The kids loved their Easter baskets, and the photo books were by far the biggest hit. I love that they kept looking at them throughout the day (and since) - especially the boys.

Tyler didn’t get one, but he loved everything in his basket, so didn’t miss having a photo book.

I taught half of the lessons on the “right” week, though I had to let a few of our traditions go this year because of feeling tired and being in my recovery mode. While teaching, I also felt like a bit of a zombie (lack of sleep), but hope the kids got something good out of it anyway.

We used many of the church’s new video clips from this site. Such a great resource!

On Easter Sunday, we enjoyed several activities, stretched out during the day because of stake conference and naps for Tyler and me.

The kids acted out the “Triumphal Entry” for Palm Sunday. I put together a new Easter Week coloring book, which the kids enjoyed. I tried having them color both during and after the lesson.

We used our Easter tree decorated with symbol-filled egg ornaments. The kids took turns opening the eggs. Some days have just one egg; Friday has twelve!

I asked the girls to make a “Love One Another” poster where we could post kind notes to each other. The kids thought that was fun - especially with stickers!

After Friday’s lesson, the kids wrapped “Jesus’ body” in a white cloth, put it in the tomb in our “Easter garden,” and covered the tomb with the stone. Saturday, they set a Roman (Playmobil) soldier to watch the tomb.

Sunday morning, they found the tomb open and empty (except for the linen cloth) and flowers all over. I never got around to making a little sign that says, “He is Risen!”

The kids dyed Easter eggs on Saturday. I just put the colors in the cups, and let them go to town. Jon helped Tyler color his three eggs.

Poor Adam was sick that day.

The girls were also super excited about their new clothes.

My mom was nice enough to bake the ham and make the cheesy potatoes. With Amy’s help, I made the rolls and dessert the day before. We tried out using the meal as a time to review some of the Conference talks, (which is why you see some pics of general authorities in the food), though I wasn’t much help since I missed most of Conference. The kids loved the butter lamb!

A few hours later (after naps), the girls hid the boys’ Easter eggs, and Jon hid the girls’ eggs. They each had a dozen to find, and it took them quite a while!

These were our “Testimony Easter Eggs” I prepared a while back. I had the kids each open one egg, (eat the candy), then take turns reading the testimony. It was cute to see how excited they were with each person they got. It took a while to read through all of them, but I think it turned out really nicely.

We normally watch “To This End Was I Born” on Easter, but this year, we watched the new movie “He is Risen.”

(I couldn’t find the baby’s regular socks, so switched his cute “shoe” socks to his hands so he wouldn’t scratch his face.)

Right before the meal, I shuffled across the street in my slippers so my mom could take a picture of our family. I wish I’d taken one of just the kids, but I’m happy we have a new picture as a family of eight!

Even though we didn’t get to do all the things I normally like to do during Easter time, I’m happy with what happened.

Happy Easter!

Before I went to the hospital, we started the “warm fuzzies” jar. For each act of secret service you do for someone else, you add a warm fuzzy to the jar. It died down since I wasn’t able to keep up the reminders.

The “Love One Another” poster and the “warm fuzzies” were part of an effort to get the kids to serve each other and think of others before themselves. I think that’s a valuable part of Easter week because it helps us think and act a little more like Christ.

Each day, we added a picture (or more) to the timeline wall.

Saturday night, Jon brought down the Easter baskets for me. The four oldest kids got photo books, all the kids got a Cheetos carrot, a zipper pull (CTR license plate of their name) for their scriptures, a little candy, and a Jelly Bean Poem about Christ with jelly beans. The girls got new Easter skirts and shirts and a hair thingy. The boys all got new orange ties, new notebooks for sacrament meeting, and bouncy balls. Andrew got a can of mandarine oranges (his favorite). Tyler got his own scripture case and mini Book of Mormon, a coloring book, board book, and spinning light thing. (I like to go light on the candy since it just makes the kids sick.)