HAPPY EASTER!

We hope you enjoyed Easter this year. It was a beautiful, sunny Easter Sunday out here. We had a fun-filled weekend, mostly. There were certainly a few moments, but all in all, it was fun to end up with family on Sunday and to enjoy time together. That is the essence of what the resurrection is all about, isn't it? That we might live again and be together as a family. So to that extent, we celebrated the true meaning of the special day that Easter is. Of course, Easter eggs, baskets, and candy were involved, too. So maybe we just hit a triple instead of a home run. Either way, a good time.

We kicked off our celebration on Saturday night as Kari organized the egg decorating with the children. They wound up coloring about a half dozen eggs or so and seemed to have a good time. On Saturday night Kari and I both had moments of anxiety. For her, it had to do with putting together a Sharing Time lesson. For me, it had to do with my school work.

The long story short on my school work is that I'm just 4-5 weeks from having to make a presentation of my research project in order to get my Master's degree. So I got a late jump on one important paper, but I was able to get my draft finished. And fortunately, with the week ahead off for Spring Break, I plan on getting as much done as I can so that I'm able to breathe heading into the final stretch.

With Kari's Primary project, I wound up making a late night trip to the store to get some plastic eggs. Turns out we already had eggs with our Easter baskets here at the house. But the trip wasn't in vain. I was able to pick up a bag - a 3.5-pound bag, that is! - of candy for Kari to use for her Sharing Time as well as for Claire and Will. She put in a lot of thought and effort for her lesson, which Claire enthusiastically complimented after church on Sunday. Claire gracefully described the lesson as "Eggs for Jesus." From what I've gathered, the lesson involved the story of the resurrection by having to get from part to part opening plastic eggs and reading about the events from the life of Christ. Kari always does a fantastic job organizing lessons for Primary and has been a valuable part of our Ward's Primary Presidency through her hard work. She wouldn't say it, so I'm going to say it for her.

After church we came back to the house so Mommy could get a little nap. I tried to keep the kiddos corralled, but they kept poking their head into her room to ask her something or wonder about leaving. So, I'm guessing the actual nap time didn't exactly pan out. We hit the road and made it out to my folks' house just in time for an Easter egg hunt.

We snapped a few pictures of the cousins: Aidan, Claire, Madelin, Molly, Will, and Gabriela. The gate to the backyard was opened and before long everyone had their Easter basket filled with goodies and several eggs. Will had neatly organized his Easter eggs into a red wagon, next to which he put his basket, and proceeded to pull it back and forth across the backyard. There is definitely something O.C.D. about this boy. I had a little of this in me growing up, but I'm not sure if it's to this extent. That's a post for another time. Either way, it's very cute watching him so seriously finding a place for everything.

Back in the house, we got ready for a delicious dinner of short ribs, potatoes, and salad. Mom always makes a tasty meal, though she didn't always have such a receptive audience growing up. The ribs were tender and delicious. The salad, with all of its nuts and berries and what-have-you mixed in, was very appetizing. And the potatoes were topped with crispy Corn Flakes which gave them a nice crunch with every bite.

After dinner, we sat around the dinner table and laughed and talked, laughed and talked some more. My dad came into the room after a while holding out his hand which appeared to have blood on it. For a second, we were wondering how he had cut himself. Moments later, Claire came into the room announcing that she had finally lost her tooth! She bumped it on the slide out back, loosening it even more (and it was quite loose to begin with) but Grandpa was able to "twist it out," Claire said, and she seemed relieved about the tooth out, and excited for the arrival of the Tooth Fairy!

The cousins played and played. I spent time playing the piano. Kari was talking with my Grandma and others. Will was out back with a shovel filling an entire wagon with potting soil that my dad had dumped into the backyard a couple of weeks ago. Will was in a zone with the digging. He went for quite some time filling up that wagon.

We made it home in time for the kids to take baths and get ready for bed. The Tooth Fairy made its appearance after all, and Claire has two quarters to prove it. She claims to have seen the Tooth Fairy with its "pink dress and Tooth Wand," but I doubt it. I kind of had a glimpse at the Tooth Fairy myself and she wasn't wearing a pink dress. But she was cute!

Hope you all enjoyed your Easter weekends! We look forward to hearing all about them. Take care. Happy Spring Break!