Easter

This morning I awoke to Sophia tapping me. 

"Mom! The Easter Bunny came! Oh, and by the way, I already collected all of my eggs!" 

The Easter Bunny was up very late and clearly the party had started with out her! I ran down stairs to rehide the eggs in Sophia's basket while the rest of the kids climbed out of bed and discussed who would be the first to go downstairs, in hopes of getting the first peek at the hidden eggs, and thus a clear advantage in the egg hunt. 

Five baskets were lined on the couch, with a few candies and a book for each child. But the real excitement came with the egg hunt. Unfortunately, outside it was only 25 degrees with the dew point, so the hunt was indoors, but nobody seemed to mind. 

The kids searched and searched, determined to find every last egg that could have been overlooked, even until Steve and I were finished making sour cream waffles with strawberries and cream for breakfast. 

After breakfast, Jonathan and the girls pulled out the Ukrainian egg kit that I had purchased in Concord the day before. We designed, dyed and waxed eggs all morning. 

Our eggs didn't quite look like the pros but we had a great time with the process!

Fortunately the temperature rose just enough that I felt justified in taking the kids to church in their spring Easter outfits.  

Steve and I taught Nursery, Young Women's and Elders Quorum today, which gave us ample opportunity to ponder Christ's sacrifice and the atonement. I used two video clips in my lesson which hopefully gave more meaning to Easter and the significance of this sacred day. 

When we returned home, Emilie and Annelise pulled out the eggs that they had helped Sophia and Ezra color last night. 

While munching on hard boiled eggs, we prepared our Easter dinner, complete with Sophia and Annelise's blueberry muffins that they helped make. We ended the night with an Easter family home evening, again using the video clips from earlier in the day. This year, Easter seemed to be the right mix of egg hunting fun but with a clear focus on Christ's sacrifice and the atonement.