Our Easter Sunday, and a very special video.

I feel like I'm still in Easter mode. Like Christmas I don't want to put away my decorations. The colors of spring are so beautiful. I love pastels, and anything with light in color. Our Easter Sunday was absolutely perfect. I am so grateful for the friends that I have made in Jersey since moving here, and especially for this girl whom I've known for over 20 years. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't have known where to find the good schools, housing, etc. when I first moved here. So Maggie, I thank you once more for your help in that department. 

^^^ old school, traditional deviled eggs! ^^

Dinner was prepared by my husband, and it was delicious! We stuffed ourselves, and went for a walk afterwards. I know I mentioned wanting to keep this day reverent, but we had a few cascarones leftover from the egg hunt the day before, and the girls wanted to pop Maggie, and Maryann one. I ended up getting Maggie as soon as she arrived. She was excited, and shouted out, "cascarones!" Thank goodness I have someone I know (besides my family) what cascarones are, and has fun with them! We had a blast cracking them on each others heads. Maryann thought confetti eggs were different, yet so cool. 

 Lexie secretly walked up to Maggie, and...

Popped one on on her head! I can tell she had so much fun with us. We love her, and I hope that we can spend more occasions like this together. Friends are the best thing to make & keep! 

We have so much to be grateful for. All week long I had been posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram about all the things that make this specific 'holy' day extremely special, and possible. The church put out this powerful video, and if you have two minutes to watch it please do because it is so true. 

As a matter of fact here it is...

Life on this mortal earth is too short to spend alone, to be angry, bitter, or sad. So, so thankful for Resurrection day, and to continue every tradition I have thought of through family members, & ensign magazines on down to my children. This is such a beautiful season of renewal, and second chances, and I want to cherish every beauty that comes from it. 

Because of Him I have I have the opportunity to live with Him again with my entire family, and friends....and you do too. Because of Him death has no sting. There is life after death, and eternal happiness. That is what I strive to live like on this earth now. Because of the gift of the atonement I can use that to better myself, and improve on my imperfections. To live happily, and to share with others that this is what makes me a better human being. I make the choice to be happy in this life, and it's all because of Him...our savior Jesus Christ.

Now...time to prepare for Mother's day which is in two weeks! 

Our Easter Egg Hunt.

One of the reasons I look forward to spring is because of change. A change in season comes with renewing our lives which reminds me of the resurrected Christ. Easter is one of our favorite times of the year, and today we decided to have a simple egg hunt in the outskirts of Jersey. 

We usually have our egg hunts on Sunday after dinner, but decided as a family that from now on we would do it the day before Easter. I really want to keep the sabbath day reverent...especially on Easter sunday. Chelsea and Noah are our two youngest children ones who enjoy easter egg hunts, and the rest of us "older" folk enjoy preparing it & making the day fun for them. Now I don't go out of my way with buying every thing under the sun when it comes to "gifts". Can you believe I only bought two small bags of candy this year, and no toys? I've also been reusing the same plastic eggs for over two years now. I'm pretty proud of myself that I'm not buying cheap toys that'll break within an hour, and loads of candy that'll keep my kids high on sugar till all hours of the night. Go me! 

Like Christmas, Easter gets more simpler. One thing I am most pleased with about my girls is that they know that Easter is not about the bunny, or candy. Although those things are fun to "believe in" and yummy to eat they know the purpose of why we really celebrate this day. Noah is beginning to see the "light" as to the purpose of our Easter egg hunts. We fill up the plastic eggs with candy, spare change, and slips of paper that tell "The Story of Jesus". We have been doing this tradition since the girls were elementary age, and I'm so, so grateful that I continue to do this each year so that we can remember all that He did for us, and never forget His sacrifice.

This year Noah found the empty egg which represents the "empty tomb." It truly makes a difference in our kids lives when we teach them proper principles of the gospel, and about the resurrected Christ.

I'm also a mom that thrives on fun, and love seeing my kids happy. We dig Easter egg hunts, and here are some scenes of how we spent this beautiful Saturday afternoon.

^^^ Another tradition that has been carried down from my family is making cascarones (confetti eggs). The girls made these, and they all had fun "giving each other cascarones." You have to be mexican in order to understand what I just wrote, and if you're a different nationality other that mexican then I'm very impressed!) ^^^

^^^ nailed her! haha!~ Chelsea ^^^

^^^ Lexie tried to be all sneaky trying to give me a cascarone, but I got to her first! haha! A mother knows... ^^^

^^^ Poor Noah...he looked like he was getting tired of us giving him cascarones. It's easy to take advantage of the little ones and give them cascarones because they don't quite get the concept of what they actually are! Especially in this vine when Chelsea popped him one. ^^^

^^^ Noah's look on his face is like, "yeah right...like she can reach it." ^^^

^^^ "I found it!" ^^^

^^^ she was determined ^^^

^^^ as was Noah with a little help from big sister ^^^

^^^ mission accomplished! ^^^

^^^ this is perfection ^^^

^^^ opening up their eggs, and telling the story of Jesus. ^^^

Words can't describe how I was feeling at this moment. I just love my family so much! Seeing the kids happy & playing in the park afterwards. I think Jumping on dad was their way of thanking him for a fun day. I'm just really, really grateful that we all enjoyed this day without any bickering (okay...there was a little between the kids, but it wasn't too bad.) It was so peaceful, and fun at the same time. It's so nice to spend our Saturdays without worrying about laundry, errands, or chores. I'm lucky that throughout the week we can work together as a family to get those things out of the way so that we can all enjoy our weekend, and concentrate preparing for the sabbath. Especially on this day knowing that as we lay ourselves down for bed tonight we know that this beautiful day took place all because of Him.

Have a blessed Easter everyone!