I think we have yet to truly appreciate just how busy our holidays are going to be now. Before, when we would travel home to Utah for a holiday, we expected it to be busy. I guess what we're realizing is that we still have two families we want to spend time with on those special days, even when we live here! That being said, we had a very full Easter weekend!
We started things off on Saturday morning at Grandma Candy's house. Grandma Candy invited us over to dye Easter Eggs, and to decorate some special eggs for Aunt Rachel's Easter Tree. It was kind of a unique time, in that we were the only ones at Grandma Candy's. Jenny and Matt and their family were traveling for their spring break, and Jessie and Nick had prior obligations. As much as we love spending time with everyone, it was especially nice to have Grandma all to ourselves! While Danny and I got things ready for the egg dying egg-stravaganza, Claire and Sophie enjoyed some time with my Mom.
Then our little Easter artists got right to work. They did an excellent job dying eggs this year, and I can confidently say that 99% of the dye stayed either on the eggs or in the cups!
Now, up to this point, Johnny humored us while we went about dying eggs. He honestly couldn't care less. But just about the time we were done with the eggs, he decided it was time to PLAY at Grandma Candy's! It was a gorgeous day outside, so we got the wiggle cars and kicked the kids out onto the deck. They didn't argue. :)
After they got their wiggles out (literally...on the wiggle cars..get it? :)), it was time for lunch. Grandma Candy made up some quick sandwiches, and we all took a much needed break. We enjoyed visiting while we ate, and then got cleaned up before our next project.
The first Easter after Rachel died, we all wanted to do something for her. Something tangible. We came up with this idea to decorate some branches with decorated eggs. We then went up to Rachel's Place and had a little devotional about the meaning of Easter. I don't know that we intended that to become something of a tradition at the time, but it has become such. Since everyone else was gone this year, our kids were in charge of decorating Rachel's eggs. They worked hard, and their creations were beautiful! With the help of myself and Grandma Candy, we got the eggs hung on the tree.
Sophie really took the job seriously. ;)
We had so much fun spending time with Grandma Candy, and it was the perfect way to begin our Easter weekend. Once the tree was assembled, we headed home to get Johnny down for a nap and run some last minute errands before our next calendared event. Great Grandma Call's Annual Easter Egg Hung and Potluck!
Everyone had a great time just hanging out while we waited for everyone to arrive. Claire and Sophie followed Makayla around like little puppies, and Johnny found himself an awesome ball and was quite content to play with it.
Speaking of Johnny, our little guy just hasn't been the same since we brought him home from that ill-fated Conference weekend trip to the cabin. I don't know if he's still fighting a virus, teething, or just turning two a little early, but my sweet baby boy has turned into something of a punk! He has taken to throwing the most incredible fits, complete with throwing his head on the ground while he screams and writhes. It's quite the sight. Well, like I said, Johnny was completely content to play with that ball. He was not fond of the idea of getting ready to go hunt for eggs. Unfortunately for him, his ball-playing area was about to be swarmed with kids holding baskets, so I moved him around the back of the house to get his basket and get ready to go out with the rest of the kids. Unfortunately for me and anyone within earshot, he didn't agree with that plan!
It didn't help when I grabbed his basket for him, took him onto the grass, and showed him how to put the egg in his basket.
It did help, however, when he discovered there was candy inside each of those stupid plastic eggs. Seriously, child! Trust your Mama and just put the eggs in the basket like the other kids!
The girls didn't have a problem getting into the hunt whatsoever. They loved every minute of it.
Claire especially loved her time with Makalya. She's so lucky to have so many cousins, and second cousins, as friends. These two were basically inseparable for the entire evening. We really need to get them together to play more often.
And Sophie? Well, our Sophie-kins was just fine to hunt on her own. And just like last year, she stopped to open and eat each and every egg upon finding it. That girl is all about instant gratification.
Once the hunting was over, the kids took a break to look at their loot. The kids that hadn't already eaten their candy, anyway. :) What cute cousins!
Then it was time to munch and mingle. There was a ton of delicious food, and excellent company.
We enjoyed it more than the kitty that Johnny found to terrorize. At least he wasn't screaming. :)
Danny and David manned the fire pit and roasted hot dogs for pregnant wives and children alike. We all ate our fill and visited until the mosquitoes began to eat their fill. We love getting together as family, and I know Danny appreciates being able to get together with his cousins and their families.
We got our kiddies home and put them through a bath and put their cute little bums to bed. We had early church in the morning, and extremely cute outfits to wear!
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