Easter 2014

Easter fell late in April this year. It was kind of nice to spread out all of our special April events (Zach's birthday, General Conference, and Easter), giving us more time to focus on the real meaning of Easter. 

But for this post, you get to see the fun of Easter traditions!

Egg decorating!

 

Anwyn with her eggs, next to a cute decoration my dear friend Stacey made for me this year.

One of Jared's marbleized eggs.

Very large oak tree in Florida

We recently took a little excursion to see the largest live oak tree in Florida. It was in nearby Cellon Oak Park, convenient to our favorite strawberry farm. The tree was huge, and the children thought it was great.

The children are the small colorful smudge in the lower left corner, to give you a little idea of size. 

This sign is likely more than a few years old, so I am sure the tree is even bigger now.

We discovered a little skink making a home in the tree.

Girls on the Run is so much fun!

April 11th was the Girls on the Run 5k. Anwyn has been involved in this running program since February (after school twice a week, running practice and healthy life lessons for pre-adolescent girls). It has been a good program for her and she enjoyed it.

The program culminated with a 5k event, with all the teams from a number of Gainesville schools. Each girl ran the race with a running buddy, which meant I got to run too. Jared and Lily and Zach were there to cheer us on. We started out the race with 2 other girls from her club and one of the coaches. Anwyn and friend Kaitlyn and I pulled ahead around the first mile, and then Anwyn and Kaitlyn pulled ahead of me. Anwyn finished great, with at time of 29:05 (mile pace of 9:22). She ended up 21st overall (out of 200+ runners), and 10th for her age group. Makes us think we need to pursue some more running opportunities for her in the future! I finished at 30:35 (mile pace of 9:51). I shaved exactly a minute off my time since my 5k in February, so I was happy with that.

Ready to run, before the race.

Sisters with spray painted hair!

It's important to stretch before the race.

The Talbot team before the race.

1 mile done, 2 to go! We are still smiling!

Anwyn and her friend Kaitlyn, about to cross the finish line!

Successful run completed!

Anwyn and her friend, Isabella.

Woohoo! We did it!

A Four Year Old Birthday for Zach

We celebrated Zach's birthday at the beginning of April. He is 4 years old! 

His birthday was on a busy tuesday, so we had to keep birthday celebrations simple. We made his favorite french toast for breakfast, and he got to open one present before Jared and the girls headed out the door. 

We invited his best little buddy Ira (and his sister, Isabella) over for a lunchtime playdate. 

In the evening Zach got to open the rest of his presents--the favorite was a Stomp Rocket (but keeping the rockets off the roofs of houses is proving to be a bit of a challenge). Dinner was chicken nuggets and fries, with ice cream cones for dessert. 

He is such a great little boy. His favorite things are superheroes! He still enjoys cars and trains and airplanes. He likes to play games and be read to and play with balls. He is a good brother. He enjoys his "speech school". 

We are so grateful for Zach and the sunshine that he brings into our family!