Easter Weekend

Today there's thunder, and hail, and the wind chimes are just a-chimin', but this past weekend the weather was nice. Ethan and Missy and the three Adorables came a-visitin'. They started off Saturday with an outing to a fun play center, which was followed by an excursion to Jason and Brianna's house. Brooklyn and Lilly painted Brianna's fingernails, and mine too, and everyone admired Brianna's bright and cheerful decorating choices. She's bold, painting some of the living room walls orange, and they really pop. (Haha, I got to use a decorating term I'm always hearing or reading.) They joined us next at Flying Pie Pizza on State Street, and Colin and Macey rode over on their motorcycle as well. Then we all piled into or onto our vehicles and went to Aspen Leaf Frozen Yogurt, a new business in town that Jason and Brianna recently discovered. They have 20 flavors of yogurt and 75 toppings. mmmmmmm, wonderful! After that, we trekked back to the parking lot for a few pictures. I enjoyed posing in my new Easter Bonnie costume. Dan stayed far, far away, not wanting to be seen with me thus attired, but he actually called from work today and asked me to email him the picture, so it must not have been too too bad. My friend Joyce made a purple vest and a green bow tie with pink polka dots for me to wear over pink pants and hoodie, all finished off with a pair of white gloves, a set of bunny ears and a fluffy tail. The little ones also wore bunny ears and tails for the Easter egg hunt, which was next on our list of fun things to do. Well, after they dyed a few colorful Easter eggs, that is. Then we invaded Colin and Macey's place for 15 or 20 minutes, just checking out how they were settling into their new apartment. Chic and cozy, I'd say. This has to be a record We then dined at our third restaurant of the day! Missy tried out fish tacos, and was underwhelmed with them just as I had been when I tried them for the first, and probably the last, time. I ordered something really crazy (must have been influence by my bunny impersonation earlier in the day), fried dill pickles. They were interesting, but I won't be ordering them a second time. Still, it's fun to assuage one's curiosity from time to time, although it goes to show that you just can't believe all the hype all the time. Dan and Ethan and the kids stuck with the tried and true. Where's that sense of adventure guys are purported to possess? :) Last of all, we (well, I guess I mean THEY) watched Toy Story 3. I snoozed.. It was a long and happy day.





We heard talks by Elders Ballard and Uchtdorf at stake conference the next morning, had a nice Easter hamm dinner, and Ethan and Missy picked up and packed up and drove away till next time. Thank you for coming, dear family! If you enjoyed it half as much as we did, it was worth your long drive. I made an Easter dish garden which I wanted to talk about with the kids, but things were so fast-paced that I never fit it in. Maybe next time. I found instructions for the garden online. When I first started working on it, I asked Colin to guess what it was. He guessed a hobbit house, which was sort of a fun surprise to me as I hadn't thought of the similarities until then. I was quite pleased with it before long, as I made little improvements on it here and there. I used a terra cotta 12-inch shallow dish for the container, and used potting soil to cover a 4-inch pot which I turned on its side for the garden tomb or sepulchre. On the small pot, I placed soil and wheat grass that I'd grown in separate pots, planted little Johnny jump-ups on one side, and placed rocks to simulate steps going up a hillside. My bunny vest- and-bow tie-making friend, Joyce, gave me a tiny frog, duck, and dove to add to the garden scene. I thought about the resurrection a lot, while I tried to figure out how to explain it in a way that would help a child feel the wonder of it, surpassing all the bunnies and ducks and candy the world has to offer. I am so grateful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, opening the way for us all to receive this enormous blessing. If anyone wants to hear more about adding more meaning to the Easter celebration, let me know. I'll be happy to share some things I've come across and thought of this year.