Easter

We had such beautiful Spring weather for Easter this year.  On Saturday we did Easter baskets and a small egg hunt in our house before heading over to Chris Greene Lake for our ward party.  There was a very casual brunch and an egg hunt.  The day before had been fairly stormy (they actually released school half way through the day because of flash flooding and tornado warnings but none of that ended up happening here) which means that Saturday morning was clear and beautiful. I can't remember if I felt this way other places we have lived but here in Virginia the day or 2 after big storms are so refreshing.  I was actually a little chilled at the park and had to keep finding places to stand in the sunshine which probably made me seem like a bit of a loner but it was worth it.  There was a family visiting who are potentially moving here and I did enjoy visiting with them.  I even left the sunshine to introduce myself.  There was a really good turnout and it seemed everyone had a good time.  That afternoon we dyed Easter eggs. I am always conflicted with dyeing eggs.  I know we aren't going to eat them so I feel bad wasting them and don't buy more than a dozen to dye but then we all feel shortchanged and wish we had dyed more.  I just need to not worry about it.  

She accidentally found this egg. It's under the clock. She happened to be facing the wall and spotted it  which she thought was hilarious. You can tell Mark hid that one. 

We hid two large eggs like this, one for each of them and there was 3 dollars in it.  We only hid 2 other eggs for each of them each with a dollar in them.  So 6 total, 3 for each of them.  We knew they would get plenty at the activity and had some candy ones in their basket. Mark and I really didn't try to hide them in tricky spots but both Jared and Lydia talked about how hard it was to find the eggs.  It took them way longer than we expected. 

I felt that this year we did a really good job preparing for Easter spiritually.  The Come Follow Me outline had some good lessons and I found some different stuff online.  Lately I have been interested in traditions of other religions for these religious holidays.  I read a lot about Holy Week and tried to incorporate some of those teachings into our studies.  It was really enjoyable.  For as long as I can remember I have wanted copies of the old GAK pictures that have the summary on the back.  Last year Mark's sister Cathryn kindly passed her set on to me so we took out a corresponding picture for each day of Holy Week and talked about them on that day then displayed them all week. It was wonderful.  For my own personal study I read a lot from these sources which was very helpful in helping me focus and learn some new ideas and background. 

Eric Huntsman I especially like that he included different religious songs that I haven't been exposed to much. 

Mercy River They had lots of ideas for kids.

Church of Jesus Christ.org I was pretty impressed with all the resources on the church's website. 

We got an unexpected visit from a friend both Mark and I had at BYU Idaho.  She and her family live in upstate NY and were in Virginia for their Spring break. I saw some pictures she has posted on Instagram at a site just over an hour from us.  I commented on that picture and then she asked us what ward we attended because they decided they were going to stay the night in Charlottesville.  We offered our basement to them but they opted for a hotel.  I gave a few suggestion about our favorite things and then moved on.  The next morning shortly after we sat down in church someone came up begin me and it was her.  It was great to catch up with them. We ended up walking the Monticello Trail with them which Mark always wants to do but it never works out so he was thrilled.  Then we had them over for dinner at our house.  They are easy nice people to visit with.  Jared and Lydia got along really well with their 4 girls who are 11, 10, 8, and 6.  They both want to go see them in NY.  We met Karen in various history classes and all 4 of us love to travel and really try to travel with our kids so it was fun to share ideas with them. It was a great visit. 

Jared was so outnumbered, but he did great. Lydia was right in between their 2 youngest for ages and loved playing with them.  In fact we covered all ages from 11-6 between our kids.  

We enjoyed our traditional Easter treats and food, dyeing eggs and even a few art projects. It was a great Easter season. 

 

Bunny buns. I love this recipe so much.  An absolute favorite.  Karen saw them on the counter and mentioned that they always make them too. 

And these Cadbury Egg cookies. I forget how good they are until I make them for Easter.