Easter and its Meaning

Today was a long day... We went to an easter egg hunt, did a couple errands, went to the park, rode bikes, ran another errand, hurried and made dinner and sent Chris on his way to priesthood. It was a good day just a long day leaving me very exhausted and to top it off I still needed to workout clean up my messy kitchen and semi messy front room and make our treat for tomorrow. My plan was to get the kids to bed soon after dinner; they too were tired from waking up early, playing hard, and no naps. Miles crashed but I still had the other two, the harder two. We got through the routine fairly smoothly (undress, pajamas on, go the bathroom, diapers on, brush teeth, say prayers, read at least one chapter from a book (right now it's James and the Giant Peach), and sing songs.)

My plan was to get through everything quickly so I could get on with everything else I had to do tonight. But I had an impression to ask the boys about Easter and get their thoughts. So I asked them if they knew why we celebrated Easter. Their response was for Candy and the Easter Bunny. I corrected them and told them about Christ, the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection. Our conversation went on for a good 30 mins about Christ, his suffering, what it meant for us, and his love for us. It was a tender moment for me. One that strengthened my testimony as I explained Christ's atonement and resurrection and a moment where I was touched by the sensitivity of my children. Spencer was so concerned for Jesus and kept saying, "Jesus died! Jesus owie. Need a bandaid." And Jared had several questions and intently listened to everything and when I went and got pictures to show the boys he told me that we knew a song about this. I thought he would start singing a primary song but he sang the song "Gethsemane" which we hadn't sung for several months.

I'm grateful for the little prompting I had tonight. I was getting frazzled by the time bed time came around but after putting my sweet boys to bed I am rejuvinated. I still feel exhausted and I'm still not looking forward to exercising, baking, and cleaning, but I feel lifted and spritually fed making it worth putting off those things for a little while even if it means going to bed later. I am grateful for Easter and the opportunity it gives us to remember Christ, his suffering, his death, and his resurrection. What a powerful thing to know and share.

Easter 2009

We were going to get Jared a bike for Christmas but postponed it because we didn't want to get it to and back from Idaho and decided he wouldn't be able to ride it much until spring so we waited for Easter. We first got and assembled a 16" bike for him but it was wayt too big so we took it back and got a 12" bike which is perfect for him. He was really slow at first but by Monday he was ready to ride it outside. The rate at which he started I thought it'd take him a lot longer to get a hang of it but he did great and is loving it. Spencer loves his trike and just sits as we push him. He can reach one foot at a time to the pedal so he's not quite ready for the pedaling but it's a perfect transition trike for him cause we can take the push handle off when he's ready. Later we dyed eggs and the boys had a blast with that as well.

The next morning they did their mini egg hunt. Chris' family grew up where they had the main candy in the baskets and little candy was strewn about. My family we hid the basket with everything inside. So we did a combo of both. In the morning we did Chris' family's version and in the afternoon we hid a basket with a picnic lunch in it (along with the sweets we always had a picnic lunch as well in my family). Below is a clip of the morning hunt. When we heard the boys wake up I quickly made them oatmeal and fed it to them in their room before we brought them upstairs. Good thinking on my part, they stuffed their faces with candy!

Easter 2008

Admist my lack of posting of the previous holiday we did indeed have a happy Easter:) Chris' family stopped in on their way back from St. George and it was great to have them here. Chris has been really busy being in charge of the 1L Moot Court try outs for law school so their added help was very much appreciated! We went to Pioneer Park for an Easter Egg Hunt. Chris was able to slip away for about 30 mins for the action. We all almost missed it but got there right as the five minute warning was given. Chris got there first, then Cherie, Jared, Spencer, and me, and his sisters (Ashley, Mal, and Bai) got there right before it began.

Jared was in the little division and they had a TON of eggs! He loaded up on lots of eggs (I found it rather odd though that a lot of the candies in the eggs were hot, cinnamon bears and fire balls) Spencer was a good sport. The weather was nice but a little cool and he was content the whole time:)

Our at home easter egg hunt was fun but not near as fun since there was a lack of kids for Jared. His favorite part was decorating the easter eggs in the dye. I ended up having to throw away the eggs in the end because I tried a new way of cooking the eggs that was suppose to be better with less cracked eggs but the eggs didn't cook all the way through.

In the end we had a wonderful Easter and I love holidays with a child who is "getting it". I'm excited for the Spring to come and I think it's so appropriate to celebrate our Savior's Resurrection when things are coming back to Life!

Early Easter Egg Hunt

Wednesday was a beautiful day and we were able to go to our play group and hunt for easter eggs. Jared really got the hang of it and soon realized there was candy in the plastic eggs. I love being outside and letting Jared play with friends. He frequently asks to play with his friends or go to nursery, or his latest: "I want my cousins". He loves playgroup and frankly so do I since other mothers are there:)

This was our first time back to the park since last year and I love how Jared is able to do so much more! He was able to do most everything last year but I was always close by because he was tipsy. But now I can be several feet away without worrying! It's great!