Easter Joy

President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated:  “We laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. …

“And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. …

“With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again.”

 What a special day Easter is in the lives of all of us--to commemorate the day that Jesus was resurrected from the dead.  I am so thankful for this event and for His great Atonement which allowed for all of us to be forgiven of our sins through repentance and by living our lives better each day. 

George and I felt so blessed to have two of our children (Kyle and Amy), their spouses (Kim and Jeff), and six grandchildren, plus a friend of Carter's, join with us on this special Easter Sunday.  George and I were the Sacrament speakers, our choir sang two numbers for which I played and Jeff is a member of, and I, also, had to play the organ for the congregational hymns.  It was a very busy church service, but George and I felt it an honor to be speaking on such an important day in all of our lives.  

 

 Jeff and Amy and their family.

 

 Kyle and Kim

Sisters-in-law:  Amy and Kim

 Mother and daughter:  Kim and Jenna

Lola loves her cousin, Jenna.

After the three-hours at church, we came home and had our Sunday dinner.  Both Amy and Kim helped out a lot, and I think it turned out great!

We were just ready to eat, when Garrett brought in a little lizard that he had caught in our toy room!  That little lizard keeps coming back in the house.  I guess he just wanted to be part of the celebration, too!

After dinner, it was time to hide the Easter eggs which Jeff, Kyle, and George had a lot of fun doing. 

George had a bright idea of just throwing the eggs around--bad idea!  The eggs broke open and candy went everywhere!

The he got everyone lined up to begin the hunt . . .

but stop--everyone had to see a little fuzzy caterpillar first and make sure he was safe before they all went running.

Let the hunt begin!

Egg counting time is the best.

Now for the older kids--they didn't want candy inside.  They wanted money.  So, Kyle had a great idea.  He put a lot of coins inside from all over the world, plus some American dollars and coins.

The idea was brilliant.  After the hunt, the older kids went on line to see how much all of the coins were worth from all over the world that Kyle had collected them from--Australia, some Chinese or Korean, etc.  They actually learned a lot from it.

It was so funny--Brady was just walking around watching the older kids when all of a sudden, he found an egg.  It had an American dollar inside--so, finders keepers.  Carter tried to wrestle him for it, but Brady held on for dear life, and Carter let him keep it.

I know we did things a little backwards, but after the hunt, we actually died Easter eggs.  The kids had great fun doing that, and we decided we would just eat them later.  Garrett, especially, loves hard boiled eggs.

Yes, it was really a beautiful Easter day.  The whole day was so special.  We hope all of you had a wonderful day, too!

Run for Cover Race

Since the day Amy found out she had a melanoma cancer on her back and had to have it removed, I hope all of us have been more aware of using sunscreen and other protection from the sun.  With Jeff and Amy loving to enter races now, this was a great one to be involved with--Run for Cover.  It was to promote using protection in the sun, and they had dermatologists there who were doing inspections on everyone who wanted to see if they had any problems on their skin. 

Jeff and Amy decided to enter Garrett and Isaac in their first race--a one-miler. 

They were really excited about this.

And they were off.

In his first race--Garrett came in third out of all the kids!  Fantastic!

And Isaac came in fifth of all the kids, not that far behind Garrett!  Can you see that proud dad watching him come in!

Family bonding through activities together.

That sun was way too bright!  Now, we all waited for Jeff and Amy's race to begin--the 5K (a little over 3 miles for those who aren't racers like myself).

About five minutes even before the race began, the kids already had their hands over their ears.  That starting gun is so loud!

Jeff and Amy listening to instructions.

And they're off--notice Jeff and Amy setting their timing devices.

Meanwhile, while they were racing, we went over to the lake in the park where they started.  The kids loved looking at all the ducks and birds there.

The kids started hollering, "Here comes our daddy!"

Great run, Jeff!

And now, "Here comes our mommy!"

Jeff and a friend from work congratulating each other.

Jeff and Amy's family, and Jeff's co-worker and his little girl who, also, raced.

All the racers got pizza and cold water, (the beer was definitely passed up).  There was a live band, and everyone was having fun!  Great family exercise together!  Thanks, Jeff and Amy for inviting us!