Saturday, April 4th

Easter Sunday, April 5th

I made Mark his own binder this year, and he loved it! I printed him the same junior primary packet that I did for the other boys. I also had my own so I could make improvements to it, and I had a lot to make! (It was my first time through this new version.)

This was a wonderful Easter, and thankfully, for my energy level, it was relatively low-key.

Happy Easter and General Conference!

After the morning session, the kids dyed Easter eggs, and then went outside to enjoy the awesome weather.

Our neighbor friends joined in on the fun.

Our neighbor was so amazing. She brought up the idea earlier in the week, and suggested that we do one together since she was expecting some grandchildren to come. For the past 19 years, a local ran the egg hunt, but due to health problems, wouldn’t be able to. As it turned out, Debbie’s grandchildren couldn’t make it, but she sent word around, and kids just kept coming out of the woodwork! Before we knew it, our ghost town turned into a hopping social!

We headed to Springdell as soon as the afternoon session ended for a Springdell Easter egg hunt - our first!

Jon took the boys to the burn pile to unload a friend’s excess wood, while Natalie & Amy hid eggs around the dell (super easy and obvious eggs in the field by our house, and more challenging eggs in the big dell field).

Jon helped when he came, and others did, too. You’re supposed to bring 12 loaded eggs per child, but people brought more, even if they didn’t have a child hunting.

The boys loved it! Adam helped hide eggs as he felt too old to hunt. There were so many eggs!

This thorn went all the way through Mark’s shoe! Jon was shocked when he pulled it out.

Andrew gobbled up the challenging and creatively hidden eggs!

Then Jenny brought out her bunnies to romp and graze. I mean, how can it get much cooler than getting to play with real bunnies?!

When the socializing died down and Jon left for the priesthood session, the kids and I caught up on our big Easter lesson (Friday has a ton of eggs to open with symbols inside). I love how much they remember, and it’s fun to teach the little guys, who don’t know all the stories yet.

Baskets were pretty simple this year. I have totally bagged the plastic grass, and nobody misses it! The kids always get new toothbrushes, Cheetos carrots, and a little bit of candy. They each got a pack of mandarin oranges, and Mark got raisins, which he loves. Mark and Tyler each got a mini missionary tag, which they saw at the store and wanted.

The girls love those “Pocket Posh” books, and loved their mini Christus statues (which were also a reward for memorizing The Living Christ). I added to Amy’s Book of Mormon figure collection, and Natalie got seminary Scripture Stickers, and her favorite: an art portfolio. I gave Amy a Beehive necklace and bracelet, and her four-years-overdue trophy for her Associate of LDS Theology degree.

Mark didn’t waste any time digging into his treats!

The kids were gifted a Lego Salt Lake Temple, which I let Adam put together during General Conference. (That’s not normally my style, but he loved it, so I think it was good.)

I made a new conference packet that is even more kid-friendly and low maintenance for me (since it has no stickers to cut and distribute).

Mark’s favorite part of the Conference Center Board is our couch area on the back where he can find himself as a baby, and all of us.

He had fun coloring in his conference binder.

The kids can choose to stand and sing the congregational hymns or do laps. They always choose laps!

We went on a short “Easter Walk” with the kids to find objects about theEaster story. The boys ended up briskly walking around the block, then returning home to play.

Amy stuck with Mark and found the items. They were so cute!

Jon and I continued around the perimeter of our ward boundaries, and stopped to talk with Brother LaPray who saw me sitting on Jon’s shoulders to take a picture of our neighbor’s awesome back yard (ha ha!) after which we discussed landscaping, and then with the Garrys who were walking the other direction. The weather was so nice!

The afternoon session of Conference was also awesome.

The girls learned how to make rolls, mashed potatoes and ham for our Easter dinner. They did a marvelous job and had fun in the process!

After dinner, we played an awesome new EASTER REVIEW game. I pulled out the four buzzers I was given for a birthday present a few years ago. Tyler was sick, so each of the 4 oldest got one. Mark sat on my lap and chose an Easter object out of our treasure box (from our Easter egg lessons all week) and put it on the pedestal.

The first person to hit their buzzer got to tell us what the object represented. Once they answered correctly, they were “out” until everyone got a turn. Jon became the judge, and had the kids close their eyes. He tricked them a few times by putting random objects on it (like a toothbrush) since they wouldn’t even look at what object was there before hitting their buzzer. If they did, they were disqualified for a round. It turned out super fun and was a quick and exciting way to review our Easter lessons, and especially to let the kids do the teaching.

After a late dinner, we watched “Into the Woods” with Toni and Kathryn from the dell. They brought an enormous bowl of popcorn, which Mark loved passing out to people - especially Toni! He loves her!

We went home that night since it was Easter and General Conference again the next day.