Our Second Easter in the Far East

Last year, I had Easter candy that I got in the States in March and I had to get creative about Easter baskets and such. This year, I tried to keep it simple, and the treats to a minimum. One of my friends posted an Easter Egg Hunt idea where you have the letters of your children's names on eggs and they go and find them and spell their names. So, I made a poster for each of my kids.

I did all of those dots with white paint while I listened to the General Women's Meeting for church. Yes, it was a lot of dots and I am a little crazy, but it was fun!

My friend gave me some sugar cookie dough she didn't want to use (she was sugar-cookies out after doing this activity with her 2-year-old. So, I decided to make come cookies and try my hand at royal icing. Matt didn't like them originally, but I read online that sometimes they actually taste better once the icing has completely dried. Scott ate them and Bobby only ate the icing and Matt did come around and end up liking them. Mostly, it was fun for me to decorate and be creative.

Saturday morning, we hid the eggs and I had attached candy on the back of some of them letters and a balloon to each of the first letters of their names (M is just out of sight of this picture). The kids had fun (mostly) doing the hunt. Bobby laughed, jumped up and down, cried, and fell on the floor screaming all in the course of 10 minutes. It was an Easter miracle that he found the last egg so we could end on a high note.

We took pictures before church this morning and did our best, but getting three people this young to smile simultaneously is quite a feat, especially since it was naptime for Marie.

I love this one of the boys, but Marie was mid-thought apparently...

And I love this one of Marie and Scott, but Bobby is making sure Marie is doing her part...

We finally have both boys looking and now Marie is chewing on her hands.

So we went for a silly one. Yay for a Marie smile!

Here's one for the mantle (if we had one).

I feel like I made myself very busy this year trying to get something special done for the kids so they know that the holiday is important. We read about the last week of the Savior's life before bed each night and we tried to think about Jesus and how much He loves us that he would suffer and die for us. And we rejoice that He was resurrected and because of Him, we, too, will be resurrected. It is fun to hear the boys talk about Jesus "getting his body back!" I'm not sure how much they internalize from these lessons, but I hope, at least, that each year our gratitude for the supernal act of the atonement will continually increase. I know the Savior thought about me (and every other person who ever lived) as he knelt in the garden of Gethsemane. I know He knows me and knows my joys and my struggles and my shortcomings. I know I can go to Him when life is hard and that I can thank Him for all that's good in my life. Happy Easter!