Easter in pictures

 

Marc gave me these cool square dishes from Target!

 

Blasted construction everywhere.

We went to Salt Lake to have dinner at Michelle's.

 

Eva hadn't been feeling the best and had had quite a whiny, miserable day. Until she got to sit on Grandma's lap and sing her songs. Then her spirits were miraculously improved.

 

An Easter egg hunt doesn't hurt, either.

 Nicole protested that they were too old for an Easter egg hunt, but Michelle declared that it was on anyway. I love that we have Easter egg hunt photos of these guys together since they were teeny tiny!

We celebrated Nicole's birthday with Italian cream cake. (And I forgot to bring her gift! Duh.)

Easter in pictures

Sunday thoughts on Monday

I taught the combined YW Easter lesson yesterday.

I find it difficult to teach about the Atonement – it is so huge, so vitally important, and I really wanted them to feel the Spirit.

I think the lesson went pretty well, but the best parts were the very beginning and the very end.

Right before I started to teach, the bishop came in to thank the young women and leaders for coming to the service project we had on Saturday morning. While he was there, he shared some thoughts about Easter. He had arisen early to study the accounts of the Savior's suffering in Gethsemane, crucifixion, and resurrection in the four gospels. During his study, he was struck by the women in the Savior's life. He imagined how difficult it must have been for Mary, to witness the abuse that was heaped upon her son, to see him killed. When even Jesus's disciples fled, and Peter denied knowing him, the two Marys and Martha stayed, lending what support they could. And women were the first to see the resurrected Lord.

He encouraged us all to be women who follow the Savior, who are not afraid to know him, to testify of him. I loved his perspective, and he set just the right tone for my lesson. Everyone was listening with rapt attention.

Earlier that morning, I felt inspired to have us sing I Know That My Redeemer Lives at the end of the lesson. I finished 5 minutes early so that we would have time to sing all 4 verses. I love that hymn, and never can sing it without feeling more grateful for the Savior and his offering to us. It was a joyous thing.

So... I don't remember a whole lot about what came in the middle. But at least I know the beginning and the end were good!

Last year, when my grandmother died right before Easter, the celebration was deeper for me. I felt that Easter would never be the same for me again. I had a wonderful, happy day yesterday, thinking of the blessings of the Atonement and the resurrection.

I hope you had a beautiful Easter as well.

Sunday thoughts

I was truly uplifted today by the music in our Sacrament Meeting.

The choir sang a piece about Jesus leaving the music of heaven to sing the song of Calvary. It was beautiful, and it reminded me that his sacrifice was a voluntary one and that it involved leaving a wonderful, peaceful place to come here, where he was quite often ignored, mocked, and tortured.

He suffered more than any mortal could withstand for each of us. He broke the bands of death and hell. It really is amazing.

Our speaker quoted at length from Elder Bruce R. McConkie's stirring last address. I don't know how you could hear or read that talk without feeling strengthened.

I am feeling ready for Easter, and considering how I was feeling this last week, that's a miracle!

Happy Easter!

We had a perfectly lovely Easter weekend:

We dyed eggs on Friday night. I don't think we did it last year, so Eva had no memory of this activity. It was a huge hit. I'm the only one in the family that likes hard-boiled eggs, so we do this just for the fun of coloring (and then I get to eat egg salad sandwiches).

On Saturday, I took Max to get an early morning, desperately-needed haircut, and then he went to a service project of collecting green waste from yards all around the ward. They filled up 3 dumpsters!

Then I discovered the crayon in the laundry incident (so maybe not perfectly lovely). But thanks to Stefanie's search, I found a potion to take crayon out! It called for Oxyclean, Borax, white vinegar, Shout, and dish soap. I didn't have Oxyclean or Borax, so I just used the other three items, soaked them for a few hours, and washed in hot water. I'm happy to report that the stains are 95% gone! I am astonished.

We went to my sister-in-law Michelle's house for lunch and an egg hunt. We hid 79 eggs! We had 5 kids, but still. That's a lot of eggs. Fortunately the rain held off until we were finished.

We got home around 7:00 and had dinner, baths, and bed. Then I started working on Easter dinner and filling baskets.

Marc was still in New Orleans, so we went to church on Easter Sunday without him, which was weird. It was a beautiful service, however -- the choir sang 3 or 4 songs, we had a solo by my favorite singer in the ward (Consider the Lilies), and the final number had violin/viola/cello/flute accompaniment. The speaker was a man who lost two young children to untimely death. He spoke about his faith in the atonement and how much he and his wife are looking forward to seeing their children again. It was very touching.

Our bishop spoke about the power of the atonement to heal our every hurt. He read a scripture (Doctrine & Covenants 76:38, I think) that says that every one (save the sons of perdition) shall be redeemed. That just fills me with hope.

Marc drove up just as we were walking in the door after church.

After church I tried to take some pictures of the kids, but apparently sitting still for a moment for Easter photos is pure torture. Max and Lucas were very accomodating, but Eva refused to cooperate. What happened to wanting me to take her picture every two seconds?!

And we were in such a rush to get ready for 8:30 church, that I forgot to put on her little white sweater shrug! So glad we have photodocumentation of that little mothering slip.

Eva helped me make Triple Caramel Cake. She loves to bake almost as much as I do. Sadly, the cake fell big time when I took it out of the oven, but since it's baked in a bundt pan, it still looked pretty when I flipped it over...

Charlotte and Emily came over for dinner and hanging out. I neglected to take any pictures! But I did get the table before we sat down. It's good to have priorities...

Oh, and get this -- when I unwrapped our "spiral-cut ham", it wasn't spiral cut at all! It had two slices and the rest was whole. What a cruel hoax. We also had crab-stuffed potatoes, asparagus, spinach-strawberry salad, oatmeal rolls, and grape juice. Eva had a complete tired meltdown during dinner, but I'm trying to put that out of my mind (it's a much nicer dinner that way).

I taught Emily the basics of knitting and the boys talked the girls into playing Cities & Knights of Catan. I don't know if they knew what they were getting into, because they didn't leave until after 10:00.

So, to sum up, a beautiful weekend of time with family, good food, and pondering our Savior and his remarkable ability to make us new and whole.

spt -- eggs-tra special

We got an Easter package from my mom! We all get excited when she sends something our way -- it's always something extra-special. The kids loved their eggs filled with coins and candies, and I love my little birds' nest and a new Barefoot Contessa cookbook.

And, of course, Easter was a lovely, quiet day of worship and family time...

...even with a tired, uncooperative little girl.

happy Easter

I had a wonderful Easter. Marc and I returned on Saturday afternoon, and his parents had made an Easter supper for all of us. Michelle and her girls were here, and the kids all had their egg hunt. It felt strange not to have done any of the preparations -- strange and delightful. After everyone left, Marc and I were both painfully tired and we went to bed early.

Yesterday was an unusual Easter Sunday for me. I had been too tired to go to the grocery store, so I didn't have a holiday dinner planned. (Fortunately, we had leftovers from Saturday.) I didn't do any cooking, I didn't even take very many pictures (not for lack of trying, but Eva with no nap for several days was just not cooperating).

I feel like I had more time to ponder than I normally would. Elder Oaks came to our ward yesterday (one of his daughters is our Young Women's president), so that was a special treat. The sacrament meeting talks were about the Resurrection and the plan of salvation -- so appropriate for Easter. An older woman spoke about how much more the Resurrection means to her since her husband died 18 months ago. We even had beautiful music, magically provided by a choir that is less than 2 weeks old, and a touching solo sung by a man in our ward who is in the Tabernacle Choir.

Elder Oaks stayed for the whole block, visiting each auxiliary for a short while. He sat next to me in Gospel Doctrine class, and even though he was only there for about 10 minutes, he made a great comment and just filled the room with his presence. His wife came to our Laurel class.

In the afternoon, I read Jill's post about the young boy in their ward who died the night before Easter. I was saddened for his family, for their whole congregation, and I thought more about the Atonement. Last night in bed, I was reading in the special Easter issue of the Ensign. I imagine the article by President Hinckley was probably the last he wrote. This part stood out to me: "The suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross of Calvary, just a few hundred meters from Gethsemane, included both physical and spiritual 'temptations, . . . pain, . . . hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer,' said King Benjamin, 'except it be unto death' (Mosiah 3:7)."

Of course I've thought many times on the Savior's suffering, and taken comfort in the fact that He experienced all of the trials I face, all of the loneliness, all of the pain -- but for some reason I never before realized that, for all the times I've been fatigued beyond measure, he was more fatigued; for all the pain I have felt, he endured more pain; more temptations, even more hunger and thirst than any man or woman could experience and still live.

And this passage from President Packer's talk: "How the Atonement was wrought we do not know. No mortal watched as evil turned away and hid in shame before the Light of that pure being. All wickedness could not quench that Light. When what was done was done, the ransom had been paid. Both death and hell forsook their claim on all who would repent. Men at last were free. Then every soul who ever lived could choose to touch that Light and be redeemed."

I found these passages to be such beautiful representations of both His humanness and His divine nature. In my prayers last night, I just felt so grateful for so many blessings, for healthy, happy children, for a family with so much love, for great friendships, for the ability to work hard, for the plan of salvation, for the Savior. And even though the flowers aren't blooming here yet, Spring is starting to edge out Fall as my favorite time of year.

a very happy Easter weekend

Our Easter celebration began on Saturday. We went to Salt Lake to Marc's sister Michelle's house for dinner and an egg hunt. I finally got to see her newly-remodeled kitchen! She has waited for so long, and it is all gorgeous.

Full-size side-by-side fridge and freezer. Dreamy!

Nice, long bar, and just a glimpse of the double ovens!

Grandpa helped Eva up the step to get an egg on the porch...

...and she found a pair of strong, safe hands helping her back down.

Yesterday's church meetings were wonderful, and just what I needed. I felt so filled. Afterwards, Jessie's family and Charlotte came over for dinner and another egg hunt, just for the little girls (I re-hid the eggs Eva found the day before!)

Timm, Jessie and Bella -- such a cute little family.

Remember the coordinating Easter clothes? Well, this was the best shot of all the kids together...

Eva did much better when allowed to roam around at will. (Check out those movie star teeth!)

Eva spent most of the Easter clothes photo session lying on the sidewalk checking out the ants.

I had a most wonderful weekend. I love Easter and spring-time -- new life, renewal, gratitude. Click here to see more photos.