Wednesday, April 19, 2017

Easter Celebrations


 We lucked out with great weather Easter weekend which made for a great time.  The boys had the whole week off of school for spring break so this year I was able to spend some time teaching the boys about the Holy Week, starting with Palm Sunday and working our way through Good Friday. 

We all learned a lot, made some memories, and kept the teenager angst in check for the most part.  Each day we read some scriptures or watched a movie specific for each day's lesson.  For family night, the boys got to take turns riding the donkey (Marcus) into Jerusalem while the rest of us waved palm leaves.  It was irreverent but memorable.  Then they got to reenact the cleansing of the temple which involved knocking over a table filled with stuffed animals and money.  Again, it was irreverent but memorable, and luckily nothing was broken.  I'm really sad I don't have pictures of it.  We kept track of the things the Savior did each day of the week by writing them down on bright yellow paper which I hung on the wall for display.  Did you notice we didn't finish out the last two days?  It's like counting down to Christmas then not bothering to celebrate Christmas.  Major fail but at least the three hours spent in church celebrating the resurrection made up for it, right?  


Here is a before picture of the garden area.  Luckily I've been weeding it all week or we would've been up until midnight working on it.

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day which meant a huge yard work day.  I thought we'd do some weeding and mow the lawn in preparation for the big Easter egg hunt we were having the next day.  Randy had bigger plans.  Much bigger.  But now we have a garden which looks beautiful {until it gets devoured by deer and rabbits}, lots of bushes to replace the dead ones, and new trees to replace all the ones that fell this winter. 
 Here is the after picture with the garden complete with fencing.  Be impressed!  When Randy does something, he does it right!  We've got rhubarb, thyme, rosemary, and scallions (courtesy of previous owners), and blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, bushes, and ground cover.

After almost two years of living here, our yard is finally recovering from the neglect of the previous owners.  Good thing too, because we are hosting a wedding reception in the backyard this August.  Right now there are blossoms everywhere and it is beautiful to see.

Easter Sunday was busy and fun.  We enjoyed church then raced home so I could put together the final preparations for dinner.  We had 30 people coming over which sounds like a lot but didn't feel like that, especially since the weather was warm enough for the 21 kids to play outside.  The food was delicious and I was able to use all my nice China/silverware for the adults to use in the dining room so I was happy. 



After dinner, Randy threw the biggest Easter egg hunt known to man.  Eggs were hidden everywhere, chocolate bunnies were peeking from the rocks along the stream, and the highly sought after "Money Egg" was tucked deep into a bush, taking the older kids quite awhile to find it.  When I found out how much money Randy put in the egg, I freaked out.  But Ethan found it so at was least it was my kid who benefited from Randy's generosity!  We really had a great time.  My family thinks only a crazy person would host such an event but I loved it!  Holidays sure are fun when you're surrounded by good friends.  And good dessert.  How could I forget to mention the dessert?!  People went all out.  We had my key lime cheesecake, coconut cream pie, lemon tarts, and a chocolate torte with strawberry puree.  Next year we will skip the dinner and just have a dessert bar. 

 Happy Easter!

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