This past Saturday I ran my second ½ marathon. I flipped a coin at the office on Thursday and was at the starting line 2 days later. Of course I was joined by my two brother in laws Josh and Steve who- for the record- did not pressure me into running.
I didn’t really train and quickly came to terms that I wouldn’t be setting any records. It rained towards the end of the race but man what a rush. Until you do one you don’t realize how invigorating the whole experience is. My goal for next year is to finish under 2 hours and to get my two brothers to join me! Javan and Micah…consider yourselves warned.

Ethan got his chance to thank Ohio State football coach Jim Tressell in person for the few items he included in a care package sent from former OSU safety Kurt Coleman.
Javan called me on Friday saying he had field passes for the game! Rebecca and I went along and got the VIP treatment. It included a personal introduction to coach Tressell, pictures, a bird’s eye view of the pre-game festivities and a special visit into the OSU locker room for Ethan. They let us walk down the tunnel right before the team came out which was another big highlight. Ethan just took it all in stride and was so humble with all of the attention. Rebecca and I had such a great time with Javan, Rebecca and the kids. We were all just laughing and ecstatic about getting to meet coach and to see how much fun the kids were having. I told coach Tressell that he made life lasting memories for everyone that day. He took about 10 min to talk with Ethan, sign autographs and make him feel s so important. I was able to see on Saturday that coach Tressell is so much more thank a good coach…he is a great person and very genuine in everything that he does. Everyone knows Rebecca (Gail) is a Steelers fan and she has convinced Corina and Ethan to cheer for the enemy along with her. My brother Javan is a Browns fan and was able to show Mason who the true team is to cheer for. Coach Tressell just laughed when Ethan explained how the family is divided down the middle when it comes to the Browns and Steelers. Coach explained that he himself is a Browns fan, but his daughter is a Steelers fan. No matter our differences when it comes to the Browns and Steelers after Saturday we all can agree that we are Buckeye fans thru and thru. It will be a day we all will remember. Thank you Javan and Bec for allowing us to share this day with you.

We had a great Easter and the weather couldn’t have been better. We spent the day here with Bec’s family and after service we headed to Naomi’s and Steve’s for dinner.

Our little princess in her Easter dress.

Katalina did her first Easter egg hunt last year. This year she would pick up the eggs and shake them. If she heard a rattle she would scream out “CANDY!” and run to find more eggs. She filled her basket quickly and was on a sugar buzz for a few hours.

She was joined by her two cousins (l to r): Caden Scott, Luke Eddy, Katalina Conley

After the Easter egg hunt we went to the zoo. Here is Katalina enjoying a peanut butter sandwich before going in to check out the aquarium.

It was another great year down at State. We made some new memories and watched Micah take all of our money. Gahanna lost in the semi-final game after knocking out the #1 team in the nation- Northland. We woke up to snow of Friday morning that was a surprise but it didn’t stop our tailgating activities. Micah did his thing on the grill and we ate so much food I almost get nauseous thinking about it. Javan was around on Thursday but headed off to Disney with the kids on Friday. I know they deserve a Disney vacation with all they have been through these past couple of months. We will be excited to have him; Mase and E back with us next year. This is definitely a huge highlight I look forward to every year.

Rebecca celebrated her birthday on the 20th and I flew her to Chicago for the weekend. We had dinner at Coco Pazzo’s an Italian restaurant on the west side of downtown. We had a full day of shopping on Sunday and spent the day with Rebecca’s cousin Abby. She took us to lunch and we had some Chicago-style pizza at Giordano’s on Rush Street. It was great to have a few days to ourselves and we loved getting to hang out and see Abby’s place. She was the best host and tour guide.