​Since Easter fell over Spring Break this year, I knew that I had to be prepared before leaving for Mexico since I wouldn’t have time when we got back. We got back late Saturday night and woke up Sunday morning to start prepping for our dinner. It was a team effort to get the sweet potatoes, eggs, rolls, ham and chocolate pie all prepped. It was as easy of a spread as we could make it. I wasn’t willing to give up homemade rolls for the frozen Rhodes rolls. Everyone was super grateful for the homemade rolls. After an amazing Easter program at church and a wonderful Easter dinner together, we went out into the backyard for Madeline’s little Easter egg hunt. She is so excited every year to find all the eggs. I’m glad she still likes to do this tradition. This year Emma hid the eggs for Madeline. Although the number of kids in our home is dwindling, each year I am grateful for the ones we still get to spend Easter with. I’m grateful for the gift of the Savior and for the Atonement and Resurrection that we are reminded of during this season. For me, Easter is a reminder of hope and a new start. 

​It was a rare treat to have one of the boys home for Easter this year. Since Andrew was already in town for Abby’s musical, he was able to join us for Easter lunch before flying back to Utah. Madeline was the first one awake, of course, and immediately went searching for her Easter basket full of goodies. Afterwards she kept asking when we could do the Easter egg hunt. The temporal side of Easter morning is definitely geared towards Madeline these days. We did our traditional egg hunt with Madeline and then we all headed to church. The Easter program was amazing, and the spirit was felt by all. We came home, finished prepping for our big Easter lunch, and enjoyed being together before we had to say goodbye to Andrew. Later in the day we got to talk with Peter, which was the cherry on top of our already wonderful day. I love Easter not only for the time to remember our Savior and the resurrection, but also to be grateful for hope and new beginnings. 

​Since Mike was already in route to Hawaii for his reserve duty, we had a very low-key Easter Sunday this year. I did make our traditional Easter dinner, albeit a lot simpler than usual, and we did do our traditional easter egg hunt for Madeline. I still enjoy putting together fun Easter baskets for all the kids, even the older ones. The boys got Easter boxes that I mailed to them this year. The older kids will never fully admit it, but they still love getting fun Easter treats. Our Easter Sunday was quiet and peaceful this year. I guess that is what happens when there are less people in the house. I am always grateful for this time of year and the reminder that our Savior lives and was resurrected for all mankind. It gives me peace to know that someday we will all be resurrected, along with our loved ones, free from all defects and trials that plague our bodies on earth. More than ever, I appreciate how wonderful it is to have a healthy body. 

Madeline was so excited to invite Easton to her church primary easter egg hunt. Those two were so cute together as they waited patiently for the easter egg hunt to begin. Their little eyes had already spotted a golden egg before the hunt even started and were a little dismayed when another little kid stood right on top of it so no one else could get it when the hunt began. Little did they know that there would be plenty of golden eggs in the park. As soon as they let the kids go, Kylee and I immediately found some golden eggs and stood near them so that our kids could happily pick them up. It was all happy smiles from then on. They ran together and found so many plastic eggs, gigging along the way. It was fun to be able to participate in this activity with our good friends. We are so grateful that Easton’s family moved into the neighborhood last year. They have been one of the greatest blessings in our life this past year!  

​This year Madeline was finally old enough to dye Easter eggs and enjoy it. I bought a simple egg dying kit and she had so much fun using all of the colors and then drawing fun designs on the eggs with a white wax crayon. On Easter day, we used our dyed eggs to make deviled eggs. We had our traditional Easter dinner of ham, honey roasted carrots, scalloped potatoes, deviled eggs, and homemade rolls. We hid candy filled eggs in the backyard just for Madeline this year. We also hid 3 golden eggs filled with money for the older kids. Madeline loved having all the easter eggs to herself. She was so ecstatic the entire time she hunted for eggs. Even though the older kids are getting too old to participate in Easter egg hunts, I know they enjoy watching Madeline have so much fun.

​What a spectacular Sunday this Easter was this year. We all got up and got ready for church. No Easter baskets or candy was out in the morning. We focused on our Savior and the love that He has for each of us and the love we have for each other. Mike printed out programs again for church and each one of us got to participate in some way or another. Madeline was especially excited to help lead the music with Abby. Everyone made an effort to look their best. The boys actually did their hair and had church socks on. It was great. The boys took turns blessing and passing the sacrament. I love that we can do the Sacrament at home and that we have awesome boys to do that for us. Mike gave the lesson/talk like he does most Sundays. I love that he prepares each Sunday and takes charge in giving us a spiritual message each Sunday. Today’s message was appropriately on the Resurrection. Even though it was Easter, our meeting was still short, simple, and sweet. That is how we roll these days. After our church service was over, I brought out the Easter baskets. Madeline was super excited to get the Toy Story 4 toys in her basket. She has become obsessed with the characters from Toy Story and kept asking me when she could go to the store to get them. The older kids were all about the candy and chocolate. We tried to go simple this year. The older kids got some fun games in their baskets. Later in the day we did a small Easter egg hunt just for Madeline since it was cold and snowy outside. No golden eggs this year. Madeline was beyond excited even in the cold to go outside and collect all the eggs the Easter bunny left her. Being able to witness her excitement is one of the best things in this world. As she came inside to inspect her eggs, she just wanted to see what was in all of her eggs. She had no problem eating way too much chocolate. While she was enjoying her chocolate, Mike helped me finish preparing Easter dinner. I grabbed a few fun table decorations for this year. The kids were pleasantly surprised with how cute our table looked. Everything about our dinner was amazing. We dined on ham, a new scalloped potato recipe, homemade rolls with homemade raspberry jam, deviled eggs, and most of us passed on the carrots. They were not good at all. We will definitely do our usual honey roasted carrots next year. So much for trying something new.  For dessert, as if the kids didn’t already ingest a ton of chocolate, we ate the most delicious chocolate pie. It was the perfect ending to a pretty great day.

​You never know what the weather will be on Easter Sunday in Colorado. This year we got lucky with blue skies and fairly warm weather for our traditional Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  The kids woke up to fun Easter baskets filled with their favorite Japanese candies, chocolate Cadbury eggs, new journals for the girls, a cute penguin for Madeline, and some gag toys for the boys.  I don’t think you are ever too old to enjoy a basket filled with fun things.  Before church the kids headed to the backyard to collect as many eggs as they could find. The girls were still interested in finding the hard to find eggs while the boys were only interested in finding a golden egg. Each of the kids gets one golden egg to find. Inside is either $5, $10, or $20. Abby found the $20 egg this year and she was beyond excited. Madeline was so happy to find her pastel colored eggs and was pretty protective of them. Easter is such a fun time for kids but also a time to remember our Savior. We are so grateful for the Atonement and the peace that this season brings into our lives.  
 

​It was so nice to have Grandma Anne and Grandpa Franz with us for Easter Sunday.  After everyone was up in the morning we put out the Easter baskets for the kids. Madeline loved her new bunnies and was so excited to eat her strawberry pocky snacks.  The kids were all surprised by the fun things they had in their baskets this year.  Everyone got a fun little toy and a variety of fun candies, including some classic Japanese candy.  This year the boys didn’t participate in the regular Easter egg hunt but instead decided to help Madeline and just hunt for their golden eggs. The girls were in full force trying to find all the hard to find eggs.  Emma got the lucky golden egg with the $20 bill this year. This Easter egg hunt was definitely focused on Madeline and even the girls stopped hunting to watch how cute Madeline was in finding her eggs and putting them in her basket.  There was a moment when Abby found one of the hard to find eggs and Madeline saw her pick it up and put up quite a fuss.  Needless to say we just had to distract her with her pastel plastic eggs instead. When we saw that she was running out of eggs to collect we sneaked some eggs out of her basket and put them back on the grass for her to pick up again.