An Egg-celent Easter

We were lucky enough to have Michael, Chalyse, their kids, and Jessica and her kids come to our house for Easter! We had a blast and it was great to see everyone!

Jess and her kids were the first to arrive on Thursday the 5th. Friday the 6th they and James came and had lunch with me at Purple Heart Park near where I work in Rita Ranch. It was such a beautiful day!

Mike and Chalyse came on Friday evening. James took them swimming.

A "beached Elle"

What I got to come home to Friday night :) My friend let me borrow her little kid table and it was such a nice thing to have. They liked sitting at a table their size.

Saturday we decided to go to our new favorite hiking spot at Madera Canyon. It's about a 2 mile hike and every one did awesome. The kids were such troopers and did the whole thing!

I am shocked at the amount of energy little ones have. Was I like that when I was younger too? Sheesh! To have that back again! After coming home we adults were ready to crash! :) Boomer, who'd gone hiking with us, crashed on the drive home. Slept the whole way back!

We started watching some TV but we decided we better take advantage of the pool while the weather was good. So we went swimming again.

That. Water. Was. COLD.

This was the only way I was able to get in!

This one was tuckered out!

We had a scrumptious dinner of pot roast, potatoes, corn & beans, rolls and jello (though the jello didn't get eaten until the next day :)  )

 Later that night we decorated Easter eggs! I let the kids wear my old work shirts so they didn't get dye on themselves. They looked so cute!

Then there was an egg-stra special surprise for the kids! They had a glow-in-the-dark Easter egg hunt! I got this idea off of Pinterest (where else? ::wink::) and it was a success!! The kids loved it! We just took glow sticks (the bracelet kind) and we rolled them up inside the eggs. It looked AWESOME! They also got to hunt for "Bunny Tails" (doughnut holes). That sure was a nice treat :)

This photo has not been enhanced :) This is what my iPhone took! Doesn't that look so cool?!

Before

After

Some one holding their find :)

I think this is Reve?

They then found their Bunny Tails

Ah, the sweet taste of victory

Too much egg-citement :)

 

After the kids went to bed the adults hid the eggs that the kids had dyed for the morning hunt.

There's an egg hidden in this picture. Can you find it?

 What an egg-stravaganza. So much fun. Sadly, everyone had to leave though. They made it home safe which we were grateful for. We were so happy they could come and be with us. It's always good to see family.

President Monson's First Presidency message was great in this month's Ensign. I liked reading different excerpts (egg-cerpts? ::wink::) from different times he's given his testimony. I'm so thankful for the Savior's life, that He gives me the ability to keep trying, that I have the opportunity to live with Him again. For his Atonement that enabled Him and therefore enables us to conquer death. He lives. He is Risen.

“Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.

“The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. …

“My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’”
~President Thomas S. Monson