Easter Sunday

Our morning started with my alarm clock waking me up at 6:30. Easter morning is always like a sprint to the finish line... the finish line being getting to church on time. Extra time is needed to get everyone dressed nicely and looking good, for the boys to have time with the surprises in their Easter baskets and for us to get family pictures taken outside before someone stains their clothes with chocolate or my hair goes flat. I am happy to say that we made it out the door this Easter in plenty of time to get to church early and save a whole row of seats for the rest of our family.

It was a beautiful and powerful service, and I felt so cozy for that hour surrounded by family and our littles. I held Ivy during the early worship time before Cody reached over and stole her from me. Baby Ivy was pretty comfortable in Uncle Cody's arms, and there she stayed for the remainder of the service. My eyes went back and forth the whole time from my husband and our goddaughter to my left, to Alice speaking up at the front, and to Jaden and Cassi on my right where Cassi had taken a blank piece of white paper and drawn several different Easter eggs for Jaden to color in while listening to the day's teaching. It was the perfect start to our day.

After church, we road tripped out to Allison for our traditional Easter Sunday spent at Grandpa Don and Grandma Alda's farm. It was extra special this year, as my parents followed us out for their first visit and James's parents joined us for the first time, as well - all the way here from England. Ella road in our van on the way there, and it made the drive go by really fast for the kids as they took turns playing Jaden's Nintendo DS, and Cody and I actually got to talk without much interruption in the front seat with the three kids occupying each other in the back.

We're pretty lucky to have this place to spend Easter at. Since Cody and I were married, I don't think we've spent an Easter anywhere else. With plenty of land for the kids to roam and play and Grandpa Don's awesome collection of bikes and ride-on toys and a golf cart, it's easy to spend an entire afternoon out on the deck watching the kids laugh and run and play. We eat, we talk, we drink, we watch the kids open Easter gifts and hunt for eggs, and we go for walks to visit the camels, elk and buffalo across the road. How many people can say that?!

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

As I said to Cassi, how many grandmas would you find driving golf carts along the side of the highway?!

It was a perfect day... a memorable one for all. We went to bed that night feeling incredibly blessed and exhausted - which is exactly how it should be.