Spring Break Memories: Thanksgiving Point's Tulip Festival

 We hung around Utah County for Spring Break this year.  Since Spring 2015 has been so mild, we decided to venture to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point.  It was magnificent!  The kids loved it.  We couldn't wait to bring Grandma and dad there.  Here are some pictures of my kids and Molly's:

St. George Iron Man Triatholon 2015

 Back in November 2015, our good friend and bishop, Ben H, competed in the Cozumel Full Iron Man race.  Dave and I followed him online which lit a spark in Dave.  Shortly after, at Dana's birthday party, our buddy Nate committed everyone to participate in the St. George Ironman Race.  Dave took it seriously and started to swim and train.  From there it just exploded.  Dave started to work out several times a week, invested in a new bike, started to run etc.  His Saturdays became days where he would head to the American Fork pool and swim a mile, then go on a 50 mile bike ride, and end with a 6-7 mile run.

All of it to prepare for a 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run on May 2nd.

And then it suddenly arrived.  We drove with our kids, minus Taylor who had to stay behind for the play she was in, Grandma Barbie and Aunt Cindy to St. George for Dave's race.  We were hooked up with a really nice hotel where we went and swam with the kids for the afternoon.  We ate yummy food and relaxed while Dave got ready for his big day.

Both Dave and I slept quite restlessly during the night, tossing and turning.  Dave arose at 4:30am and ate breakfast in the hotel lobby.  Mykin took him, Ben, and Lynne to the drop off place and then drove back to get Cindy and me.  It was so fun having Cindy there.  When I asked her if she wanted to go to the lake for the swim, her reply was, "I didn't come here to stay in a hotel.  I'm here to watch Dave."  YAY!  She was a big support as was Grandma Barbie. 

We drove to the lake and the race was on!  When Cindy and I went to find Dave among the 2600 participants, we wondered where to go.  Cindy said, "He'll be at the front."  And he was.  It was awesome to see him excited and focused on the race.
 

 About 14 million dollars worth of bikes....

The swim was nerve-racking for me.  Dave is strong swimmer.  We anticipated earlier that he would wrap up the swim within an 45-50 minutes.  When Ben ran out from the swim, his only question was, "How far is Dave ahead of me?"  Mykin told him Dave hadn't come out of the water.  After the hour mark, I got sick to my stomach.  I was so worried.  Finally, at 1:13, Dave ran out of the water.  He looked hammered.  Later, we learned that Dave had done the entire 1.3 miles ON HIS BACK!  The cold water had thrown him off and he just turned to his back and went for it.

 Dave made a great time on his bike ride.  Mom and Dad in Idaho were glued to their computer tracking him from there.  They kept calling to talk about where he was in the race.  Mom said they couldn't hardly break away from the computer to get anything done all morning.  LOL!

Meanwhile, we went to the hotel, loaded our suitcases, and headed to the transition area to cheer on our iron man!  Here is cute Jaxson with his sign:

 We saw the most impressive people racing.  Here is a lady that I won't be forgetting for a long time.

 This guy--Mr. Speedo--was a hoot!  I couldn't quit taking pictures of him. 

  
Dave flew in from his bike ride and quickly transitioned to the run.  I can't even imagine how his legs were feeling at this point:

 We went and found the half way mark to give Dave encouragement to finish his race.  We could tell it really helped give him the lift he needed to finish strong!

 To be an official iron man, you have to complete the race in 8 hrs 30 minutes.  We were getting nervous at the 8 hr 30 minute mark.  And then we saw him coming.  Cindy ran up the road to encourage Dave to finish strong.  And he did!

 Here we are with our Iron Man!

We sure appreciated the people who came to support Dave, namely Grandma, Aunt Cindy, Brandon and his family, and the Jonsson family.

Easter Weekend and a birthday boy!

 We kicked off our weekend with a wonderful performance that reminded us why we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.  Brittney sang in the The Lamb Of God.  It was so beautiful. 

 We went out to Texas Roadhouse during the Priesthood session of conference to celebrate Jaxson's birthday.  When they brought out the saddle and sang to him, it was so darling to see him squirm a little.  We just love our Jaxson and the spark of light he is in our family.  He's the best!

 Easter Sunday was spent over at Grandma Barbie and Poppie's home.  Easter dinner was scrumptious (of course) and the atmosphere so festive.  Per tradition, the kids enjoyed a fun Easter Egg Hunt before we had cake and ice cream for Jaxson's birthday again.