Easter

I really like Easter, not just because of the candy, either - and this year was great with General Conference on the same weekend. Honestly, at first I was a little bummed because we usually have the girls in cute new Easter dresses on Easter sunday and take a cute picture all together. In reality, though, I usually stress out about them looking all cute and it was kind of nice to not have to think about it :) I even listened to Saturday conference and really enjoyed it! On Saturday morning we had our neighborhood Easter celebration. The kids love to run around looking for Easter eggs - we have an easy section for the younger kids (Lauren) and a harder section for the older kids (Brooke and Ashley). The dads go out and hide the eggs while the kids sit inside making their plans for how they are going to maximize their return. Then it's to egg dying, cupcakes and since the kids are getting older, we decided to incorporate a few old school games into the celebration - 3 legged races and the egg on a spoon. The kids loved it!

The girls love that the Easter bunny also brings their baskets and puts string all over the house that they have to follow to find them. Sometimes it is hard to get back to focusing on the real meaning of the holiday with all the candy, etc. but I actually thought General Conference really helped. I think this was the first time the older girls both really sat and not only listened, but paid attention. I'll admit I had dozed off in the afternoon session until Brooke woke me up letting me know that she thought I should wake up because the prophet was going to be speaking. I said something along the lines of, "ok, I'm totally paying attention" and she responded in a totally serious voice, "oh, ok, I just usually pay attention with my eyes open." Touche.