Happy Easter!

Spring has arrived! (Although I'm not really sure winter ever really made an appearance.) The earth is waking up. The trees are full of blossoms. Flowers are showing off their pastel colors. Birds are making nests. And we have had an opportunity this week to reflect embracing the beauty of new beginnings made possible because of our Savior Jesus Christ. I have always enjoyed celebrating Easter. I remember egg hunts and decorating. I loved all the candy and Easter dresses. But now, Easter holds different meaning. I always knew it was about Christ's suffering, death, and resurrection, but I think I got lost in the secular celebrations...or at least I didn't really give as much celebration to His miraculous resurrection as I did the Easter Bunny. That has changed now that I'm older. Don't get me wrong - I still love the Easter Bunny and all that comes with it, but I approach this holiday with more reverence and humility. I love that Jeff and I have established new traditions that are more Christ-focused (while still enjoying those secular celebrations I enjoyed as a kid). I love that Easter has become more than just a Sunday worship. Starting on Ash Wednesday, I decided to join with my friends of other Christian faiths in the practice of lent. Lent is a 40-day (not including Sundays) solemn season of reflection, repentance, and sacrifice. It symbolizes Christ's 40 days in the wilderness before his ministry. During this time, it is common to sacrifice something in remembrance of His sacrifice. I sacrificed desserts. This was really tough because I love a good cookie or pastry, but I did it! Each time I was tempted to partake in something decadent, I remembered why I was refraining...and it really wasn't much of a sacrifice when I considered His sacrifice. In addition to the practice of lent, I also decided to walk a mile a day with Jesus. These 40 miles were in honor of the 40 mile Jesus Trail that connects Nazareth to Capernaum (a trail Biblical and archaeological scholars agree was present during Christ's life wherein he most likely traveled). One mile of communion with Christ...sometimes through music, sometimes listening to lectures on Christ, sometimes alone, sometimes with someone. Some miles were wet or snowy. Some miles were windy. Some miles were warm. Most miles were in the early morning hours, but sometimes I had to fit them in during the day or evening. The last mile was as the sun rose. It was muddy because of recent rain. It was steep in some parts and a little slippery. It was a mile that lead to a cross on a hill (read on for more details). While my feet carried me through 40 miles of roads and trail, my heart brought me closer to Him. I was ready to celebrate Holy Week in a deeper, more meaningful way. 

Sunday, March 29th, was Palm Sunday. This year, our Sunday services were only an hour long. It was a program built on sacred music and scripture. It was a great way to start our Holy Week. That evening, as in years passed, we held a family dinner celebration. We had burritos for dinner (because Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, which is burro in Spanish) and palm (brownie) "sundaes" for dessert. We played a Jeopardy style Easter trivia game and Jonas hid egg puzzle pieces around the house for the kids to find. I also gifted each family with a bag of mini Jesus figurines to secretly give to others. Their task was to spread Jesus's love to those who need it this week. Jonas was super excited about this opportunity. He has always been bold in his love for Christ. He isn't afraid to share what he knows with others. 

The rest of the week, Jeff, Jonas, and I tried to do at least one activity a day that would correspond to what happened to Christ during the week leading up to his resurrection. On Monday (March 30th), Christ went to the temple. What he saw there was disheartening to him. He saw commercialism taking advantage of worship. He was so troubled by the scene that he overthrew tables and chased out the moneychangers. Once His house was purified from those that defiled it, He called the people to him and healed them. Today, we had the opportunity to enter a holy house. One that is being prepared for our Savior. The Irons joined us as we attended the Lindon Temple Open House. In previous years, Jonas and I have had to settle with sitting on the temple grounds and enjoying a treat because temples are closed on Mondays...and because Jonas is not quite old enough to enter. So it was a treat to be able to actually walk through a temple today. Even with the crowds of people (and the line we had to wait it), there was still a serenity about the experience. You could feel the deep significance of the sacred worship that happens in the holy temple. You could understand why Christ wanted to keep His house free from external influences that would detract from the covenant connection we receive with Him in the temple. 

Tuesday (March 31st) was a day of teaching for Christ. It was a day where, much like the Passover lambs, he was scrutinized and examined to see if there was any fault in Him. It was a day where His heart ached with what was to come and the lack of understanding of those who followed Him. It was a day where He pleaded with us to be repent, to come unto Him, and to always be ready. To honor this day, Jonas and I decided to have an Easter movie night. During the Christmas season, we have a fun movie night so I thought why not have an Easter movie night. We had to choose a movie that helped point us to Christ or one in which the story illustrated principles that Jesus taught. Jonas chose the animated movie, David. We thought that would be appropriate because David's life pointed us to Christ...and, after all, he was Christ's ancestor too. Like at Christmas, we popped popcorn and grabbed some treats for Jonas to enjoy during the movie.

On Wednesday (April 1st), the gospels are silent as to what Christ did. I imagine the weight of what was to come led Him to quiet moments with those He loved. Nevertheless, we don't exactly know. We do know it was during this day that Judas conspired with the chief priests to sell Jesus to them for 30 pieces of silver. This betrayal seems unfathomable. How could someone so close to Christ do this? I have appreciated the cinematic portrayal of Christ's life in The Chosen. It has provided perspective that I hadn't considered...and compassion that I hadn't offered. While we don't really know, I'm grateful that the betrayal happened. That sounds so weird. Perhaps it didn't need to happen for Christ to be crucified, but it started a process that led to my redemption. Since we don't really know what happened this day, we decided to make it a day of reflection. Jonas continued to pass out his little Jesus figurines then, after school, I took Jonas to an Easter display in Pleasant Grove. We saw historically accurate replicas of an olive crush and press, crucifixion nails, a spear, hyssop and sponge, and so much more. We read the details of these items that played a role in that last week of Christ's mortal life. We reflected on their significance and symbolism then we ended the experience with a sweet treat from the Milkshake Factory. (I also took Carter, Everly, and Ava to this display a week earlier when I was watching them.) On our way home, we saw a double rainbow...a subtle reminder that we believe in a God of promises and deliverance.

Thursday (April 2nd) was Passover. It has been so fun to study the Old Testament account of the Exodus and Passover. We discussed how Christ observed this festival during His life and how all along it pointed to Him. For dinner, I made a quick Passover feast (much like our Bethlehem dinners on Christmas Eve) then you, Dad, and I attended a Passover Seder. Dad and I did this last year and wanted you to experience the cultural and symbolic observance of this event. We recited scripture, sang songs, and participated in the traditions of the seder. You actually seemed to appreciate the event. It was about two and half hours. Towards the end, I could see that Jonas was fading a little, but he liked learning about the symbolism of everything...and of course the snack break in the middle.

Friday (April 3rd) was Good Friday. For the past couple of years, we have hiked to the Escalante Cross on Good Friday. I love this Easter activity. I love that it is a short hike, but it requires some effort. I love that I can ponder on my Savior's sacrifice as I ascend the hill. I love the views of the valley from the top as I contemplate His unfailing love for me. My plan was always to end our Holy Week with this hike. However, awhile ago, Jeff got a wild hair and started looking for an older standard transmission truck or SUV (like the Bronco or Blazer) for Jonas to drive in high school. Now, just as a reminder, he's 10...ok almost 11. His capacity to drive is still 5+ years away, but Jeff found it - a 1990 Ford Bronco with standard transmission. For how old it is, it is in relatively good condition. There are some rust spots and some body work/paint that needs to be fixed, but the engine has been overhauled and replaced/repaired. The vehicle has never been in an accident either and the price was right. The Bronco was in Glenwood Springs, CO and this was the only relatively free weekend that could make the trip and that matched with the seller's availability so we decided to make the trip on the condition that we could hike to the cross on our way out of town. It wasn't, however, in my plans to hike it in 20+ degree weather with fresh snow, but that was what happened. It has been an unusually warm winter, but as luck would have it, it finally decided to dump a spring snow Thursday-Friday of this week. Still, we dressed accordingly and headed to the cross. Because of how prepared we were, the cold wasn't unbearable and the hike was magical. I'm so glad we had this opportunity! Usually, we share this trail with other hikers on Good Friday, but that morning, we had it to ourselves. The snow clung to every little branch on the trees. It was like hiking through a winter wonderland. We hiked it just as the sun illuminated the canyon. This actually might have been my favorite year to hike the cross. I loved the solitude we enjoyed at the top. I loved that we got to read about Christ's journey to the cross and His suffering thereon. I loved that we got to bask in the joy of knowing He broke the bands of death and has prepared a way for us to return home. 

We spent a little time at the top then quickly descended and headed to Glenwood Springs. We headed straight to the designated place to meet the seller. Once Jeff drove the Bronco, he was sold. He was so excited...and Jonas too. I didn't have a strong enough opinion either way. I'm excited for the opportunity Jonas will have to tinker with it and help fix it up. I love the idea of hard work and learning new skills, but I also love the conveniences of modern technology (like back up cameras or lane alerts). Still, I think it will be a fun high school car. After the purchase, we headed to Basalt to visit Jeff's brother's grave. We paid our respects then headed back to Glenwood Springs to walk the downtown, have an early dinner, grab some ice cream (and recreate a crazy picture that Jeff took with the older kids on our very first family vacation), then start to head home. We made it back to Green River that night then finished the last of the drive home the following morning.

We made it home on Saturday (April 4th) before the first session of General Conference started. I kind of like having Easter on General Conference weekend. It kind of culminates our Easter experience with so many messages of Christ. In any case, we still managed to fit in some more Easter fun after the second session. The whole family (plus Kelly and Becky Irons) joined us. We colored eggs, hid candy-filled eggs for the little kids, played some games, and enjoyed our traditional burger dinner. We even managed to celebrate Ava's birthday (a few days early). I can't believe she's one!

Sunday (April 5th) was Easter. It was a much quieter day for us. No one joined us until dinner then everyone but Dallin and Audrey came over. We started the day with our resurrection rolls to round out our Easter celebrations. Next, we were able to enjoy the beautiful messages of our church leaders. That evening, we had our traditional Easter Sunday dinner with "lamb" (which is actually just roast beef), funeral potatoes (because He died), a garden (of Gethsemane) salad, rolls (because the stone was rolled away), and angel food cake for dessert (because He rose again). We kind of combined our Easter celebration dinner with a birthday celebration for Laurin too. I got balloons and we put candles in the cake to celebrate her 30th birthday (which was actually the following day). I really can't believe our oldest daughter is 30! Then, just like that, Easter was over. It was a good week of activities and reflection. As crazy as it is to cram some of these things into our already busy schedules, I'm glad we make the effort. I'm glad we allow ourselves more than a day to consider our Savior. I'm glad that create moments of contemplation. I'm most joyful that He lived, loved, and died for me.