Easter Blessings!

Easter was a little unorthodox for us this year. Just a little unusual. Perhaps it was the weather. I was so thankful for a mild February and now I am paying for it with an unusually snowy April.

But also, this year, Easter Sunday fell on the first week in April; which for Latter Day Saint Christians is the week we hold General Conference every Spring. General Conference is a weekend of meetings that are the same for every member of our Church worldwide. The Conference is televised and because we live in Utah, we are fortunate enough to be able to watch Conference from the comforts of our own home. We had a wonderful time watching Conference. Matt and I both mentioned that we are so thankful for our dvr so that we can watch the sessions over and over again! Watching Conference with little kids isn't always easy, but we have found some fun ways to keep them entertained and engaged.

Anyhoo, since we were having Conference on Easter Sunday, we didn't have a Church outing where we could wear all our pretty Easter clothes. So, the Sunday beforehand, we decided to pull out our Easter duds when we went to the Blessing for Penelope, the new baby of Matt's sister Raegan and her husband, David. She was so precious and it was really a joy to see so many family and friends there!

And that brings me to the attempted photo shoot. The weather on this day was glorious!! Tori was excited to be outside and went straight for the daffodils.

But once we wanted her to pose, she was outta there:

We corralled her over to our selected background and she was off again!

We finally got a semi-decent shot in between sprinting sessions...

And then she was gone again. So, we got one of Isaac and Daphne, who were crying because the sun was so bright. Little Vampires that they are. They are struggling to emerge from their winter hibernation.

We had a beautiful time celebrating Penelope and had a yummy brunch with family and friends.

We then decided to have an Easter Week, where we had a full week of activities and family home evenings leading up to Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This was not a perfect experiment, but we definitely had some fun and spiritual evenings together. Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to take pictures of these fun activities... :(

But we did have lots of fun- we learned about the Triumphal Entry and went on our own triumphal walk singing "Hosanna to God and the Lamb", which the kids enjoyed. We also had our very own Last Supper where we tried to have traditional mediterranean foods and then we were able to wash one another's feet. We did a few other things and had so much fun. The week wasn't the ideal fairytale that I had pictured in my head, but I got a lot of ideas for next year and I think the kids learned a lot, specifically about this:

"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." John 13:34

So, even though we weren't able to do every single activity I had planned, we began Easter Sunday with a spirit of Rejoicing- for He is Risen!
We don't do anything too big for Easter gifts, just a few little goodies in the Easter baskets when they awake in the morning:

Victoria is really excited about her marshmallow bunny lollipop:

I love their little morning faces and hair- (Daphne wanted to have our roses in the picture!)

Daphne got her own little apron that is her size, which she loves! She is my little kitchen helper and always wants to wear my aprons- so when I saw this cute one at Target, I knew it was just the right pick!

I also forgot to take pictures of all the egg -dying fun, so here they are with a couple of their eggs:

My little sleepy-heads!

Then in between the Sunday sessions of General Conference, we made a mad dash to Nanny and Papa's house for our Easter Egg hunt! Here is a view of the spectacle.... notice everyone gathered around the tree, where Matthew and Jude hide eggs so high that no one can retrieve them. It's always to fun to have small children staring up at the tree hopelessly.

Daphne Doodle:

Victoria didn't really get what all the fuss was about with the eggs. She was much more interested in "feeding" the neighbor's dogs. I say "feeding" because she is always too frightened to actually feed them herself, she just wants to watch us feed them!

Isaac

Tori thought the Easter basket looked like it might make a good necklace.

EASTER SNOW!!!

And then we headed back inside where it was warm to count the eggs. Victoria loved this part. It was at this point that she realized maybe there was something to this egg hunting thing after all. She opened an egg and looked at me as if to say, "Mom! Did you know there is candy in here!?"

Daphne and Lydia:

I got the lovely honor of making the traditional Bunny Cake this year. I had lots of help from my sweet Isaac and Daphne....

We had a truly wonderful time celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior this year- it's always fun to add new traditions to our festivites. Even though I sometimes wonder if any of our little activities are connecting with their spirits, I know that the Lord wants us to teach them about the love of His Son. And I know that it's sinking in somewhere- it may be years before we see much of the fruit of this labor of love, but there is no labor I love more. Being able to be a mother to these three precious spirits is honestly the most joyous calling I have in life. It is my prayer that God will use Matt and me to shine His love through us... that their hearts may be drawn to their Savior. So even though we broke up about 25 arguments during the course of this week's Easter activities, I know that they have each gained a stronger testimony of the Atonement of their Savior.

And you know what? So have I.

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins. " II Nephi 25:26