Easter 2012

The Easter festivities were super fun at our house, but somehow hardly any pictures were taken... hmmmm...

Egg decorating is always a favorite (and I appreciate when no sweets are involved in the fun)



I don't know why we can't get a picture with all the kids looking at the camera, it's gotta be some kind of kid conspiracy...Hyrum and Bry look GREAT in this one...





And... DD, Ivy, and Bry look great in this one.




Here's DD on Easter morning asking Daddy to open her egg- who cares about the egg hunt when you can sit and watch everyone do all the work while munching on treats?



Here's DD again with a full mouth of candy, obviously ready for more.

Here's our very sad and posed pictures of Ivy and Hyrum "reaching" for eggs. 

You can see their impatience as they anticipate the candy haul.

And here's DD after her sweets were gone... let me tell you how much I love that sticky stuff...

We have a lovely meadow in an island dividing a street nearby and shot some pics of the kiddos:

Every time we get the camera out DD turns into a grump.



This is on a different day, but same location:







Easter

We had a super fun Easter with lots of beautiful weather and fun friends, but best of all we had lots of Christ-centered moments with the kiddos.

All of our April family home evenings were about Christ's life and the atonement.  Through LOTS of repetition, it seems like Hyrum is starting to understand the very difficult topics surrounding the Easter holiday. 

We played with these stickers I bought from Oriental Trading (they were VERY bad quality- I'm starting to learn you get what you pay for).  It was still a fun activity though, the kids love anything sticky.

Hyrum and I were lucky to attend our Ward's Easter Primary Activity which was very well done.  They each "traveled back in time" and spoke to people who witnessed the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection.  Afterwards the kids had a blast with an egg hunt and other games.



Handsome Buddies



Next, we headed to the Walker's annual egg hunt which is highly anticipated because of the fun friends and YUMMY food.

Thanks Nate and Diane!  We'd be very boring without you two!

Finally, on Easter morning the famed Bunny was kind enough to stop by and fill these beautiful bags my Mother-in-Law made for the kids.  She always sends us amazing paper creations to make holidays even more special.  We're so lucky to have her!

Yes, that's toothpaste and toothbrushes.  The Easter Bunny knew we were running low.

That genenerous bunny also left a fun little egg-hunt in the back.  It's amazing the kids weren't egg-hunted-out, but they loved it.  I have a feeling if we did it once a week they'd still love it.

Here's some other Easter activities:

Tape the tail on the bunny

All beautified for church

Egg-dying EXTRAVAGANZA

Ivy isn't excited to pose for another picture



Ivy's preschool egg hunt



We love holidays around here.  Any chance to step away from the mundane, everyday schedule is fine by us (as long as it's for only a few days).  Celebrating the greatest event in history and the greatest man to ever walk the earth was a privilege and a joy.

Easter

We enjoyed a lovely Easter Sunday with beautiful weather and sweet memories.

The kids woke us up with Christmas morning-like excitement. We opened the blinds to reveal how busy the Easter Bunny had been in the back yard. It's so nice to wake up to upbeat kids instead of screams and tantrums. We should have a holiday every day!

We couldn't help but laugh and take a picture of Ivy's attempt to take off her diaper.

My only Easter regret was not making the day more centered around Christ's Resurrection. I found it extremely hard to teach my five year old about the entire event. As soon as I started to describe the story, Hyrum asked questions like, "Will Grandpa come back to life?"- how do you say, "Yes, but later" to a boy who has NO concept of time? What if someone close to him dies and he believes wholeheartedly they'll come back in a few days? On the whole, the beautiful miracle of resurrection is going to have to wait a few years. Now that I'm more prepared, hopefully we'll share some nice stories about Christ's LIFE next year.