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.

General Conference Fun

I don't think I'll ever take watching General Conference at home for granted.  I can't rave enough about having our cool little ruko box that allows us to watch BYUtv right from home.  There were lots of preparations done to make this a memorable weekend.  Sunday morning started out with our traditional monkey bread.

  

Folks...this was totally homemade this year -- no Rhodes Dough (I just couldn't get myself to spend the $5 on the dough).  It look a little more time but they were delicious!

Cooper was extra spiritual during conference and built a super cool temple out of legos.  It even had inside furniture!

A friend and I each made sixteen bags full of goodies that we split and then had sixteen different bags of activities and treats for the kids to munch on throughout conference.  We had some pretty good listeners!

A few of my favorite talks were:

"Trial of Your Faith" by Neil Andersen

 "Like the intense fire that transforms iron into steel, as we remain faithful during the fiery trial of our faith, we are spiritually refined and strengthened."

"First Observe, Then Serve" by Linda Burton

 "We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children. He is dependent upon each of us."

General Conference Traditions

Twice a year our family relishes in General Conference weekend.  Birch loves going with the boys to priesthood session Saturday night and then going out for dinner afterwards.  Now that the girls get to come to the General Women's Conference the previous week we have taken on that tradition as well.

In the past I have done lots of activities and treats for Sunday's sessions.  The last two years I have done less of that stuff and gone to having some kind of craft activity that we individually do.  This year's craft is one of my favorites!  We each did watercolored temples using water color pencils, paint brushes, watercolor paper with a sketch of a temple.  They each turned out amazing!

And of course we still dine on delicious food!!  Monkey bread Sunday morning is a must!!!

Mom and Dad's Spring Fling

Birch and I were able to escape the litter (aka. children) for a few days to Utah during Spring Break. We are so super grateful to our friends and family that watched the kids so this trip was possible for us to go on. The kids had a great time playing with their friends and cousins. For the time being we have decided to not allow the kids to go or have sleepovers so spending the night at their friend's house was even extra special.

Our trip to Utah was celebrating several wonderful occasions in my family. My sister Laura is serving her mission in Switzerland (she comes home in two and half months--YEAH!!!). We all really missed her but at the same time we couldn't be prouder of her selfless service at this time. With that said, hurry home Laura--we all can't wait to see you!!!

Each day in Utah was filled to the max. Here are some of my favorite highlights:

Kissing my Lover on the lawn of the Salt Lake Temple.

Hanging out with my nephew Isaac and niece Lucy. Since we don't get to spend much time with Ike and Lulu it took them a few minutes to warm up. As you can see, I won Issac over with these cool ski goggles.
Spending an endless amount of time with my siblings and their fantastic spouses! In the picture above, Caroline (Seth's wife) is filling in for Laura. Our first night in Utah, Birch and I drove to Provo and spent the afternoon and night with Leah, Geoff and their kids. Leah made us the most yummy dinner. Leah and Geoff always make us feel so at home when stay with them.
Partying it up on our own. Each of us also had fun doing something we don't get to do very often--Birch skied all day at Solitude Ski Resort with my brothers and dad; and I shopped all morning at the Park City Outlets with the girls. It is a RARE time that I get to shop for hours without the kids. I'm not really a die-hard shopper but I do LOVE a good deal--and that I found!!! If I had a picture of myself it would have been me smiling, holding several shopping bags of kids clothes.
General Conference at the Conference Center at Temple Square. Saturday morning Birch and I had the treat of caring for our nephew Tommy so Seth and Caroline could go to conference. We loved bonding with him and hanging out with Matt, Jessica, and baby Sofia. Sunday afternoon Birch and I got to go to the Conference Center for the afternoon session of conference. It was a real treat! My Grandma and her husband live right next to the conference center so we were feeling very spoiled the whole weekend. (Note: Birch has an AWESOME ski goggle burn line. We all had fun making fun of his new look.)Celebrating my Grandma's Temple Sealing and first time to the temple!! This is what actually initiated the trip to Utah. My Grandma is an AMAZING, ENERGETIC, LOVING woman!!! She was married to her husband Rudy a little over a year ago and then shortly following their marriage my Grandma was baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rudy was baptized just months prior to my Grandma. The past year has been so fun to watch my Grandma in love--she has always been in-love with life but these additions have made her even happier. Grandma and Rudy hosted a delicious dinner at the Joseph Smith Building celebrating their sealing. It was a night I will not forget!

My brother Luke, what more can I say. He is an "ORIG." He also went through the temple for the first time in preparation for his May departure to Paris, France for his mission. It was fun to feel of his love for life and catch up since we haven't seen each other much in the past couple of years.

Meeting Sofia Grace Sherry. Though Sofia has only been part of our family for six weeks we have all felt so blessed by her spirit being added to our family. Matt and Jessica are such wonderful, loving, and caring parents. What can I say...adoption is a wonderful blessing!!! Sunday night we were able to be apart of a dinner in her honor (and Matt's birthday).

Sister Time. What can I say...sisters are wonderful! Emily didn't even get mad at me when I borrowed this dress from her : ) We've all grown up!

Sharing Pregnancy With My Sister Emily. There is something to treasure about being pregnant with your sister. Maybe it is because we haven't had many births on the Sherry side of the family or maybe it is because it is nice to have someone that truly understands your pregnancy woes and joys. Emily and I are four weeks apart in delivering. While in Utah we were able to have a baby shower for Emily. It is so fun to be apart of this part of her life. After looking at these photos from Leah's photo shoot I am feeling a bit like a short fat round cow with bad posture, while Emily seems to be sportin' the new look with such cuteness. Maybe the competition never goes away between siblings (did I mention that I did measure three inches smaller than Emily around our tummies--at least I won something)

Spending time with Birch. We celebrated every minute of being child free. We made a QUICK trip to IKEA, Birch played basketball with our brother-in-law at BYU, we visited Birch's aunt and grandparents in Centerville, UT, we laid around if we wanted to, we snuggled on the couch with no interruptions, etc...

Gotta love family!