Easter Celebrations

Our Easter was amazing. We held most of the festivities on Saturday. Friday evening we did get to go swimming, though. Hallie had been excited for days when we told her that Grandma and Poppy were coming and asked if we could go swimming in their pool (they always stay at the same hotel and stay there so often apparently the pool has become theirs). I came home on Thursday from work and Hallie was walking around the house naked (except for shoes) and carrying her swimming suit because she was really itchin' to go. Swimming is one of her favorite activities.

Anyway, we did get to go swimming. Hallie was a maniac. She jumped right off the edge of the pool over and over and didn't care if anyone was there to catch her. Good thing she wears arm floaties. She also has learned to swim on her own. No guidance needed. So fun. Little Jacer had his first swimming experience as well, which was very fun. We thought he would hate it since he does not like to be cold, but he really enjoyed it! He didn't cry once. Apparently we have fish for kids.



We decided to do our Easter baskets on Saturday morning instead of Sunday so that we could focus on the spiritual aspect of Easter on the Sabbath. We had quite the lineup on the fireplace with Jen and Steve's stuff, too.



After the fun of baskets, we had breakfast and then started running a lot of errands to prepare for the afternoon and for Sunday's activities. We just had to catch this picture though, as Sadie wanted Hallie to feed her her sippy cup and Hallie was more than happy to comply. Its funny that Hallie thinks she is so much older than Sadie and treats her like a baby. She just enjoys bossing someone around, I guess.
The girls got bubbles from Aunt Jen and had a good time playing with them outside while Devin and I were gone. Sadie also liked helping to feed Jace. That afternoon, everyone started arriving. Boy was it fun to cram like 30 people into our tiny house! I love it. Chaos everywhere, people all over, extreme amounts of noise...I just really enjoy family time. We had many things going on at once: cupcake making, egg dying, brownie making, salad making for the next day, stuffing easter eggs, eating, and chatting.

Finally the time came for our amazing hunt. I LOVE this tradition. Growing up, we had an egg hunt at my Grandma's house every year. The boys hid eggs for the girls and vice versa. Her yard is perfect for this type of thing as it has tons of trees, bushes, rocks, etc. We girls thought we were sneaky and would hide huge stockpiles of eggs in really hard spots and then go back to get them after the hunt was over and the boys didn't find them. ha ha! We always got money in our eggs, not candy, which is spectacular. There is nothing better than carrying around a ziplock baggie of $14 in quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies. Anyway, we combined the two methods for the kids this year and did some money and some candy. We did two separate hunts in a park down the street- one for the four 2 year olds and one for the other four kids that are older than 2. So much fun! I love it. The best part is that it was pouring rain.
All the kids- Jack, Carter, Mason, Ryen, Avery, Hallie, and Sadie. Max is unpictured as he was not happy at the time.

That night, we went to dinner at Sizzler. It was fun until Mason threw up and then Hallie threw up. Then, not so fun. Yeah, no family functions are complete without a few throwing up incidents. Too much candy, anyone? Anyway, it was a great day and we had a blast with everyone.

While all the festivities were fun, it is important for me to note that I am grateful for the real reason for Easter- the celebration of the resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for Him and his ultimate sacrifice so that we can live eternally with Him and our Heavenly Father some day.