I loved Easter this year! It was fun, and spiritual, and uplifting! I was so happy to spend time with my family in Utah on the special holiday, too.
On Easter morning, we woke up to find the goodies that the "Easter Bunny" left. Although the 3 older boys know the truth about the Easter Bunny, they still acknowledge that Kanyon doesn't. The 3 older boys were given new 4-wheeler helmets and different items in their buckets, and Kanyon received a remote control 4-wheeler with extra goodies in his bucket.
Then the boys hid the dyed eggs in the front room that they had made with grandma the previous day. Ammon hid the other boys' eggs and made them find them, then the twins hid Ammon's eggs and had him find his own. Josh and I sat on the couch, watching them hide and search and find, and it was delightful to see them participate in the festivities and have fun without having to do it ourselves!!!
That afternoon, we went to church with my parents. It's always interesting for me to go to church in the ward I grew up in, and see some of the older people I remember from my youth looking even older now, and seeing people my age who now attend with their own families and children. It was the 5th Sunday of the month, so the men and women met together, and I enjoyed sitting next to my husband for the entire 3 hours of church! Most of my siblings joined us for Sacrament meeting, too, which was really nice.
After church, we headed back to my parents' house for the traditional Easter dinner of ham & potatoes au gratin (my favorite meal!), rolls & salads. With the family that came, we filled up the dining room and kitchen counter, and it was a delicious meal with enjoyable company!
Following dinner, we lounged in the living room, and told the story of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection through scriptures and small objects found in numbered eggs that we traditionally use every year.
My mom spoke to us afterwards, and gave us the rules for this year's family egg hunt. My parents go all out for the annual family egg hunt! My mom is in charge of the money and organization and rules, and my dad is in charge of hiding all the eggs.
The kids' egg hunt was first in the front yard. This year, Ammon got to be in the adult egg hunt for the first time, and the twins were so excited at the prospect of being able to find the gold egg--since Ammon has always found it in the kid hunt in the past. The 3 younger boys and cousin Brendan waited at the start line to begin (notice how Micah has his foot over the line--he's always trying to bend rules so that he come out as the winner!).
Plastic eggs were hidden in the grass and the bushes, and each boy was allowed to pick up 10 eggs. Each egg has a monetary value that is discovered once the egg hunt has ended. After the boys picked up their quota, they searched for the big value one: the gold (which is worth $5).
Jonah emerged as the big winner after finding the gold egg. It was hidden in the bushes, and fell out onto the ground as they searched the branches. We could all see it laying on the ground as the three boys were crowded around the bush, but Jonah was the first one to realize it and pick it up!
Next up was the adult egg hunt in the backyard. The adults were all allowed to pick up 10 eggs, too. In the adult hunt, there is also a gold and a silver egg hidden; the gold egg is worth $20, and the silver egg is worth $10. All the other eggs have a lower monetary value that is tallied up after the hunt has ended. We all waited on the start line of the cement sidewalk in the backyard to begin the hunt.
We searched all over the backyard, listening to clues from my dad (i.e. hot, cold) when no one had found the big-ticket eggs after a while.
Josh and Trina came out victorious! Trina found the gold egg (she found it pretty quickly, but didn't tell any of the rest of us!), and Josh found the silver! He was pretty stoked to once again be a winner!
We counted up all our eggs, and realized we were short a few--cousin Liz didn't have her quota of 10. So then the search began to find the last four hidden eggs for her.
We found three of them, and then gave up to go inside and tally up our egg winnings. Each egg is numbered, and the tally sheets show what number equals what monetary value. After everyone had added up their totals, we turn our totaled tally sheets in to receive cash back! Micah got the lowest cash value of all the kids' in their hunt, so my mom offered him an extra $2 if he could go find Liz's missing egg in the backyard. He was very determined to find it--so he immediately went back outside!
After a while, Micah came back in with the egg and received the $2. When I questioned Micah on where he found it, he was very vague and acted like he didn't know. I soon realized it's because he's not the one that found it--Jonah had gone out to help Micah find it, and Jonah had found it. But Jonah knew that Micah wanted the money reward, so Jonah gave it to Micah to turn into Grandma, and then he kept quiet about what he'd done. That melted my heart, and brought tears to my eyes. What a sweet brother!
I love my family, and even though we're all very different from each other, I'm glad to belong to a family who believes in love, and truth, and following the example of Jesus Christ the best they know how. Sometimes when all of siblings get together, it can get loud and crazy, but this Easter wasn't the case. It truly was so great to spend time with them all!
I love this picture of "All the single ladies": my sisters Tawna, Tabbi, Trina, and cousin Liz (who didn't have any sisters growing up--just brothers, so we gladly accept her as a 'sister').
After we left to go home to Salmon that night, my boys talked about what an awesome trip it had been to visit Grandma and Grandpa--they were so happy to spend one-on-one time at their house doing fun activities on Saturday, and have fun family time with the extra family members who came on Sunday. With the lovely weather added to the mix, it was the perfect equation for a happy Easter weekend.
