Easter Weekend 2018

Well, we just wrapped up another Easter today...in addition to it being my mother's birthday and April Fool's Day.  We started our Easter festivities on Friday night by dyeing eggs as a family after dinner.  The children and I then attended two different, Easter egg hunts on Saturday--one with the community at our Parks and Rec facility and the other one with our neighborhood in the cul-de-sac up the hill.  We were lucky not to have any rain on Saturday with the sun even coming out in full force in the afternoon.  We started off Easter morning on Sunday with the children running downstairs to see what that Easter bunny had brought them before going on our traditional egg hunt around the house.  We then hunkered down for a few, quiet hours of watching General Conference.  After we finished with both sessions, Ron and I worked in the kitchen for two hours to finish getting dinner ready for my dad, Chris, and his three boys.  Since my mom and Natalee were in SLC for General Conference, I decided it would be nice to invite the men who had been left at home alone to join us for Easter dinner.  Unfortunately, my dad had to cancel last minute due to not feeling well, but Chris, Garrett, Riley, and Trenton joined us for a delicious dinner.  It is always nice to share a holiday with family as it just helps to make the day feel more special.  Here are some pictures of our Easter weekend...

Lia working hard on Friday evening decorating one of her eggs.

Ella giving me a cute look while waiting for her eggs to finish soaking in the dye.

The gang coloring away.

Logan, our resident artist, sketching a picture on one of his eggs.

Mama and her "two littles" showing off our finished products.

We drove down to the Rec Center on Saturday morning for their annual egg hunt at 10:30.  It has been years since we have done this, but we found the time in our schedule this year to make it work.  Here are all three of our kiddos before the hunt began.

Ella running across the grass to get some eggs and candy.

Logan dropping another egg in his bucket.  I just think he looks so handsome in this picture.

Lia and Logan looking for any leftover eggs.

Logan finding another one.

Ella picking up some candy on the ground.

The kids leaving the field at the end of the hunt.  It is amazing how fast a large group of people can clear off a field full of candy and eggs.

After we finished the egg hunt, we wandered into the gym for a few minutes to participate in the Easter Carnival inside.  Here are the kiddos posing in front of a faux background.

Ella doing the ring toss.

And Logan, too.

Logan refused to pose with the "live," Easter bunny...so this is the picture that I was able to get of the two girls.  If this is any indication of how Logan is going to act at Disneyland, I don't think that I will be taking many pictures of him with Disney characters.

After coming home for lunch, we hopped on our bikes and headed up the hill to join the other families in the cul-de-sac for a neighborhood, Easter egg hunt.  This is the first time that we have ever had such an event in the five years since we have lived here and it was so much fun.  Once again, here are Lia, Logan, and Ella posing before the hunt began.

Our neighbor, Lisa, giving directions to all of the kids before starting the egg hunt.

And, they're off!  Ella running to pick up a toy on the grass.

Lia and her good friend, Alyssa, walking to find more Easter eggs.

Logan picking up another egg.  He was so excited when he spotted a golden egg and managed to get it before anyone else.  He immediately came home and put it in his pirate, treasure chest.  So cute.

Lia and Alyssa posing for the camera after the hunt was over.

Ella posing with her new, best friends, Poppy and Daisy, who are our next door neighbors and who she plays with every week.

The entire, neighborhood gang...ranging in age from four to eighteen years old.

Sunday morning started off with the kids running and screaming down the stairs once we gave them the "all clear."  Here are the pictures I managed to take before they came down.  This is Lia's couch complete with a new, Easter dress, pajamas, the last piece of furniture for her AG dollhouse (a dresser), some books, an AGD movie, and her big gift...Ron's old phone with the stop motion app installed on it so that she can now make AGD stop motion movies to her heart's content!

Logan's basket and other goodies which included new pajamas, an outfit and flip flops for Disneyland, two pirate, Lego sets, and a pair of pajamas and a drum set for his American Boy Doll, Logan.

And, last but not least, Miss Ella's basket and other goodies that included two nightgowns, a complete dress-up outfit for the princess Belle, princess Legos, and a bunch of Fancy Nancy books.

Ella screaming after discovering her Elena of Avalor nightgown.

After telling Lia multiple times that we would not be going to Universal Studios to visit the Harry Potter world, Ron and I decided secretly to go for one day during our Spring Break trip.  As a result, I printed out tickets to the Hogwarts Express and placed one in everyone's basket.  This is Lia holding up the ticket and trying to figure out what exactly it meant.

Lego showing off his awesome drum set for his Logan doll.

Ella immediately changed in the office into her beautiful, Belle costume.  Here she is modeling her new princess duds for the family.

After the kids had a chance to go through their baskets, we started the hunt around the house.  Here is Logan reaching for one of his eggs that Ron hid inside the vase.

Ella (now half Elena and half Belle) showing off one of her eggs she found in the play tent.

Logan finding another egg after climbing up onto the bookshelf.

Logan looking on as Ella found another egg.

Lia reaching up high to get an egg in the bathroom.

Lia finding another egg up high on the fireplace mantle in the living room.

A group shot of the kiddos after all of their hunting was done.  Oh, how I love these three bunnies of mine!