Easter

Planning holidays without mom feels heavy.  I want to make them fun and continue family traditions. I offered to host Easter and was excited that everyone here could come. Mel and her family had their own get together since their family is getting so big.  I sure miss having little ones around!

My mom used to make this bunny cake when we were little so I decided I wanted to try one this year.  Hallee and I worked on it on Saturday and we were quite happy with how it turned out.  Saturday was April 4th, which is always a hard day, so it was nice to focus on getting things ready for our Easter dinner the next day. 

Sunday morning Jonah called.  It was great to talk to him and hear about transfers and his new area.  It was hard because all four of the Elders were calling their families so the wifi was spotty and the apartment is small so we could hear everyone's conversations. It was nice to talk to him though.  He said they were making homemade pizza and watching conference that evening. He was saying how good all the food we were having sounded.  He eats well over there, but he misses food from home. 

After we talked to Jonah, Hallee and Wyatt found their Easter baskets. 

Wyatt was happy with his new sandals. 

Caitlyn was excited that she still has an Easter basket. 

I made them all collages of them with grandma.  It's so fun and so hard to go down memory lane by looking at pictures.  I'm so grateful for the time they had with my mom and how intentional she was about spending time with them and making memories. 

Dad came over and watched the second session of conference with us.  It was cute to see Hallee and grandpa both taking notes. 

We were excited to have everyone over for dinner. We had grandpa, aunt Sandy, Lindy, Alexys and the Barth's. 

We had a delicious dinner with so much good food.  

The weather was beautiful so the kids were able to eat on the deck.

Damon is the cutest. 

The adults ate inside

It was fun to have Alexys and Lindy join us. 

I love to see these cousins together. 

I asked dad to give us an Easter thought. 

I love any chance I get to learn from dad and I want my kids to hear from him as much as possible. 

Dad gave a beautiful lesson on the purpose of life and Jesus Christ's role in overcoming the two obstacles, spiritual death and physical death. He talked about how our Savior willingly suffered all of our pains, sickness and everything we will ever go through so that He can comfort us and that He has comforted him in his grief. He talked about looking forward to eternal life where we can live like God does with our families and that all of our joys will be restored.  It was perfect. 

I wanted to do an Easter egg hunt for the kids.  Mom always loved doing that for the grandkids.  

I was so happy to see that the older kids were excited about it too and had fun looking for eggs. 

I worked so hard in the yard on Friday to get it ready for the hunt and it looked really good.  

Grandpa with all the grandkids. 

I can't get over how grown up Wyatt and Rockwell are looking. 

We had a great night.  It was so fun to spend time together and laugh a lot. The kids loved spending time with their cousins. I'm grateful for Easter and the hope that it brings to my life.  I love my Savior and I'm so grateful for his willingness to suffer and die for me.  Losing mom would be unbearable without that knowledge.