Why I love April...

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!!! I guess that's what you get when you post once a month. How do you guys out there do those cool collages with a ton of pictures smashed into one frame? I could have done that here several times. I made them small, thinking it would speed along the uploading process but it didn't. So when you get to the flower pics, click on them to see them in their full glory! Anyway, onto the post...April is one of my favorite months, and this year has been no different. Just to name a few reasons:

#1-Our anniversary!!!! This year was a big one for us...FIVE YEARS! It really seems like just yesterday that we were married in the Bountiful Temple. In the last five years I have fallen in love with Evan over and over again. As different as we are, we really are a perfect match. To celebrate our five years together, we are going to Hawaii next week. WOOHOO!!

#2-New colts-nothing says spring like baby animals on the farm. My dad raises horses, and he has two new colts so far, with another one on the way. I don't know if the palomino (the blonde one) has a name, but the bay (the brown one) is named Blizzard because he came in one heck of a spring snowstorm. I love their gangly legs! It truly is a miracle that they are walking on those things within hours of birth.


#3-My sister's birthday! (By the way, I could write this about almost any month of the year-big family, you know.) This year we celebrated by going to lunch at Zinn Bistro in Salt Lake City. It's gotten mixed reviews, mostly from people mad about being turned away if they have kids with them (NO KIDS ALLOWED!), or that the restaurant doesn't have a liquor license. I've been there twice, and I've got to say, from someone without kids, I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a dining experience that is just that, and experience! There are plenty of places you can go where the kids are climbing all over the tables. This isn't one of them, and it's fantastic. The food is beyond-description-delicious. They give you a small cup of mulled cider to sip while you peruse the menu, then they bring out an incredibly huge basket full of homemade sweetbreads and spreads. The menu changes weekly, based on what's in season, and when they bring your ticket at the end of the meal they don't give you a cheap mint, they give you a bite-sized cupcake, or homemade Oreo-style cookie, or whatever other delectable treat they've made that day. Ladies, please gather your daughters, moms, sisters, and friends, and go at once! Just so you're aware, it's only open Tues-Sat from 11:30-2:00 for lunch and dinner Fri-Sat (hours??) but if the tables fill up immediately they turn people away in order to preserve the quiet ambiance of the dining room-there's no crowd laughing and talking while they wait for a table. It makes it that much more enjoyable!

#4-Motocross-My brothers are huge fans of the sport, so when the tour came to Salt Lake, we couldn't miss it! The guy on the yellow bike is Chad Reed, last year's champ, and the guy on the blue bike is James "Bubba" Stewart, who won the race. He's currently in the lead to take the whole championship, but it will all come down to the final race in Vegas this weekend. It was a pretty cold night, but still plenty of fun. We were on the front row-way to go Scotty!

This can't be right...
There we go...

#5-TULIPS!! Every year we go to Thanksgiving Point Gardens for the Tulip Festival. It gets more beautiful each year.
We kept seeing this old man everywhere, so I'm adding this just for Evan.
We attempted a few self portraits...
Then gave the camera to a woman who offered to take the pictures for us. This is in the Secret Garden. I WILL have one of these someday, by the way. I'm going to universe it.

#6-WICKED!!! I'm not technically going in April (I'm going this Saturday, May 2nd) but I got invited in April so I'm counting it! My co-worker's wife is going with all their daughters, and they ended up with an extra ticket so she offered it to me instead of her husband. Funny, huh? She's the greatest. They already saw it in California, and she feels it would be wasted on him cuz he thought it was just ok. Just ok??? Is he crazy? It's incredible! Anyway, she wanted it to go to someone who would fully appreciate it. THAT'S ME!!! I've been listening to the soundtrack all week, and I keep getting the chills and tears come to my eyes. If you think I'm exaggerating you can ask Evan. He'll confirm it. I can't wait!!!