BYU Women's Conference

April was such a fun/busy month but one of the highlights was definitely BYU Women's Conference. I got to fly down by myself and spend two days with my sister Angie, cousin Shae, and my Mom. We had lots of fun going to classes, eating, shopping, eating, sleeping (?), and eating. It was a little frigid but nothing to complain about. I loved every minute of it. Melinda was on the Conference Committee and she and Corrine were both speakers. It was so fun to see Melinda on the stand and to hear her and Corrine speak. They both did amazing. Lots of women from my ward were there so it was fun to see lots of familiar faces. We also got to see the Carl Bloch exhibit at the Museam of Art. Another highlight for sure... along with the citrus salad I ate at the MOA cafe. Also amazing. And the mint brownies. Amazing. Lots of amazing experiences can you tell? Thanks to my mom for arranging it all and for the financing. :)

Easter Egg Hunt

We had an Easter Egg Hunt at my Grandma McAllister's Easter afternoon. The kids were really excited - obviously. They let the little kids start first and Mac totally capitalized on that. He ended up being one of the top egg collectors. :)

All of the Thompsen grandkids.

Easter Morning

I love Easter Morning! It was a beautiful spring day too. I remember as a young girls being sooo excited to wear my new dress to church. The girls looked adorable in their new dresses. They are growing up soooo fast. Gone are the days of the fluffy dress! Hello cardigan and skirt. The boys were even excited to put on new shirts (thanks aunts!)

I love this picture of the boys. I am trying to get them to look at me with two cows coming up behind them. My efforts were fruitless as you can tell.

Mac trying to chase the cows.

Some brotherly love. Happy Easter.

Grandma Jex

Grandma Jex passed away on April 18. We were driving to Utah to spend our spring break there when we heard the news. She lived a great life. Her funeral was on April 23. We feel lucky to have both been able to attend her funeral. We left the kids with my mom so we would be able to visit freely with cousins and other family we hadn't seen for a long time. It will definitely be different going to Utah and not planning a visit to see her. She was such a great example to us all by her never-ending zeal for the Gospel. She was never the 'rusty old engine' who was just too tired to help. Nope. Grandma was the little blue engine that could and she accomplished great things. We will miss her greatly but know that we will see her again. Love you!
(Thanks to Leanne for the pic. )

Playing at Melinda's House

After we went to This is the Place Park we headed to Lehi to Melinda's new house. The kids had lots of fun playing together and we even managed a couple of pictures with all of the grandkids!

This is the Place Park

We have been wanting to go to This is the Place Park in SLC for a long time. When we decided to go it happend to be baby animal days so they had lots of little baby animals at the park - hence the name. Besides the fact that it was slightly freezing we had lots of fun.

Anna with the chicks.

Carly holding the bunny.

The horse rides.

Brad was a little unsure of it all. Probably because he is still not much bigger than lots of the baby animals.

I love this picture of Mac and Riley checking something out.

Mac doing some pioneer chores.

Some of the cousins next to the outhouse. Hopefully they have a new respect for the pioneers after seeing some of the things they had to do and places they lived in. I have a whole new appreciation for the phrase cabin fever. We had a great picnic lunch and enjoyed lots of the sights.

McKay doing some chores. The kids agreed their favorite part was panning for (real) gold. Even though it was real Anna informed me that they just put it there so kids could find it. I love that she is so smart. We had a great time and are definitely going back. Especially since there is a statue of Israel Barlow there we didn't see because we didn't know it was there. Next time!

Brad's Party with the Thompsens

We had a party for Brad in Utah for his birthday. We went out for pizza and had brownie cupcakes. Brad loved all the attention and presents. He got some more clothes and a fire engine puzzle. Thanks everyone for making it a great party!

The Wild Child

We had a morning with nothing to do in Utah and it was raining. We found a place in Centerville called The Wild Child that sounded just like what we needed to get us out of the house and moving around. It was geared a little bit more toward our younger crowd but still served its purpose.

The magazines to browse. Gotta love Utah.

McKay and I tried to race the girls through the obstacle course but they figured out pretty quick how to beat us. Good times.

Dinosaur Park

My kids love going to the Dinosaur Park in Utah. They love seeing the life-sized dinosaurs. Plus they have real palentologists there working on real dinosaurs. They let the kids watch them working on their fossils.

Brad was a little unsure of the whole thing. He kept asking if the dinosaurs were going to get him. He wanted to stay in the stroller for most of the time (score!)

Ragnar Relay 2011

After having so much fun on the Ragnar last year I couldn't wait to do it again this year! Five of us were returning vets and the rest were newbies. Our team name was C.T.R. (Choose to Run ...away.) This year I was in Van 1 and the first runner. It was fun being first but a little stressful. The race was from Huntington Beach to Coronado Island. My first run this year was exactly the same as my last run last year, minus one mile and about 20 degrees. Totally funny. I ran a total of about 17 miles (4, 5.5, 5.7, 2.) My second run was in Lake Elsinor. I was excited about that until I got to Lake Elsinor. Ever been? It's a beauty! From the map it looked like I was going to be running along the lake but not so. There were about a block worth of "houses" and then the lake. I was running on a two-lane highway at 4 pm and it was 90 degrees. I think my feet are permanently damaged. I was worried about getting dehydrated so I drank a ton of water before my run. Too much. I had to go to the bathroom soooo bad. And there was no where to go. So hey, i thought when in Rome... Yep I found a big bush and went. My last run was through Carlsbad at about 3 am. It could have gone a little better I think but there was some miscommunication and I got a phone call saying, "she'll be here in about five minutes. Are you ready?" I was still in my jammies. Unfortunately we were a little late but I dressed in the car and was running within about 7 minutes of that phone call and on about 2 hours of sleep in 48 hours. Not the best run ever but I got through it. My van was awesome. They followed me and made sure I didn't get lost or mugged. Here is our team picture before we left. Van 1 left the night before and Van 2 came down the next morning. I was so excited/nervous I didn't sleep at all that night. Major bummer but the adrenline got me through. I am just not a sleeper. I did manage to listen to almost the whole BOM. Bonus. We had a much stronger running team this year than last year. There were a couple other all-women teams from our city and we ended up beating them - not our goal but a totally nice bonus. They smoked us last year so we were pretty excited. A couple of hours into the race our team suffered a MAJOR setback. I got a phone call that Megan had been hit by a car and was on her way to the hospital in an ambulance. What?! We were all pretty shocked and wondering if we should continue and what should we do. A couple of the girls in the other van saw it and were pretty shaken up. Luckily they said she was going to be ok. She ended up with a broken foot and a broken pelvis but the doctor said she would make a full recovery. We decided we wanted to finish and we would just have to divide up her runs and do it. Ami took her longest run and the rest got divided up. I only ran two of her miles. After hearing that Megan was going to be ok we recovered a lot. Here is Van 1 all decked out.

Aaron, me, Debbie, Lindsey, Ami and Jill. The gals in Van 1. Love them all. I know it isn't the exact same but it is like going to war with someone. You are forever bonded to them.

Crossing the finish line! We ended up coming in 9th in our age division. We were stoked to be finishing in the light. Last year we finished in the dark when they were taking down the finish line! So that was our goal this year... finish in the light. We did it!!!

Tired and happy! Valerie Walker, Jill Hodges, Ditte Wager, Kirsten Kent, Catherine Blickenstaff, Becky Meline, Lindsey Bell, Ami Marchlik, Debbie Morris, Aaron Laskey, and me. Coronado Island. Debbie was our amazing captain. So much work goes into this she was amazing. Thanks gals! 2012 here we come!!!