Eastertastic

We had a bright and cheerful, pastel-colored, bunny-shaped weekend, filled with the joy of Christ's resurrection!

Awesome eggs

Awesome cake

Awesome egg hunt

And Ben even got to teach our neighbor Ira how to smash confetti eggs!

Happy Easter everybody!

Celebrating Easter

This year's Easter celebration was an all-day affair, as befits the most important day of the year! And as with all important days, it involved candy, gifts, grudging family photos in dress-up clothes, very silly decorations, and lots of food.

Always eat the ears first

After church it was time for photos, faces, threats, and then more photos

And then dinner time! The weather was perfect for a big meal out of doors.

Ben took on the most demanding of roles - the bruleer.  He did very well and did not burn himself, others, or any part of the house.

And then it was easter egg hunt time!

Ben may be "too old" for many traditions, but candy collection in any form is still right up his alley...

...as is any activity which involves smashing things on other people's heads.

WanYing found the good luck egg way up in the apple tree!

The spoils of victory

Now it's time to dig through the loot!

The aftermath of a very pleasant afternoon's celebration

Easter Prep

Easter is a hard one to prep for here in Morningstarland.  With Jamie, Sasha, and Grammy all enjoying birthdays in April, it can be challenging to carve out time to celebrate Easter in both profound and fun ways.  But given that it's the most important, exciting, live-changing, eternity-changing day of the whole year, we do try our darndest to make Easter rock!

The boys have become less than enthusiastic about egg dyeing over the years.  But fortunately I still have two little artist who, equipped with egg grabbers and white crayons, are more than up for the challenge of a dozen or two blank canvases of the ovum variety.

I did have more help when it came to the plastic egg stuffing.  I assume their enthusiasm stemmed from the eternal-springing hope that there would be more candy than eggs to fill, leaving us with only one option - candy consumption! But bwa ha ha ha, Mommy wins again with a new bag of 100 empty plastic eggs!

Our last piece of Easter prep involved my brand new Easter gift - a 3Doodler! What's that you say?  This looks like a neato gadget that your husband really wanted to buy and so he figured he would not get into trouble if he bought said toy under the guise of "gift"?  For shame! I can't believe you'd even think such a (clearly truthful) thing!

Suspicious motivations notwithstanding, the 3Doodler actually is a lot of fun, which is saying something since I lack all ability to draw and/or sculpt.  Incidentally, I think these would be handy skills for one owning a 3Doodler.

On the upside, when your husband gives you a 3Doodler, it serves as an automatic "get out of cooking free" pass because, of course, you have to make Easter decorations with your new "gift" and that leaves no time for potato peeling or dish washing! Bwa ha ha ha.  Mommy wins again!

Despite the aforementioned complete lack of drawing and/or sculpting ability, I think our little Easter decorations turned out pretty well.  The mummy bunnies are only slightly sinister, the robin eggs only look a tiny bit like blue poo plops, and our mistakes worked exceedingly well into the wicker motif.

Easter prep? Check!

Spring Break in Bryce

This year we've resolved to spend more time enjoying Utah's amazing scenery... which hopefully means that Spring Break was the kickoff for many more happy family camping weekends! And if this week was any indication, we have many marshmallows, campfires, really dirty kids, snugly nights in sleeping bags, miles of hiking, and great family memories to come.

Hiking from Sunrise to Sunset Points

Hmm... methinks there might be some rain a-coming

Hiking down to Queen's Garden

Happy, hiking family!  WanYing did the full 3 1/2 miles... except for the last part where we were running up the hill to escape the hail... (remember that rain we saw a-coming? It a-came)

Easter Morning! Celebrating Resurrection with candy and good family times

Don't worry, we were prepared for the trip and brought our own bunnies

Hiking near the campground

Even when camping a girl has to look her best!

The kids adored their "Brigham's Brew" rootbeer

The boys relax in the hammock

For some reason her hot dog just wouldn't cook!

WanYing and Baby Bob enjoy the snow and fire

Finally we decided that we had enough of the snow and opted for the warmth of Rainy

Sasha studiously completes her Junior Ranger packet

Proud new Junior Rangers!

One last hike before heading out - hiking along the rim trail

All of our kids were super-hikers - it was tough to snap pictures of them they were so speedy!  WanYing liked to hang out with Mommy so it was easier to get pics of her :)

Handsome boys graciously stop for a picture

Magnificent Bryce Canyon

One happy family

Easter Festivities

We enjoyed a beautiful Easter weekend celebrating the miracle of New Life with the traditional plastic eggs and copious candy... I sure am glad that God has a good sense of humor!

And they're off to the egg hunt in a blur!

Sash graciously pauses for a photo

WanYing had the eye of the tiger this year - no more pausing after each egg to discover its contents!

Sash shows off her spoils of war

Ben had a rather maniacal pride in his haul

Sash post-confetti egg (blown eggs filled with confetti that you smash on unsuspecting victims' heads.  Big big fun courtesy of Grammy)

Apparently Ben didn't see that one coming!

My cuties Easter Sunday.  They were so gracious and waited until after photos to dive into their bunnies!

Bunny time! I love that little toothless grin

Yup, that's a quality bunny

WanYing looks forward to bunny time, too

Her bunny was gone in a flash!

A merry Easter to all!