Easter catch up

 

I've been very crazy busy the last few weeks and I'm finally able to sit down and write a few catch up posts.  We had a late Easter this year.  Sam was on band tour to Disneyland, so we celebrated after he got home.  This year we really tried to focus on Christ all week instead of just on the day of.  I loved some of the things that we did and I look forward to doing it again next year.

We had an Easter dinner with my parents. I loved that.  It was nice and very quiet this year.  Both Sharon and McKay's families have had surgeries this month so it needed to be a quiet month.

Our yearly Easter picture... sans Sam.  

We had an Easter dinner with the Robertson cousins too.  It was just us, the Hansens and Jim and Judy.  It was fun to see everyone and enjoy talking.

Seth, Walter and Ellie.  I'm going to miss when all our kids are too old to just play like this. They're just so cute.

Our Easter Egg hunt as soon as Sam was home.  Since the kids are all older, we hid about 6 eggs per kid in very random and much harder places.  They enjoyed finding them and eating chocolate/building lego flowers for the evening.

New York Day #3

Our next day was dedicated to Palmyra.  It was rainy and wet, but not miserable. We wandered the Sacred Grove and talked about searching for the Holy Ghost.  We talked about Joseph Smith, his family and God and Jesus Christ.  We sang quietly together in the grove and while Ada and Jer stayed longer, the younger kids and I went back to the Alvin Smith home to talk about my own family history. My Grandpa Ellis grew up in that home before it was a history attraction. I brought pictures and we found where some of them were taken.  I loved reading through his book that he wrote and picturing him as a boy 9-18 farming, horses, cattle... He also lived at the Sampson Farm with his Uncle for a little while. The only downside of the day was that there was a bunch of mosquitoes that enjoyed where we stopped to sing and talk. 

I think the song that I liked singing here the most was "Gethsemane".

The last time I came was when I was between these kids' ages.  I came with my family and my Ellis grandparents.  What a great experience that was.  We linked hands and measured some of the trees in the grove by hugging them.  We bore testimonies.  We talked about the anti man standing across the street yelling as we went in. We also talked about the door with writing on it by my grandpa or a sibling in the Alvin home and Grandpa showed me a patch that he put into a tree that was still there 50 years later.  The kids were tired, so I left them on a bench and found the patched tree.  I think I got the right one.  The patch is 30 years taller than it was when I was little, but it's still there.

patched tree

We also went to see the printing press where the first Book of Mormon was printed.  That was so neat.  They've done a great job at explaining it and showing it with equipment and examples.

They had the original painting too.  That was neat to see.

This was at the Hill Cumorah.  I'm not seeing all our pictures.... I'm probably going to be finding some more to add.

Manti Temple openhouse

We had one down with something when Margaret, Amy, Jim and Judy went down to the Manti open house.  Luckily Jer got tickets for last week.  After the last daycare kid left, we jetted off. I was still stinky and wearing pants, but we made it and loved it. We had two kids with allergy and bacterial pink eye. They both had antibacterial drops so the doctor said it was okay to go. 

 

Wilcox Family Easter/birthday party

Look at all these cute people!  We were able to have all but 2 of us there.  It was so fun. I always love hearing my Dad's testimony. It was also Thea's birthday.  I can't believe she's 5.

We got to play with resin and coloring easter eggs.  It was so great.