right is Audrey's soccer team during a blistery April practice. Obviously they are still having fun. Audrey is the black hooded girl in the back right. They are holding the goal down so it won't blow away!!

April is when BYU football holds its annual spring scrimmage and we really enjoyed watching it. Audrey was pretty disappointed when she realized that BYU was playing BYU (offense vs defense). She loves to cheer BYU on. Carson has decided, however, that he only likes "pre-school sports", a class he took this last winter. Since BYU is NOT pre-school sports, he doesn't like BYU. The shirt he chose for the game was funny to us parents. He is obviously undecided on the Red/Blue team decision. After the game, we enjoyed playing around on the field. This was a beautiful Saturday, we all got tons of sun.

Carson's birthday was in April, he is now 4 years old. Here he is with all of his friends getting ready to blow out the candles on his dinosaur birthday cake. He requested a dinosaur themed party with a Carnatorus on his cake and dinosaur games. He was so excited to have his first friend birthday party. The parents of one friend commented that giving invitations a week before the party was TOO early. The boys were all very anxious for the day the party would arrive.

We enjoyed the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point. Here is Kate discovering some tulips. It has been so cold here, the tulip festival was really a daffodil festival. These were some of the only tulips we really saw. The children's gardens were awesome, though, and it was great to get the kids running around and having fun.

Monday, April 21st was the 112th running of the Boston Marathon, and I was able to run in it! Chad and I flew out to Boston and spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday experiencing the area. We met up with former Draper, UT friends (Wade and Nancy Powell) and had a great time exploring together. I love history and I was also reading the John Adams biography. It was so awesome to see the sights and know the stories. Incredible. Here I am in front of the Old State House.

One of our favorite things in Boston was the duck tours. The drivers are part comedian and part tour guide. After a journey along the roads of downtown Boston, the duck boak took a plunge into the Charles River and we had a leisurely boat ride. This was a great way to get a flavor of Boston, and also get a few laughs along the way.

Finally, Monday was the Marathon. I ran my heart out, completed the whole thing (though it was incredibly hard), and finished in 3:43:13, 10,157 place of 21,963 finishers. Here I am at mile 10, Natick, where Chad watched and then joined me for about 1/2 mile. I am the one in pink. It was cool to have run the same race as so many world class athletes, and to be joined by so many great citizen runners. Boston was full of runners and their families all weekend. It was fun to be part of a great network of runners converging on one great town.