Celebrating Easter

Oh I just love Easter time.  There is something so wonderful about a Springtime celebration focused on the Savior. It is truly amazing to reflect on His life as we watch nature come to life all around us. 

We enjoyed celebrating bits of Easter all week long...

We had an Easter family home evening where the boys taught us about the last days of the Saviors life.  It was tender to hear them recollect the details of the Saviors life, death and Resurrection.

For our preschool time, Mitchell and cousin Emma matched upper and lower case eggs.

Anything is fun to learn if it's packaged in a EGG- especially when there are treats inside!

We wok up on Saturday to birthday presents for me and Easter baskets filled with treasures!

We had an Easter Egg hunt at Grandmas house, and the boys filled their baskets to the brim!

 

 

 

 

 We got dressed up for Easter Sunday and were inspired by the lessons taught.

 

We ended our day dying eggs.  I'll never get tired of watching the Easter eggs turn different colors- MAGIC!

 

 

HAPPY EASTER!

To Know

Lately Mitchell has been worried about strangers.  We talk about it a lot when I'm tucking him in at night.  He asks me things like, 

"How will I know if a person is a stranger?"

"How will I know if strangers are good guys or bad guys? 

"Should I just ask people if they are good strangers or bad strangers?" 

"If someone says they are a bad stranger, should I just spit on them?"  

To simplify life for Mitchell I usually tell him, "If you ever wonder if someone is a good stranger or a bad stranger come and check with me and I'll always help you to know."  

The other night he asked me, "What if Jesus comes and I don't know if he's a stranger or not- what if I don't know he's Jesus?"  I answered the way I always do.... "You can come to me and I'll help you to know."

That simple answer has brought Mitchell a lot of peace.   It has also made me ask "Am I teaching my children in a way that they will recognize the Savior?  Is my example helping them to know Him?"  

I want to live up to the confidence Mitchell has- that he can always come to me and I'll help him to know. 

To my boys:

I want you to know that we have an older brother, Jesus Christ.

I know He lived on the earth.

I know miracles happen through him.

I know He heals

I know He hears our prayers

I know He understands our hearts

I know He had a personal moment for each of us in the garden.

I know he felt the weight of our sins, sorrows, worries and heart ache.

I know He did it willingly with a heart full of love.

I know He suffered and died at the hands of those who hated him.

I know He forgave them.

I know He is risen.  

I know He conquered death.

I know we will never have to say good bye forever.

I know through Him, we can be a forever family.

I know He is anxious to help us repent and be better

I know He is always near.

I know He loves us perfectly. 

I know He wants us to follow him.

I know He will keep loving us even when we make mistakes.

I know He will pick us up when we feel broken.

I know He will bring us peace when we feel worried.

I know He is proud of you.

I know He loves you more than even I can understand...

and that's a lot.

I want you to know I am eternally thankful for Him, and I will strive each day to help you know who He is. 

Happy Easter!

Love, Mom

 

Spring Break- Sledding!

You wouldn't think of sledding as a spring break activity- but it was for us! There is still plenty of snow at my parents cabin, so we spent an afternoon sledding down the hill! It was such a delight to hear the whoops and screams of the boys as they cam barreling down! Dallan and I had some great runs and tried to talk Mitchell into going down. Mitchell insisted he was too afraid, until Ashley and Hyrum came on the scene. My sister and her husband somehow talked him into it then couldn't get him to stop. Mitchell was hilarious as he woo hoo'ed the whole way down and gave us all thumbs up as he passed! The older boys slept at the cabin and loved tunneling in the snow with Alisa even after it got dark! They made some wonderful memories with my parents and can't wait to go back.

Hooray for sledding- yee haw!

Spring Break- Grandmother

One of our favorite treats over spring break was the chance to spend some time with Grandmother. She had a heart procedure just a day or two before our visit but didn't let that hold her back from sharing her heart with all of us! We had a wonderful dinner at Uncle Paul and Aunt Annette's and enjoyed visiting with one another.

Thank you for the wonderful time! We love you grandmother. 

Spring Break- Salt Lake

We all enjoyed a wonderful day in beautiful Salt Lake!  I absolutely love the Salt Lake Temple.  I am filled with gratitude every time I walk the grounds and reflect on the faith of the early saints.

We were able to take my little sister Alisa with us on our day trip.  She is an absolute delight and is a sweet aunt and best friend to my boys.

One of our favorite stops of the day was the church history museum.  I haven't visited the museum for years, and it was the first time we've taken our children. 

They had a special quilt exhibit, and they also had a wonderful exhibit for the children to explore.

We also peeked into the new church history library and learned how they store all of the special collections.  We ate lunch at the Nauvoo Cafe on Temple Square, and finished our afternoon at the Clark Planetarium.  It was a cold and blustery day, but we had a great time being all together!

Spring Break- Mini Golf

We had a fun mini golf adventure with great friends! 

Golfing is always more fun

When you have friends to goof off with!

Mitchell had a golfing style all his own

and Caleb especially enjoyed the attention he received from a very special young lady!

Thanks for the fun!

Spring Break- A Day at the Park

We just finished a week of Spring break!  We stayed close to home, and had a great time having little adventures together!  

Even though we've been living in Spanish fork for 10 months, we hadn't been to the park by the ball fields and Spanish Fork river!  We tried it out early in the week and enjoyed it so much that we ended our week there as well!

 The kids enjoyed exploring the play ground.

  Even though Mitchell is a care free little guy, he also has a really cautious side- hence his phobia of swings and slides... as you can see, he's slowly over coming his fear and even tried "no hands!"

 We loved the walking path along the River!  We saw lots of little critters and even saw an otter on Saturday!

 We walked all the way to the "troll" bridge and Mitchell left a treasure for the troll so he wouldn't be grumpy. 

I just love finding special places to visit close to home! A day at the park was great way to start Spring break!

Venn Diagram

You know your boys have math on the brain when you find a Venn diagram on the table made out of milk circles and cornflakes. 

Bedtime with Mitchell

Bedtime with Mitchell is sprinkled with magic.  Each night we either have a rock bye time or ten kisses and a head rub.

On  rock a bye nights Mitchell chooses a blanket that covers us both us both up, then he melts into my lap and waits for me to start singing.  Right now his favorite songs are You Are My Sunshine and I know that my Savior Loves Me.  Tonight as I was rocking him he looked up at me and said, "Mom, when you sing to me so nicely it makes me feel like I'm by Jesus." 

Most nights I tuck Mitchell right into his bed. On those nights he always asks me to rub his head and give him ten kisses.  He counts each kiss and giggles every time I pass ten and give him a "few extras."  Sometimes we do "longest kiss" in the world.  Then he always says, "Mom... you're beautiful."  And I always respond "And Mitchell... you're wonderful."  Because he is.

ps.  Today at church Mitchell put his hands on my cheeks and said, Mom, you are my sunshine.  

 Melting.My.Heart.

Happy Jam

Look what I saw when I took the lid off my raspberry jam!  

HAPPY JAM!

April Fools!

For April Fools day I made pizza for breakfast!  The boys were surprised to start the day with pizza, cheese bread and root beer.  Then we had a cold cereal breakfast for dinner!

The best tricks of the day:  Josh put salt on Dallan's tooth brush and got him GOOD!  I found fake spiders placed all around the house by little boys trying to catch me by surprise.  Josh also glued a nickle to our side walk to see if he could trick anyone into picking it up.  What little tricksters I have.  I wonder where they got that from?