Easter Fun

Easter 2012  

Here is how we, Lightens, celebrated this special holiday.

1) Traditional Coloring of Easter eggs.

2) A trip to City Creek and choir concert on Temple Square with the Charles ladies.

3) Neighborhood Easter Egg hunt complete with Egg Sugar cookies.  Mmmmm...

4) The Easter Bunny came.  He brought candy-filled baskets and a GIANT Moose...that had money in his nose and which we lovingly named Morris.

5) He also hid eggs in the backyard.  As usual. :)

5) Last, and most important of all...Church.  Have I mentioned that we have the 2:30-5:30 p.m. time slot at church?  So yeah, we had plenty of hang out time. :)  And while we are just hanging out...why not take some more pictures??!!  Something I wanted...not so much the kids. :)  But oh well. :)

I will spare you all the sad faces shots.

After church, we went to Trev's parents house for Easter dinner and more Egg Hunting.  It was a very nice weekend.  CHOCK full of eggs and candy.

But all of this is small compared to the real reason we celebrate this holiday.  On Easter morning, in our family scripture study we read about how the disciples took the Savior's body after His crucifixion and prepared it for burial.  He was honoring his Lord.  It makes me think that is really what Easter is all about.  A special time of the year that we get to reflect on and honor our Savior and His Atonement for all of us.


It also makes me think that we should do this every day, every week (especially on the Sabbath), and every year.  Forever.  Because He opened that door for us...the door to forever.  I have a testimony of my Savior.  He lives, and my heart swells every time I think of Him.

"I'm Sorry" Cookies

This morning I woke up late to snow.  Not what I anticipated, or wanted.  But I shook it off, and then emerged into the already-in-progress morning routine.  Breakfast, beds, jobs, scriptures, shuffling, etc.  Morgan was excited about her upcoming field trip, and was moving along in her work quickly.  She even had time for me to curl her hair...not a frequent occurence.  She is usually my "last minute rusher" trying to squeeze in all her stuff before she has to leave.  But not today...there was NO WAY she was going to be late today.  


Jake on the other hand....well.  


My mood was fine, until it happened.


Jakester had been sort of working, sort of dawdling.  He thought he was almost ready to go, it was 5 minutes before he needed to leave when I informed him that he had missed some places in vacuuming the living room.  He needed to come vacuum them again.  He stated that he had vacuumed them, I informed him that they did not look like they had been covered.  He fell apart.  A few seconds passed and he was laying on the floor, face-down, kicking and screaming.   


Immediately I felt my blood-boiling.  I had been extra lenient with this boy over the week, letting things slide because I was trying to pick my battles.  But this just sent me over the edge.  I had had enough.  He lost his temper, and I lost mine.  It wasn't pretty. :(  


He left for school, carpool waiting and Morgan urging frequently that she needed to leave RIGHT AWAY so she wouldn't be late, my anger still kindled, and tears in his eyes.


After he left, tears came to my eyes as I realized that I had handled that situation badly.  I let my emotions take over and influence my reaction, instead of calming thinking through the situation and handling it accordingly.  I felt bad, and still do as I write this.  I just HATE sending my kids off into the world, and off to their day sad.  I did kiss his tear-stained cheeks and told him I loved him before he left, but still.  I just hate that.


So what does a mom do when she needs to say sorry.  She says it, and also does this...


Bakes "I'm Sorry" Cookies when the perpetrator gets home so that he can see that she really is a nice mom who loves him dearly.

The girls get to reap the spoils.  But this happy boy's face tells me I am forgiven and all is forgotten.


If only I was as good at forgiveness as my children are.  


I sure love this boy...and I am glad he loves his mom...warts and all.

General Conference at our House

One of the signs of Spring I look forward to most is General Conference.  LDS General Conference (for anyone not familiar with this) is a Bi-Annual meeting where the leadership of the LDS church address the members worldwide.  It is held in Salt Lake City and is broadcast everywhere else.  The addresses given are always so uplifting and help me realize ways I can become a better person.  I honestly LOVE Conference.


In our family, we watch the proceedings in the comfort of our living room.  The conference is definitely geared towards adult listeners, but over the years and as our kids have grown a little, we have felt a desire for them to watch, listen to, and feel the Spirit that comes from those inspired leaders.  Also, if they are at least quiet and attentive, Trev and I seem to get more out of it as well. :)  


Over the years we have tried many things, but last conference (in Oct.) we found something that seemed to click with our kids.  Conference Bingo.  They each get a sheet and listen to the talks.  When the speaker says a word on their Bingo card they put a bean on that space.  The kids get treats at the end of the session for getting "Bingo's."  It has been pretty incredible to watch how much more the kids really hear than we thought they did.  The little girls, and Jake when he gets tired of Bingo, simply color the pictures in the Bingo Squares.  


I love this because not only are they being reverent, quiet, and I believe feeling the Spirit; but they are all gathered around us.  Here is the scene:

Conference Bingo has made a big impact on our GC experience.  I believe it is here to stay. :)


We also added in another fun tradition that Morgan heard about at school.  In our family scripture study we have been reading in the Book of Mormon about King Benjamin, and what we refer to as "The First General Conference by King Benjamin."  For this conference, he had a tower built where he could address his kingdom before he was to pass away.  The people gathered in from the entire kingdom to hear the words of their beloved king and prophet.  In order to hear his words, the people traveled great distances and brought tents for their families to stay in throughout the meeting.  The scriptures tell us that they pitched their tents toward the temple (the place in which King Benjamin would deliver his address).  When Morgan was at school, some kid told her his family pitches a tent in their living room facing the TV and their family gets in to listen to the prophet.  She suggested we do the same...ummm OK!!!  Thanks to that family whoever you are for the great idea!  It was not only really fitting for reinforcing the idea taught in the scriptures but our kids genuinely loved being in there, and genuinely listened to the conference...Conference Bingo in hand of course. :)


This may also be here to stay as well. ;)
Seriously, how fun is this???

It honestly only took a few minutes to set up, and the kids loved it.  We also have a little tradition of a yummy breakfast on Sunday morning...it changes but this time it was Chocolate Gravy and Biscuits with bacon, eggs, and fruit.  OH yeah...:)  In between Sunday sessions we made Chocolate Chip cookies...becoming an every Sunday thing. :)


Can you say...traditions forming??? :)


These are moments I hope my kids remember when they are grown.


After the last session (there are 4 of them - 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday) we went to my brother and sister-in-law's house for dinner.  Now before I go any further, I need to bring up the fact that this year, Sunday was April Fool's Day.  Quite possibly one of Trev's favorite holidays. :)  While at my in-law's house we decided to dip REAL, RAW eggs in chocolate, decorate them, and take them as gifts for some unexpecting neighbors. :)  Friends of course, but ones that would think it was really funny.  The chosen couples were the Smarts and Beans.  About 2 hours after Trev so lovingly dropped them off...and fiendishly waited for the hoped for response of laughs and good fun...we got on Facebook and saw our friend posting about how someone dropped off a mean egg that her 2 year old ate and is now throwing up everywhere!!!  I was freaking out!!  I texted her immediately and begged her to tell me it was a joke...it was.  She got us back sooo bad. :)  Guess we will have to do better next year.  We had no idea the trickster we were dealing with. ;)


All in all, both families loved the prank.  They thought it was pretty funny. :)


What a weekend. :)


Before I close this post, I just wanted to bullet point some impressions and talks that spoke to me while listening to Conference.


Sister Esplin (Primary General Presidency)
1. We aren't supposed to just "teach" our children the gospel.  We are supposed to be helping them UNDERSTAND it.
2. Teach children principles during their problems.  Those principles become real when they can see the application in their own lives. (GENIUS!  My words of course. :)


Elder Holland's (apostle) talk - Read, and re-read this talk.  Then apply.  Read this talk and you will know what I mean.  www.lds.org


President Uchtdorf (member of the First Presidency) - 
1.  Stop judging, criticizing, gossiping, etc., about others!  
2.  We all depend on the mercy of God...how can we not extend that same mercy to each other?
3.  We have to have a mighty change of heart.
4.  In the end...it is the merciful that obtain mercy.


I truly received answers to my prayers listening to these inspired words.  I know what I need to do...now I am going to try to do it. That's a promise.  Here goes...

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Jazz, Jimmer, and JAKE!

The other night we had the fortunate experience (again) to go to the Jazz game with our dear friends the Maughans, courtesy of our dear friends the Scanlons. :)  We have been lucky enough to go before (see previous GO JAZZ post) and it was of course, fantastic!  But this time there was someone there that made it even more of a dream come true (if that is even possible)...JIMMER!  


Bio on Jimmer Fredette:  So famous last year that if you don't know who he is you must have been living under a rock. :)  Went to BYU.  Probably the best player we have ever had.  Incredible point guard and 3-point shooter.  He now plays for the Sacramento Kings...wish it was the Jazz. ;)  Just check ESPN.com for further info.  Basically, we LOVE him.  A fact my dear star-struck husband shared with him at a certain moment in the game.  You can do those things when you sit 3rd row and they are right in front of you. :)


But I am getting ahead of myself.  First, the delicious, fancy, dinner.  I decided to pace myself this time with how I ate because I wanted to save room for all the desserts I wanted to devour.  It worked. :)


Here we are just chatting about Moab, California (the trip we will take together in August), and enjoying a great meal. (I would have taken pictures of the amazing spread we had to choose from but I didn't want to look too much like we weren't paying to be there. :))

Then we headed down to catch a glimpse of Jimmer and the Jazz warming up.

Then the Jimmer-show began...actually he didn't play that well. :(  We were pretty sad for him.


But regardless, it was fun to see him in action.

This is my favorite picture of the night...perfectly described how we felt. :)


The game was pretty close at the end...as you can see.

The Jazz wound up losing. :(  But win or lose, I find close games much more exciting.  It was really exciting!


I simply can't put into words how fun these Jazz games have been.  They have solified this Colorado-born-and-raised-Nuggets-girl a Jazz fan. :)  I was never truly devout, so the switch-over wasn't too painful. ;)  To complete the change I just need some Jazz apparel.  

Now then...we love Jimmer, but JAKEY is our favorite athlete!  The very next morning this little man had his first soccer game of the season.  I truly love watching him play!

Here they are pre-game, strategizing (as much as 5-6 year olds can do that) to defeat the pending opponent.


This guy in his pink blanket was the time keeper.

Let the game begin!

The cheering section:

Doesn't she look cheery?! 


Jake scored 1 goal in the first half...here they are at half-time resting and gearing up for more.

Bring it on...

These little "Yellow Ninja's" played great...I think they lost (we don't keep score technically but the men always seem to know who came out on top).  


But it sure is one of those really fun moments of parenthood to watch your kids playing a sport they love.  Especially since you love them so much. :)

Well, that complete our sports-section of our weekend...stayed tuned for a full General Conference report. ;)


If you are thinking to yourself, "what the heck is General Conference?...go here:  www.lds.org