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.

Grandma Perkins

On February 14, my dear sweet Grandma Perkins passed away at the age of 96. She was a very quiet, peaceful person who loved everyone, and exuded peace. Her home was a haven for many, and her kindness and prayers knew no judgement. I loved to spend summer days at her home; reading magazines, taking walks, exploring the farm, and playing with cousins. Her kind demeanor inspired many, including me. I will miss you, Grandma.

Disneyland Fun

Here are some reasons Disneyland was SO GREAT!

This is the best picture we have (from a corrupted memory disk) of the precious and coveted Fast Pass, and another reason we LOVE Disneyland and the Year Of A Million Dreams. This got us on most of the major rides in Disneyland and California Adventure without having to wait in the stand-by line, cutting our wait time by tons on a busy and beautiful Friday. It was perfect.

When the Peter Pan ride stops in the middle and all the lights go on and you have to wait for the ride to start operating again, there is nothing more to do than take pictures and constantly reassure the freaked out 3 year old. I thought it was fun.

OK, Great ride for a hot summer day when you want a little refreshment. Not so fun if you're riding orange 26 on a cool winter night. May I suggest ponchos?

It's only fun to be imprisioned at Disneyland, where the jail bars are rubber. So FUN!

"Does everyone tell you that you look just like me?" said Cinderella to a bashfully beaming Amelia.

Only at Disneyland, at Goofy's Kitchen,

will you find such breakfast (brunch) items as hot dogs, pizza, and ice cream.

Yes, they have it all here, even painless dentistry, and a dental school upstairs. I'm sure it had to be more fun than Case Western School of Dental Medicine.

Not every kid can say that they conducted a firefighter band with a chipmunk. What a riot!

By dinnertime Emma had had enough, and slept halfway through our "princess dinner" at Ariel's Grotto. I guess it's a good thing becuase this is the only way we got a picture of Emma with any character. Thank you Disney for thinking this was as sweet as I did.

Disneyland

We just spent the last week at the happiest place on earth. It was so so so so so fun. We all had a blast. My good pictures are on a disk that is not cooperating, and I'm very much hoping that it's not a permanent condition. The thought makes me want to cry. I did take some with our video camera, but the good ones...that remains to be seen.

First thing we did there was a tour of the park called "Discover the Magic." It was so much fun. Jeanne and Dean, two really cute Disneyland employees dressed as explorer guides, came out with a treasure map. They had the kids flying and playing games and pretending to be pirates through the park as we searched for the clues, got front row seats on a couple of rides, and collected puzzle pieces. The grand finale was a personal session with none other than Mickey!! And it just stayed fun, the entire time. We wiped ourselves out, but we had an amazingly wonderful fantastic time. Before we came home on Saturday we spent a couple hours at Huntington Beach. Amelia, looking out the car window, said,"There's sand there!" And then Emma, as we walked towards the ocean exclaimed, "I see the pool!"

I'm elated!!! As I was searching for my video pictures, I found a folder I was not familiar with. IT HAS MY PICTURES!!!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about that!!!

I'm going to go play with my pictures. I'll write more later.

Girls

Girls.

Where do I begin?

• Tea Parties
• Cheerleading
• Dressing up
• Swimsuits

All a part of our everyday routine. And they are only 2 and 3. Emma is such an independent little thing. She changes her clothes as often as I change her diaper...that is unless she HAS to wear undies that day, then we're changing her clothes as often as we change the wet undies. There's not much cooperation with the potty training thing yet. She'll get the hang of it eventually, she's such a smart girl. Her nickname, "stinker bell." Amelia is almost the opposite of independent. Although she is strong willed, she waits for me to do anything with her, and is on my hip all day long. She made our biscuits for dinner last night. Rolled them, cut them, and put them on the baking sheet. A illustrative example...right now, as I try to get these pictures on (a couple days late), the girls, instead of dancing with their Bella Cheerleader, are hanging on my arms and sorting through papers that don't need sorted. I love those girls to pieces.