Easter Weekend...

One picture doesn't do justice for our weekend!  Here is one of my many favorites.  It's of Mark taking the kids out to fly their kites. I love that he is such an active Daddy when it comes to his interactions with the kids.  

Written Mar 28, 2016

Other highlights of the weekend were dying Easter eggs.  This year the three oldest were big enough to really put some effort and thought into how they wanted them to turn out.  When they had dyed all of the boiled eggs, they dyed eggs that Daddy graciously blew hollow once dry.  I think I have been through too much morning sickness or something, but that shows the depths of his love to be willing to blow out four. :p

Although not Easter related directly, Sennika and I were able to attend the General Women's Meeting in SLC in person.  It was a power-filled meeting and it's been joyful to have her at my side the past two meetings.  She kept commenting with awe, "This is the most girls I have ever been with at one time in my entire life." :)

We also do a special Easter devotional on Easter Sunday.  We have plastic eggs filled with Easter songs written on slips of paper.  This year we also watched the movie clip depicting Palm Sunday through the Resurrection.  I love the opportunity it gives us to also bear our testimonies of the reality of Jesus Christ and of God's perfect plan to save and exalt His children because of Christ.  It's fun to do these traditions each year and often it shows clearly how much our children have grown.  This was also a completely different experience from last year because they actually knew most of the songs and sang their little hearts out with us.

We had a wonderful experience in our church services, including Gavin participating with a children's choir (oh he was cute singing at the top of his lungs) and Mark getting to teach the Elder's Quorum about the necessity and strength of women. We came home to throw together the final preparations for our yummy ham dinner.  I think the big kids had at least fourths and kept coming back for more until bed time.  Shipton seemed too full from nursery snacks to fully enjoy it. :)

We are grateful for the opportunities of this weekend to gather our children around us and to teach them and enjoy the excitement and wonder together.  We are grateful for a Savior who has gone below all things and has carried us through the times of darkness and difficulty.  We rejoice to know of God's plan, and especially that it includes the possibility of eternal families!  I will praise His name and praise it again for all He has done for me personally and for my family!  Hallelujah seems inadequate, but that is the closest I can come to shouting the joy of my heart!