Happy Easter!

Well, so much for the "we're finally feeling good again." Connor woke up stuffy and coughing, again. Ugh. He hasn't eaten all day, but he was trying mightily to get my turkey at dinner--he also had a huge interest in Dennis' smoothie. Anyway, I digresss. That boy could probably go for a month without eating and be just fine.

Happy Easter! It was weird this year because my family ended up being out of town, and Dennis' family is having a "Spring Celebration" next week. So we colored eggs on our own and had our own Easter egg hunt (see photos below). We didn't have a pinata (a strange tradition my family has had for as long as I can remember), and I forgot to make deviled eggs for Easter dinner. Oh well, guess we'll do all that next week. I'm also a little bitter Dennis didn't get photos of the kids in their Easter outfits--another "to do" for next week.

We have been trying to think of ways to make Easter more "Christ-centered" and less commercialized. We decided to hide an empty egg and then discuss the empty tomb as we wrapped up our hunt. Then, I had an epiphane (spiritual prompting, awesome idea, you name it, I had it). I wrote a letter to each child expressing my love for them and bearing my testimony of the Savior. It was a powerful experience for me to write the letters, and it started Easter off right because I had them each read the letters before finding their baskets and digging into massive amounts of sugar.

I am so grateful for my Savior and for His atonement for me. In the words of a favorite song: "I know God lives; I know He loves me; I know He hears me and He answers when I pray; I know His Son, is my Redeemer, and that He died for me that I might live eternally one day." I am so grateful for my testimony and for parents who raised me in the gospel and built the foundations of a testimony that would serve me throughout my life. I hope I can in turn share that sacred gift with my children. As we celebrate Easter, not His death, but the empty tomb found three days later and the sacred atonement, I hope each of us will take thetime to reflect on the blessings we have been given.