The Real Meaning of Easter

I have to admit I'm not a big fan of the Easter Bunny. In fact, I think he wasn't mentioned much in our house until the big night after we colored our easter eggs with cousins. This year the Easter Bunny hid the dozen eggs that they colored, and then gave each of them a church book and way too much candy (which I promptly hid in the cupboard). Sam and Clay were both very excited about the book they got, "Preach the Gospel." Clay's first response was, "We can give family home evening lessons out of this book. Can me and Sam do it tomorrow night?"

Of Course

Sam and Clay wake up Monday morning and Clay says, we're going to do page 51, it's about the Atonement. Sam comes upstairs and he's got notes and paper bookmarks in his book. Time comes for the lesson that night, and Clay says, I really like page 17 too. OK, you can do them both. Sam says, I liked page 54, it was about the premortal existence, and stuff like that. OK, do that too.

Clay starts with the questions. He nods at our answers and tells us we're right, and sometimes adds his own insight. At the end he shows the picture of Joseph Smith reading the Bible and bears his testimony of studying the scriptures, and the truthfulness of the gospel. Nate and I were both in tears. Then Sam started to read about Christ and what His sacrifice means to us in our lives. They made a seamless transition at a specific predetermined point in their books, then Clay finished the discussion. Sam concluded with his testimony that Jesus loves him and the church is true.

I don't know that I could have been more happy with my two little boys, passionately sharing the gospel, and doing it in such a pure and innocent way. It made me feel, for a small moment, that we must be doing something right.

So, if you want to know the real meaning of Easter, I know two young boys who can't wait to be missionaries and share that knowledge with the world.

Easter Eggs and Snowboots

Despite all of the crazy things going on around us lately, we decided to proceed with our now yearly Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch on Saturday. I had kept the girls busy filling easter eggs for weeks before, and I kept hoping that the snow would stop coming down. Day after day, it looked as if the snow would be an inevitable part of our festivities. With all of my hesitation, I did not get any invitations sent, and ended up making phone call invites for the latter part of the week. I'd say we ended up with a great crowd of family and friends. Nate and Derek hid easter eggs all over the side and back yard. It was actually almost better than last year because there were holes from footprints everywhere, and they just dropped the eggs in those holes, among other places. The sun was shining, the kids had a blast, and we had a riot watching.

Love this picture: snowboots, tree, eggs, snow and grass.

Could those be buds on the tree? Didn't think so. But I am wondering when Sam got tall enough to reach that high on the horse trailer without stepping up on the wheels.

Amelia lost interest as Clay tried to get this egg for her. What a good big brother.

Tinkerbell in her rain boots and the ever watchfull Yukon. So CUTE!

As I mentioned before we also had brunch. I would not be my mother's daughter or my grandmother's granddaughter if I did not at least elaborate on the meal. We had croissants and muffins from Costco. As I was putting them out that morning, I started thinking, "How is this any different from Chocolate Cake?" It sure tasted as good. I guess if Goofy can serve hot dogs at his brunch, I can serve chocolate cake disguised as muffins. On with the menu: Fruit salad of pineapple, grapes, strawberries, and kiwi. Ham. Dutch Oven Potatoes. Breakfast Casserole, and French Toast Strata, apple and cherry. Easter Egg Jello things. Orange Juice and Water. I can't forget to mention the chocolate, candy, and more candy that the kids had just discovered in the yard. That was a pretty big part of the meal for most of them. I've loved how there are some of you who post recipes on your blog. So, here's one from this meal that I thought turned out pretty well. No pictures, though.

Stuffed Apple French Toast Strata

The credit for this recipe goes entirely to Nate's Aunt Jan.

6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 C maple syrup
8 oz cream cheese ( I only used half)
1 loaf French bread, cubed
8 eggs
2 1/2 C half & half or milk
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
In a greased 9x13 pan place half of cubed bread. Cut cream cheese into cubes and add to pan. Place remaining cubes of bread over cream cheese. Mix melted butter, eggs, cream, syrup, vanilla, and salt together. Pour over bread. Press bread to absorb the liquid. Refrigerate overnight. Bake at 325 for 35-40 minutes. Pull from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Make syrup:
1/2 C sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter
4 tsp corn starch
1 C apple juice
1 Tbsp lemon juice
In a small sauce pan, stir together all ingredients except the butter. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes, or until thick. Add butter. Pour over hot French Toast.

CHERRY LOVERS: For a variation, (I made this part up), drain a can of tart cherries, keeping the juice. Add the cherries when you add the cream cheese to the bread. When you make the syrup, omit the cinnamon, and substitute the cherry juice for the apple juice. YUMMY!

March Means Wrestling

Where have I been?

Cokeville, Coalville, Randolph, Evanston, and Morgan. Not to mention nightly practices at the highschool. March rolls around and we eat, sleep, and think wrestling. Sam absolutely LOVES every minute of it. (except maybe that match where he wrestled a kid who had placed second in a national competition and lost 2-22.) Otherwise he is strong and very smart about wrestling. He remembers techniques and carries them out, and he shows no mercy. As a result, he ended the season with three first places, one second place, one third place, and one fourth. This year he was wrestling other third graders, but often had to wrestle fourth graders as well. Now Clay is very strong too. He likes to look around and see what's going on around him, and sometimes fails to focus on his matches. He also tends to have more compassion for his opponent. The other night he had won his first two matches. But, when he tripped and fell back in his last match, the other kid jumped on top of him and had him on his back. Clay just laid there and got pinned. After the match he told me, "When he tried to pin me the third time, I just let him." As though he were doing a favor for this other kid. He placed fourth twice and second once.

If I can figure out how to post a video, I will. Check Back.