Easter Weekend

So, in very jumbled order, here's our Easter weekend.  I know, I know....it was a long time ago, but I've realized that I'm a lame blogger and take a while to get around to documenting our adventures.  Daphne was super excited about the festivities this year.  We planned a big egg hunt and potluck brunch with some little friends on Sat morning and everyone chipped in, so we had LOTS of eggs to find.  The squirrels even beat us to it! (see picture below).

That evening we dyed eggs with Daphne and needless to say she was a little overzealous in her dying.  She'd thrown several different colors in together in a few of our cups before we could even blink and then began grabbing eggs and not just placing them in, but chucking them full speed into the cups, grabbing them out again and throwing them into other colors.  It was pretty exciting!  :)  She still calls any hard boiled egg an Easter Egg however, which is pretty cute.  She loved it.

On Sunday I was asked to speak in church, which was really wonderful because it allowed me time and preparation for the real reason of the Easter holiday.  I am so grateful for the atoning sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ and his resurrection and all that it means to us.  It has given me such comfort in my life to know that we can be together forever as families.  I shared one of the most tender portions of my mom's journal as part of my talk where she reflected on loosing her own mother.

"I gave Mama’s little skeleton a backrub just before bed one night, and when I knelt for my prayer, the contours of her wasted body seemed to be still under my hands. I was heart broken and searching for comfort. I thanked the Lord for the atonement. I’ve studied it so many times, thought about it occasionally, but don’t remember ever wanting it to be a reality more than I did as I thought about Mama’s precious body wasting away a few feet from me. As I prayed those words of gratitude, I was enveloped in that feeling best described as flames of fire. Delicious warmth filled every part of my being. I felt enveloped and engulfed in flames. They lingered but not long enough for me. I would have liked to have kept feeling with me. They are what I have come to regard as the Comforter.

Later, after the ordeal of Mama’s physical death, the cold questions crept into my mind: What if it’s all a story? What if this death is really all there is? What if all that was my mother has come to a final end? What a leaden, miserable feeling it was. Thankfully, it was brief.

In retrospect, those two strong memories make an easy choice for me. I know which of them to believe. One of them is death, and the other is life. One is cold, and the other is warm. One is false, and the other is true! I believe in the atonement. I believe in resurrection. I believe in eternal life! I thank the Lord! I have been sweetly and personally comforted. May the Lord help me to keep that truth and comfort in my life."

It's been wonderful for me to have these thoughts of my mothers to refer to and think on after loosing her, and what a joy and comfort it is to know that I will see her again!

After church we had a yummy Easter meal with our friends the Brimhalls.  I made my first Chicken Cordon Bleu and it was delicious, although the portions were gigantic!  For dessert we had a Lemon Berry Trifle, which was also super yummy--homemade lemon pound cake, homemade lemon curd mixed with cream and layered with berries.  Yum!  We also had a little devotional where we filled eggs with the symbols of easter and read scriptures to go along with them.  It was really nice.  All in all it was a really lovely easter weekend filled with things both fun and spiritual to help us remember the true reason for the season :)

                                                         Daphne & Mommy showing off their eggs

                                                             Daphne post throw


                                                            Showing off her egg dying outfit

                                                          My trifle after lots of hard work :)

                                                  Daphne and Piper--two cutie girls


                                            Daphne and mommy in matching colors--I made Daphne's dress from the Junebug tutorial here.  I LOVE the pattern and it went together fairly quickly considering it was only my 2nd dress ever.

                                             A squirrel giving the kids clues on where to find the eggs

                                               Attempted kiddo pic post egg hunt

Little bunny Piper :)

My easter tulips--my only Easter request.  I think I may have even liked them better than chocolate.....at the time. :)