I love Easter!

Our family, Easter 2008

Ok, its taken me awhile to get this post up, but that's because I have so much I want to say and so many pictures. I'm trying my best to pick and choose. I'll put some pictures in, but others are in the slideshow. First of all, our Easter started with cookie making. We used my Grandma Hilton's sugar cookie recipe and they were delicious. That was Thursday. The girls are great helpers and loved making cookies. They loved eating them too.

Their favorite cookie cutters

On Friday we colored eggs. The girls wanted to elaborately color them before they dyed them. The problem was that they kept dropping them in the process. We ended up with a handful of cracked eggs. Oh well, we just ate them anyway. They also had fun putting stickers on them. This picture was at the very end and Carlyn was bored waiting for Anneliese.

Coloring eggs

Saturday was our Easter Fun Day and was it packed with fun!!! First we had our Easter baskets. We just had them on the couch and didn't say they were from the Easter Bunny. I don't really care about keeping up that illusion. Later when people asked them what he brought them my kids were a little confused. Oh well, we'll talk about it better next year. Anyway, I got them some things like a bucket & shovels, and gardening gloves, and sidewalk chalk-the stuff that helps pass the day away from the tv when its warm enough. Oh, don't forget Enchanted! We love the show and have seen in tons since Saturday morning. The new Easter clothes were thanks to Grandma Hilton.

After that we went to our neighborhood egg hunt/breakfast. The girls were excited, but I thought they'd be more so. They didn't go crazy over the eggs and Annie even climbed in the stroller and announced she was done. They did get up extra early that morning, but maybe its because it was so cold! Last year we didn't even need jackets but this year we wore coats and there was frost on the eggs. They make sure that each kid gets at least 12 eggs and we ended up with about 30. It was really fun, but I forgot to take any pictures of them with their loot. I let them choose their favorite candy and we kept the rest for a cousins hunt later that day. We really enjoyed socializing at the breakfast.

Rick went to work for awhile and had a BBQ for his employees while we went through the eggs and got them ready for the cousins hunt. Can you believe I had enough candy and eggs for over 50 eggs? There were 8 kids (not including Darren) and they each got plenty. The cool thing was that my kids didn't even care about giving the candy away. They only ask for it if they see it and while Annie had quite a bit, Carlyn hardly had any. We met at a park in Provo (Katie-the one by your old house) and had a picnic lunch. It was pretty cold when the wind blew, but we all seemed to enjoy being outside anyway. Then we decorated my sugar cookies for dessert and the kids played on the playground. It was fun but Darren wouldn't fall asleep and just screamed for about a half an hour. So it was time to leave.

Rick bought 2 new board games called Spy Alley & Thurn & Taxis and wanted to try them out. We went to our friends, Joel & Jessica's house and played games, including Spy Alley. (As a side note, we love to play games and would love to have anyone over to play. Sometimes we play with Mathew & Lindsay but mostly Joel & Jessica.) They have 2 girls and are expecting a boy. The oldest is 2 weeks older than Carlyn and the youngest is about 9 months younger than Annie so its fun to let the kids play while we play. Then we put them to bed there and play until we're tired. Our kids have always known going to each others houses and go to sleep pretty well there. We had fun and played until about midnight.

Sunday morning we woke up a little later than intended, but had time for a nice breakfast of golden rod eggs. If you have never had it, then you need to! Yum. You cut up the hard boiled eggs and put them in a white sauce and serve over toast. So delicious. Church was great and I have to say it was so nice not having my kids on a sugar rush. Annie had eaten so much candy on Saturday I thought she's be sick, but she's a trooper. :) I loved teaching my primary class that day. I have a team teacher and we switch off, but I got to teach about the resurrection of the Savior and the meaning of Easter. It was fun, but some of the kids obviously had eaten too much candy and keeping focus was hard at times. They are 4-5 though, so that's normal anyway.

Its the only picture I got in his church clothes,

because he had a messy diaper that went up the back

After church we came home and cleaned my messy house and got ready for company. We had Rick's Grandma, Mom, her friend Maureen & her daughter Delenn over for dinner. We had ham, homemade mashed potatoes, green beans, salad & rolls. It was good and we had fun visiting. Rick's sister Belinda came over with her boyfriend Josh and they played with the kids. They love to rile them up right at bed time. Darren fell asleep in Belinda's arms-it was so cute! They stayed and helped us try out one of the new games. It was fun.

Rick and the kids with his Mom (Grandma Linda) and his Grandma White (our best babysitter!)

All in all we had a really great Easter. I really liked having the fun separated from the spiritual. It sure made a difference to me personally, even if it didn't to the kids. I love the symbol of the egg-that the empty shell represents the empty tomb. I loved thinking about the Savior and the incomprehensible sacrifice that he made for all of us. I don't know what I'd do without that knowledge. I am so thankful that we can be forgiven, that we will live again, and that we can be a family forever! I'm so happy to teach that to my children and my Primary class. Rick spoke in Sacrament meeting the week before and gave a good talk on The Last Supper and Gethsemane. It was fun talking about it all week and really understanding what happened leading up to his death and then on Sunday talking about the Resurrection and knowing that only through him was this possible. I am so amazed by the love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for all of us, even the ones who resist him. That Jesus would die and live again so that we can too! I LOVE EASTER! The cooking making, egg coloring, & egg hunts are fun, but I know what's really important.