The real meaning of Easter....2018

 We had a wonderful Christ centered Easter week this year.  It seems like every year we get a little busier in the evenings than the past year and so it is harder to keep up with the nightly devotionals. 

As usual, we kicked off Easter week with our fancy Palm Sunday dinner. 

Note the palm leaves on the table.

I taught Alysee how to form the bunny bread this year.  She did a great job!  We made two this year and took the other one to a friend that is going through a tough time.

We dined on twice baked potatoes, bbq spareribs, homemade bunny bread, and a green salad.

Chloe made these cute carrot cake truffles for dessert.

This year for our nightly devotionals we did the resurrection eggs.  I've always wanted to make a set for our family but never have.  This year I did it!  It was really simple but provided a short devotional for each night.

I had to get pretty creative with the egg fillers. This is the crown of thorns and whip.

Last sacrament

One night the kids and Birch made resurrection rolls (I had a presidency meeting)

Chloe, Sage, and Mila made cute little bird nests out of rice krispies, chocolate, jelly beans, and marshmallow chicks.

It's hard to keep up with Chloe's crafting and baking desires.  Sadly, I feel like I am getting less fun and energized and she is getting more and more involved in her creations. 

 L.O.A. wall (Love One Another wall) - this is certainly one of our favorite traditions!!!  We write notes of love to our family members throughout the week.

Everyone's VERY favorite activity is going EGGING!!  This year our nights were so full that we ended up doing it Friday night before Birch and I went on a date.  We "egged" three people's homes will candy-filled Easter eggs.  We have several friends that are really hurting right now and so it was fun to think of something little that could brighten their days.

 General Conference!!!

This year General Conference fell on Easter Week.  I made the most delicious monkey bread this year with homemade caramel!

Conference as a family!

Nate and Tyler worked really hard on this OSU puzzle this year for their conference activity.

 Passover Meal - aka What did Jesus eat? aka Yucky Meal

After general conference we were lucky enough to have the Andersens and the missionaries join us for our annual passover meal.  The Andersens call it the "Yucky Meal" because it really did start out as not very tasty but over the years has warped into something much more palatable. 

As usual we dressed in our "Jesus attire."  This year we had marinated and grilled salmon, grilled chicken (cause I was worried the salman wasn't good), naan bread, pistachio,  orzo, olives, green salad, goat cheese and crackers, beef jerky, acai/pomegranate juice, grapes, chocolate covered pomegranates, figs, jicama, and dried apricots.

Truman wasn't digging anything Jesus ate so he had a dairy-free yogurt.

Coop's outfit....it was interesting.  Kind of a mix of pioneer, Laminate, and Jesus-period.

And Easter also happened to land on April Fool's Day...

We stole this idea from my sister, Leah.  We told the kids the eggs were all hidden and to come on our for the Easter egg hunt.  Check out the Elders laughing in the background.

And there were no eggs...

Love this picture that Birch captured of Emily -- all of us adults thought it was hilarious.  The kids...not so much.  Alysee said, "Is this to remind us that Jesus's tomb was empty?"

 The the REAL hunt!!!

We threw in a new fun thing this year - I found confetti filled REAL eggs at Walmart.  When the kids found one of these eggs they were supposed to chase after someone and crack it on their head.  

The kids LOVED it!!!!

But honestly I think Ryan loved it the most.  It was little a devil uncle out their chasing after kids.

Truman was hilarious.  He thought he had to hit each egg he found on his head in order for it to open.  So he would find an egg and smash it super hard on his head until it would open (each time being filled with candy not confetti) 

Uncle Ryan was out to get everyone!  Everyone decided that next year they want way more confetti filled eggs.

Enjoying their loot!

 It was a really wonderful Easter week!  We were missing Elder Ditto but having the missionaries in our home for Easter made me smile to think we were providing a memorable Easter for a set of Elders.  I'm so thankful that even though our lives are running in high speed we take a moment to think about the real reason we celebrate Easter.