an Easter to dye for

We hope you had a happy Easter celebrating the death and resurrection of our Savior. I felt particularly lucky to teach primary during this time--planning what I would say to the children throughout the week made me feel so close to the Savior and especially grateful for the Atonement. As a family, we spent the week discussing the last week of Jesus' life and I think we all learned a lot and were able to have the Spirit more strongly in our home.

We also had a lot of fun dying and hunting eggs with Jed in our backyard this year. Last year, we were moving on Easter, so it was nice to be able to have time to really enjoy the holiday with Jed.

Saturday night we dyed eggs. Jed was enthralled with the whole process.

That little wire spoon they give you is so not effective!



Before we got the eggs dyed, Jed tried to eat one of the dye tablets.

He was heartbroken when we made him spit it out. I can't imagine that it tasted very good, but he seemed to enjoy it.

His lips were pink for a very looong time!

Yes, Jed has painted nails. I had decided to give myself a little pedicure Saturday afternoon, and Jed thought it looked like fun. He held so still while I painted his toes and then asked for more, so I painted his fingers too. He was so cute, blowing on his toes and fingers and he sat really still to let them dry. Maybe we will have to paint nails more often :)

After church and naps on Sunday, we had an egg hunt and ate ham, funeral potatoes, rolls and salad. Ahhhh, how I love holidays! Hopefully your Easter was wonderful and filled with rejoicing too.

Egg-cellent Easter

Jed and I belong to a fun playgroup here in town. There are about 7 moms and all our kids who try to get together once a week. We rotate through houses and mostly let our kids create havoc while we eat and talk. Today was our Easter play group. It was a great day--warm, a little windy, but perfect for playing with lots of eggs and eating plenty of candy.

We all brought a bunch of hard-boiled eggs to dye. One of the moms found the Paas egg-dyes that are q-tips with dye in them, and you just draw on the eggs. The kids had a blast, and we moms liked that it was less messy.

Jed loves q-tips (wonder where he got that?) and had a blast drawing on his eggs. He's really not asleep in this picture, I promise!

Jed's finished eggs.

After the egg dyeing we got things set up for the egg hunt. We hid eggs for the older kids and spread eggs on the grass for the little'uns.

Can you feel the excitement?!

Jed liked carrying his basket when it was empty.

Our little'uns hunting eggs. I loved watching them. It took them all a second to catch on, but once they did, the competition was FIERCE!

After he got a couple of eggs in his basket, Jed just left it on the grass and ferried eggs back and forth. It seemed to be a good system until the two little girls found his eggs and put them in their baskets.

Everybody looking for any straggling eggs.

Jed made out like a bandit!

I'm really grateful to have fallen in with such a nice group of women here. There's a good mix of older and younger kids and boys and girls and all the kids get along pretty well. We always have fun, as today definitely proves. Another upside to play group days? Jed always takes an amazing nap once we get home!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! Here are some super pictures of Jed during our Easter photo-shoot. Dave wasn't too thrilled with me when I said I wanted to put the ears on Jed, but I couldn't resist. He looks so cute!

I love his little pot-belly here.

Going for that pink egg.

"Aha! Finally got those weird things off my head!"

"Mmmm, purple egg. Tastes different than I'd imagined, though!"

We got a big stuffed duck from somewhere (I think Tara gave it to me in college) and Jed had a great time with it, mostly because the neck and legs are the right size that he can grab it. So here are some with his new ducky friend.

This video isn't very long but I love how he smiles at the duck. He was talking to it and having a great time--until I turned on the camera. Isn't that always the way it works? Anyway, you can hear a little bit of him jabbering with his pal.


Finally, I couldn't resist putting this picture on. I love how he's looking up--it is so adorable. The perfect reminder of where our minds and hearts need to be on this Easter season.

I love this Easter time of year for so many reasons. I rejoice that my Elder Brother, Jesus Christ died for my sins and that He knows my sorrows, struggles and joys intimately. I love celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior and knowing that I too will live again with Him and those that I love so dearly. I delight in the delicate spring flowers and smells, the fact that the earth is waking again after a long winter sleep. Spring is such a soft, subtle season--one minute it is so warm and fragrant and the next it's raining and moist, but always the earth is slowly shaking off that winter blanket. Yay for Easter and Spring!