Easter

We kicked off our Easter celebrations on Thursday evening.  AL gave us a great little lesson on why we celebrate Easter along with an account of Christ's death and resurrection.  After her sweet little account we set to work decorating eggs.  Oh so messy but oh so pretty.  I love the colors of Easter eggs!

Extra pretty in the bowl JA made last year

 On Good Friday morning we rode bikes down to the beach club for the annual Easter event.  They set the kids lose in the tennis courts collecting eggs that were traded in for a bag of treats.

 We then headed into the club house for some yummy treats and drinks and face painting.

 AL's puppy face cracked me up all day long, too cute and real looking!  She loved the glitter that they added to it.

 WR had a great time playing in the sand while he waited for the big kids to get painted.

 Had to snap proof that I was there too as we were grabbing our bikes.

 Another fun community event.  My heart was a bit sad driving back home from the gorgeous mountain views a few days before but honestly you can't really beat living in such a fantastic community that truly makes me grateful over and over again for where we live.

 In the afternoon AL and JA and I headed to the theaters to watch Cinderella with Grandma.  It was so great.  I seriously loved it, so well done! "Have courage and be kind" are words that I want myself and my children to live their lives by too.  Can't wait to buy a copy when it comes out.  JA was cute, he kept trying to decide whether he really wanted to go watch with us.  On the way out the door he told his Dad that if any neighbors came over to play to be sure to tell them he was at the movies and not at Cinderella ;)  He was relieved to see our next door neighbor's boy their with his sister and mom too. 
JA then spent the rest of the evening confirming his manhood playing a pick up game of street hockey with the neighbor boys and their dads in the cul-de-sac.  We were counting the other day and realized there are 32 kids living on our little street, talk about a great place to raise your kids!

Saturday kicked off General Conference weekend for our church.  We got in some good solid listening with AL playing conference Bingo and Nala getting lots of extra pets and snuggles while I got ready for our dinner with T's family late that afternoon.

 The table and island were all set for a delicious Easter ham dinner with a bunch of yummy sides.

 T's sister spoiled us with this amazing black forest cheesecake for dessert!  I love that she is turning into such a willing dessert maker for family dinners :)  JA was loving the entire meal and I said to him that Auntie D really makes delicious desserts to which he replied, "You really make good dinners too Mom!  .....Well, you really make good dinners when all these guys come over anyway" lol.  I'll take the compliment that is in there some where ;)

 There was some great anticipation over the Easter Bunny's arrival Saturday night.  The kids put out their baskets and laid our a few carrots.  AL insisted the dog sleep with her for the night just  in case she had a run in with that bunny. The kids were so excited to bounce out of bed extra early to see what had been left.

Mostly non treat items in their baskets - new dress sandals for AL and hot wheels for the boys, bubbles, sidewalk chalk and glitter markers for the big kids and twistable crayons for WR. 

 Since the dog was tucked away with AL for the night the Easter Bunny was free to lay out an egg hunt for the kids!  WR took a bit to really catch on and lucky for him the big kids saved the low and obvious ones for him (they are just too fast)

 WR couldn't be contained for long, he had to get outside to test out his new bubbles after a few too many treats.

 Eventually he made his way back in to help me with dessert!

 By 10am we all settled into the bonus room for some more conference and Lego building. Pretty much always a disaster state by the end of the 2 hrs ;)

 Late in the afternoon the kids hopped on bikes and we headed over to my parents for an amazing turkey dinner!  Seriously so delicious.  Bring on the stretchy pants after all the food this weekend.

 Perfection.

My mom spoiled the kids with little goodie baskets and the cousins spent the rest of the evening shooting up the house with their little nerf guns.  Love a weekend of good food, family, visiting, faith building and memory making. 

Happy Easter.