"Hoppy" Easter Moments

Easter delights! Cute children in spiffy Easter outfits!















































We had a splendid Easter day! The kids woke up this morning eager to look for the easter baskets that the bunny had taken off the couch and hidden. C. had prepared a fun "treasure hunt" for them to follow which eventually led to the upstairs coat closet where the easter baskets were not only found, but loaded with goodies. I have to add a side-note...the $1.00 section at Target. We had bubbles to blow out of easter egg shaped bottles, pads of easter stickers, easter egg handle jump ropes, easter egg sidewalk chalk...it was an incredible stash for not much cash! (Hey, that rhymes!) Anyway, after devouring candy, blowing some bubbles, and letting breakfast get soggy, we put on our snazzy new Easter outfits and went to church. I don't mean to be shallow but the boys were wearing darling seersucker blue "suits" and they kept saying the funniest things. J. said he felt like he was a "21 year old man" and M. kept saying he felt like the "president of the United States". On our way to Carrie & Todd's house a little later in the day, J. strapped himself in his car seat and said, "Won't Carrie be surprised to see 3 Carr MEN instead of just boys today?" The suits had a powerful effect on their young psyches!

After a fabulous block of church meetings and an attempt at a nap, we headed for Carrie and Todd's house for more festivities. We had a delicious dinner with ham & lamb, scalloped potatoes & Mo's potato salad (Chris made the potato dishes and they were so, so yummy!), a delicious cole slaw salad, sugar peas, and other very tasty dishes. Papa, Chip & ML with kids, and our family all attended the feast and despite the fact that the kids were giving all the adults heartburn by jumping off furniture, stabbing each other with forks, and running around the room with food, it was wonderful.

After dinner, the men went outside to hide all the easter eggs (because it is obvious from the description above that what our kids needed was a little more sugar!). It was sweet to see Papa hiding eggs out in the yard. I stood and watched him from the window as I remembered watching my own Grandpa Oscarson hiding dozens and dozens of Easter eggs in his yard on 1 Devondale Lane in St. Louis. That tradition of hunting for eggs at Grandpa & Grandma Oscarson's home every spring was now being played out for MY children by their grandfather. I saw the same joy and delight on my father's face as he hid the eggs and then ran around the yard with his grandchildren helping the little ones find the specially hidden eggs. I felt so grateful for the amazing gospel plan and for the grand circle of our lives. Truly what we put out in the world comes back to us in strange, wonderful ways! I love seeing the traditions and memories that have nourished and sustained me being passed on in sweet ways to MY children. I missed my Grandpa & Grandma and the image of them sitting on their porch watching the grandkids and seeing my Grandpa trying to keep a tally of how many eggs had been found and how many were still out there. It was always a treat to find the missing easter eggs later in the year, still hiding in unexpected places all over the yard.









































The kids were not daunted by the black clouds hovering over the mountains or the cold breeze whipping in from over the lake...I'm not sure they even noticed.

After all the loot had been found and accounted for, the kids headed back in to examine the goodies and devour whatever they could before the adults noticed.



















While the children devoured their candy, the adults ate some decadent, multi-layered chocolate cake decorated with jelly beans and purple bunny Peeps with some of Todd's amazing homemade ice-cream...available in a regular or a custard. Both were divine. It was a splendid day.

During sharing time today, our music person talked about different members of her family that had passed away and after telling us a little bit about the person and why she loved them, we sang a primary song that the person had loved or that reminded our choirister of them. Then she talked about the resurrection and how she looked forward with a joyful heart to the reunion she would have with each and every person who was beyond her mortal vision now but deeply buried in her eternal vision and perspective. Today really was a day to celebrate. It was a day to celebrate my family...grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. It was a day to celebrate Alice Rose and her new place in our family. It was a day to celebrate Grandma and Grandpa Oscarson, Aunt Boo, Aunt Ruthy and all the other amazing members of our family who are not with us but are never lost to us. It was a day to celebrate the Savior and the amazing gifts he has given us. I am so grateful for eternal nature of our lives and for the ways we are all connected to each other. It was truly a day to celebrate!