Easter Eggs!

Isn't Easter a most wonderful time! I love it for several reasons. It usually accompanies General Conference which always such a treat to listen to. There are always huge family parties, lots of little kids, and oh so much fun. And most importantly spring is on it's way and winter is slowly out the door! Even when it's dreary outside, knowing that Easter is close makes you dream of bright colors and just hope for a beautiful spring--preferably soon.

I had a most fantastic Easter! I love my family so very much and my weekend was so fun filled that I never wanted it to end!

The excitement began on Saturday: That night it was 11 o'clock but we hadn't dyed Easter Eggs yet! My mom started falling asleep, but we convinced her to stay awake and prepare for my favorite Easter tradition. I haden't dyed eggs in years and so I was very excited. Tyson was in his suit because he came directly from Priesthood Session and so he took off his white shirt and wore his undershirt. I asked Kam 100 times to get him a shirt but he didn't listen, and Tyson insisted he didn't need one. So I attempted to get him an apron....and we simply couldn't resist this one...and a picture. :) (His apron says, "Avoid the Rush...Kiss me now!" Cheesy and hilarious beyond limits.

And so we started dyeing eggs. What fun! The vinegar smelled horrible, but the colors were very pretty! We had every kind of decoration imaginable: dyes, crayons, chalk, and even a special tie-dye contraption that McKenzie attempted (and succeeded) in using. McKenzie and I had much fun with the Crayons. To me Crayons are very magical things, especially white ones! You can't see at all what you are drawing, but once they are dropped in dye the picture magically appears! I didn't know the purpose of white crayons, and now I do. They were meant for coloring Easter Eggs! I drew a bunny, and a butterfly, suns, flowers and all things Easter. We tried lots of experimenting, and silly things. At the end we decided to draw princess Easter eggs, and so I drew Belle and McKenzie drew Ariel, naturally. :) Mine turned out terrible, but Kenzie's was cute. My camera doesn't do good close ups though...

Sunday morning was spent listening to Conference and visiting Grandma at the Berkshire. It was nice to finally relax and feel the spirit. I must confess that I slept through the last few talks, but I promise I'll read them all!

Family Easter parties are my favorite! I have such a huge extended family and so there is always something fun going on! Sometimes it's the little kids, sometimes Dad is telling a story, and sometimes there is just good food. Granted, the present from Mother Nature wasn't exactly in the plans for today, and relatively unwelcome, but we improvised!

At once we realized that there were seven little boys and no sand box to play in. Instantly Legos and dinosaurs were brought from the storage room to occupy them. They were adorable and so much fun to watch! Easton had one dinosaur in each hand and kept saying "RAWRRR!" over and over. It was the cutest thing! I asked him to smile too and so he squinted his eyes and gave me a big cheesy grin that was too adorable to resist!

We began by doing "The Real Easter Story" as one of our traditions. There are 12 eggs and each one has a scripture about Christ's Atonement, Crucifixion, Death, and Resurrection. Contained in each is a small object as a symbol of the scripture, such as a sacrament cup, rocks, silver (dimes), or dice. In the last one it has the scripture, "He is not here, for he is risen," and the egg is empty.

I love this tradition and it was wonderful to gather around and listen to everyone read. Kobe was adorable because he read most of it all by himself, but it was so broken we couldn't put the words together. :) Hollie's kids are what I would picture my nieces and nephews being like, and Hollie is like an older sister to me.

And of course we had the annual Easter Egg Hunt. The snow outside presented a slight problem, and so we had an egg hunt in the basement. At least 6 of the 9 kids were under 5 and we couldn't hide them too difficult, so most of them ended up on the floor. But it was an exciting time! Bright colors everywhere, making sure everyone only got 12, and making sure no fights broke out. Almost everyone got the right amount of eggs, and I'm sure all of the kids went home happy. That's the goal right?

Kylee is adorable and after much prodding I managed to take a picture of her showing me her eggs.

And the best part of Easter? I got to spend it with him. :)