Happy Easter!

As soon as St. Patrick's Day was over, I decorated for Easter. When Jonas came home, he saw the decorations and exclaimed, "Easter! Yes!" I'm glad he gets just as excited as I do for the next holiday. Each holiday is unique with its traditions and activities. Some holidays we do a little bigger than others; I would say Easter is one of those. I love the newness of the Spring season. I enjoy the warmer weather too, but I really love the hope that this holiday brings. Sure...we like to celebrate all the commercialized aspects of Easter, but I like to do those on Saturday then reserve Sunday to commemorate our Savior's sacrifice and contemplate His atonement. This weekend was even more meaningful because we got to listen to the prophet and apostles along with other general church leaders share messages of our Savior during General Conference. Moreover, we were lucky enough to have Laurin, Casey, Carter, Jacob, and Amber join us. It was a weekend of faith, family, fun...and of course, food!

Jonas and I started the Easter fun a few days earlier. Last year, due to COVID, many of Payson's Easter festivities were canceled. However, they decided to do an Easter egg hunt around town. Several businesses decorated 2-foot wooden eggs and hung them around town. The town then created clues to download and the search was on. I saw a few of those eggs last year, but we didn't participate in the hunt. This year, because of how popular it was, the town decided to do it again. This time, Jonas and I participated. It was fun to spend an hour or so on an otherwise normal afternoon searching for fun eggs. We found all but three before Jonas decided that it was time for ice cream. Who could argue with that?!

The rest of our Easter festivities started on Saturday. During the morning session of Conference, Jonas decided it was time to color eggs. While many of the other, more mature, adults chose not to participate, I was having just as much fun as Jonas! Laurin and Carter joined us too. I'm pretty sure Carter had no clue what was going on, but he looked cute in his confusion!

In between sessions, we decided to enjoy the warm weather outside. Jeff and I took a seat in the shade to tend Carter while Laurin, Casey, Danny, and Jonas broke out into an all-out water war! I knew it was only a matter of time. They started with just jumping on the trampoline, then Danny secretly went to fill up some water balloons. The balloons were quickly exhausted and large buckets and the hose were used to entirely soak everyone! Thankfully, we had Carter to keep us safe!

After the second session of Conference, it was finally time for our hunt! I filled several eggs with candy, but everyone was more interested in the "golden eggs". A couple years ago, Jeff started a tradition of putting money in metallic eggs. We only hide a few (this year, we hid four...two more than in the years past) and anyone can find them. One person could find all or someone may find none. This is the first year Jonas clued in on the importance of the golden eggs...and he found one! I think I enjoy watching the older kids hide each other's eggs then try to negotiate clues to find them. With a few acres of area to hide, the eggs aren't easy to find! I realize the older kids are starting to phase out of the egg hunt, but thankfully, the next generation is coming up. After our hunt, we had our traditional burgers and potato salad dinner (This was something I remember having every Easter when I was growing up) then we spent the rest of the evening just hanging out. I think that's my favorite time. I like the conversations we have and the laughs that ensue. I like being able to relax after I have executed all the activities and made all the food for the day. I just like being with my family.

That night, the Easter Bunny snuck in and left some fun Easter gifts/treats for the boys. Jonas was pretty excited to find some rollerblades when he woke up (or was it the candy he was most excited for?!).

Now it was time to focus on the real reason we celebrate Easter. We started by making "resurrection rolls". We did these last year and decided it was a good way to start our Easter worship. We discussed what happens to the marshmallow and what happened on that celebratory Easter morning.

After our yummy breakfast indulgence, we got to watch more Conference. I loved listening to the messages. I loved feeling inspired by their faith. I loved feeling motivated to make changes. I loved feeling validated in my efforts. And, yes, I even loved my crazy family deciding to wrestle half-way through it. It's a lot to ask them to sit still for so many sessions, even Jeff.

In between sessions, I insisted on taking a Easter photo then we decided to enjoy the warm, Spring weather with a walk instead of a water fight. (Amber and Jacob didn't join us until later that afternoon. Amber hadn't been feeling well after her second COVID vaccine shot so I didn't get a chance to take an Easter picture of them. Thankfully, Laurin wanted her family's Easter picture taken so I had a little backup when I insisted on getting one of me and the boys still left at home.)

Finally, the day was coming to a close. We finished the last session of Conference then had our traditional Easter feast: lamb (which isn't everyone's favorite and I may have to swap it out for a normal roast again), a garden (of Gethsemane) salad, funeral potatoes (because he died), rolls (to represent the stone that was rolled away), and angel food cake (because He was resurrected) for dessert. After filling our bellies, Jonas begged us to go outside for a game of wiffle ball. You would think he was the size and capability of all his older siblings. He plays hard and does his best to keep up because he doesn't like feeling left behind. It was a fun way to end our Easter weekend! Even amidst all the chaos still raging in the world right now (due to the pandemic, political division, and more), there was peace here; there was joy here; there was hope here; there was love here! We are not a perfect family. We definitely have moments of conflict, but we keep trying. We keep loving. And we keep coming home.