Happy Easter!!

It's Easter, and it's been a wonderful day!! We had a lot of fun this week doing Easter stuff. We watched Easter movies and on Wednesday the girls and I made Easter cookies. They had a lot of fun with that, as always, but they weren't too happy when I tried to prevent them from eating the cookie dough and the flour as we rolled the dough out. We made hearts, hands, tulips, bunnies and butterflies. I even let them eat a cookie after they had cooled off.

Thursday morning Robbie didn't have to leave until close to 10 (it was finals week, so the only final he had was at 10 am instead of having a class at 8 am). So, Robbie and the girls decorated the Easter cookies with icing that Robbie had made, and Easter sprinkles we got at Walmart. What a fun time they had with their Daddy-they love him so much, and it is so great that he loves doing stuff like this with them as well. Robbie decorated most of them (I decorate a few too!!). Grace decorated three of them-as soon as she finished one, she ate it! Gwen only decorated one cookie, and that's because she decided that she needed to do both sides of the cookie. She did eventually eat it.

Friday afternoon after I had done my usual Friday routine (my Fridays are always my office days-pay my bills, balance the checkbook, file and shred) we made Easter Bunny paintings. I paint the girls feet and fingers and use them to make a bunny. They have a lot of fun with this, especially when they get to paint afterwards.

Saturday when we went out to run our errands we got to see the Easter Bunny at Walmart and our local grocery store. Both girls were pretty freaked out by him, and who can blame them? A 6 foot bunny with huge eyes isn't all that friendly looking. We got packages from both Grandparents, to which we say "Thank You!!" Papa, Nana and Aunt Missy sent them these funny glasses:

Saturday night we did dye eggs, and the girls loved that. They had fun putting the eggs in the dye and watching it turn colors. We even let them put stickers on them afterwards-stickers are always exciting!!

Of course, Georgia slept through most of this:

This morning Robbie tried explaining (the best you can to two kids under 4) about the real reason behind celebrating Easter. Don't know how much actually sunk in, but bless him for trying!! The girls were excited to find where the Easter Bunny had hidden their baskets (well, all Georgia really wanted was to eat, so I don't think she cared too much) and loved the things in them.

Grandma and Grandpa Congdon sent the girls matching dresses (yes, for all three of them) for Easter and we were thrilled at how cute they looked! I tried curling the girls hair again, like we did at Georgia's blessing, but I didn't do it early enough because their hair was still pretty damp when I took some of the curlers out. Still, it came out pretty cute, and we got a lot of good comments about all three of them matching (and I actually had one person in Relief Society ask me if Gwen and Grace were twins-they're fairly new to the ward, and didn't know-I swear we're asked that at least once a week).

I am always so filled with peace and a strong spirit at Easter and Christmas, and each one hits me hard in different ways. Christmas I connect with because after having three kids, I know the miracle of birth, and the birth of our Savior and the way Mary must have felt is something far beyond what I felt with my children, and to just celebrate the birth of the Savior coming into this world is just a marvelous thing. Easter I think might be a bit more special to me. I think about Christ dying on the cross and suffering for me-my sins, my aches, pains, heartache-all that, and for everyone else in the world, and I am awed and so grateful that it brings me to tears. What a special being he is, to be willing to do so much for so many people. The Atonement means so much to me because where would we be if we could not repent? I have such a strong testimony of the Atonement, and of Christs resurrection (spelling?-something I'm not always very good at) and our chance to one day live with our Heavenly Father again and be resurrected as well. Oh, I think about that so much, and wonder what it will be like. The spirit always hits me so strongly when I think of these things and I am so grateful for my Savior and the constant love he and my Heavenly Father have for me. I am so blessed to have seen and heard the things that I have, to have had the experiences that I have, and to have the strong testimony that I do. I know that Christ lives, and that my Heavenly Father lives too. I know that I was created in His image, and that I will one day see Him again, and live with Him again, and that brings so much peace to me. I love them so much and am so grateful for what they have done for me. This is truly a special time of the year, and I hope that one day my children will better understand why it means so much to us all. Have a Happy Easter everyone, and keep that special feeling with you for months to come-how wonderful it is, and how blessed are we!!