General Conference

In addition to Easter it was conference weekend and it was beyond wonderful. We were all looking forward to watching conference this weekend. We had our traditional conference activities, bingo, coloring, snacks, Dylan's reverent tent, and we added this year a more formal debriefing Sunday during dinner.

Braeden & Star each took notes on a few of the talks (star more than braeden :). Watching conference and the talks on the Savior made Easter more meaningful. Sunday morning session was filled with the testimonies from the general authorities on Christ. The Saturday sessions were centered mostly around the family and were so inspiring to listen to (I'd tell you my favorites but I loved them all). Scott & Braeden both said that the Priesthood session was their favorite, as always :). I know we all learned so much from them, just feeling the Spirit so strong strengthens our testimonies and inspires us to do better and try harder. I can't wait to read the talks again next month. I feel so blessed to live in a time when the gospel is so readily available to us. We are able to access the words of the prophet instantly online and are able to read uplifting, inspiring messages every month in the church magazines. It helps us to stay focused on Christ and His gospel principles as we live in a hardened world. After talking as a family we decided we truly are blessed. One of the talks given talked about how a few hundred years ago a man was put to death for translating the Bible into English for all to read. Now, we have several sets of not only the Bible but also the Book of Mormon and other modern day scripture right here on our shelves for us to read anytime we want without fear. This gift we have reminded our family we need not take for granted this gift as we do so often.

I thought I'd get a few pics of what Ean was doing during conference this year. I distracted him for a few minutes by taking some pics of he & I. He thought that was really fun!

Happy Easter

You can't see it very well but these are pictures dipicting  Christ's week leading up to His crucifiction and Resurrection. We normally read scriptures every day, starting with Palm Sunday through Easter, about that last week of Christ's life, what He was doing and what He did for us. We usually have some kind of activity that goes along with that reading of the day. Unfortunately this year we were not able to do that every day. I feel so sad about it! We have been so busy and had several things going on this week that we let get in the way of our plans. We did eventually get through all the days by doubling up on some but we didn't do many activities. We did end on a good note this morning though when we read the account in John about Christ's resurrection. Later the kids found plastic eggs that had parts of the Easter story in each one and we sat in a circle and took turns reading the story. It was nice to focus on Christ today and not just candy. I like our new tradition and the kids agree which is alwasy nice. I have learned this year though that truly important things just don't get done when we fill up our lives with stuff. Now, some of the things we had to do this week were not in our control but we didn't have a set plan in place to still accomplish what we needed to even with distrations. We need to manage our time better and find times (actually schedule and make the time because we will never just "find" it) of the day where there is not any where else we need to be and then plan our scripture time or learning time then.
We had a great day, we felt the Spirit (especially during conference), we enjoyed each other and focused on our Savior. So I guess we didn't mess up too bad, just something to think about next year :).

A Visit From The Easter Bunny

We decided to start a new tradition in our family and wrote to the Easter Bunny asking him to come on Saturday instead of Sunday. This would allow the kids to enjoy their baskets and keep the sacredness of Easter on Sunday. We have thought about doing this for a few years but Braeden actually brought it up this year so we thought we better put it in motion. The kids were excited to find their baskets this morning full of goodies. The Easter Bunny must have had a baseball theme in mind. Each of the kids got either a mitt, ball or both. We have no excuse now so we better start playing ball :)!





Cate, Ean & Dylan also got goggles and Ean has been wearing his all day :)!


Cate & Ean also got bug catchers. Ean came in so proud and said he had caught a bee! What?! He had said he needed his goggles on so he could catch a bee but we weren't too concerned that he actually would. Guess we should have more confidence in him :).

Easter Eggs

Dying eggs never gets old, even Scott and I had to do a few. We were lucky to have Dad home to enjoy in the excitment and get all the colors ready for us.

Ean had so much fun this year, he was actually able to do it on his own. We all enjoyed watching him. He put each of his eggs in every color and they turned out to be a lovely yoke color :)!

The beautiful finished product!