Easter 2011

{are you as shocked as i am that its only the day after Easter and here i am posting about it? craziness. maybe i'll actually get caught up one of these days.}

holidays are becoming more fun every year since the girls anticipate whats coming and are old enough to really know what its about and how we celebrate.  Easter morning did not disappoint.  madison waited patiently for dad to make sure the Easter bunny came/hide the hard boiled eggs.  grace was ready to get the show on the road! 

after finding baskets and summer dresses upstairs the girls got ready to hunt for Easter eggs in the basement.  (i opted not to buy Easter dresses this year since the girls already have plenty of dresses that fit them.  they wore beautiful dresses aunt lindsay gave them a couple months ago and looked so cute.  taking a cute Easter picture didn't make it on my list of things to do yesterday.  maybe next year.)

the girls had to empty their baskets with dad's help and then continue the hunt before all the eggs were found.  we went a little overboard considering only two kids were hunting but dying eggs (we did that fri night) is so fun that we did three dozen.

we had a few busy days leading up to Easter since midweek we decided to invite a couple families over for sunday dinner. we cooked and cleaned like crazy and after much stress, on my part, it all came together smoothly.  my main concern was getting the ham to turn out.  this is the best ham ever. ever.  it's an imlay tradition that i will gladly adopt.  after dressing the ham with pineapple, brown sugar, and a secret ingredient, you cover is with foil and cook it over night at a low temp.  the next morning it's falling-off-the-bone-tender and ends up being the consistency of pot roast, shredding easily.  i may have texted/called mark with questions about 20 times. :) but it turned out so i was happy. 

mint limeade....so good and even a hit with the kids!  i need to get the recipe for that one.  plus dan surprised me with flowers - so sweet!

on the menu: fruit filled jello, fruit dip with fresh pineapple and strawberries, veggie spinach dip with crusty bread, spinach salad with peppers, walnuts, berries and a poppy seed dressing, and then not pictured, funeral potatoes, sweet rolls and shredded ham.  can you tell i like food?  it was delicious!!  {i SO didn't make everything!!}

adult table

kid's table

someone made a cute Easter cake. {never mind my blurry picture}

we decided to get rid of our extra candy by having another Easter egg hunt with all the kids after dinner.  today grace keeps asking when we're going to have another one. :)  

we had such a great Easter weekend full of fun with our little family and good friends.  we talked to the girls a lot about what we really celebrate this time of year and i think they understood as well as they can at their age.  

we'd been discussing Christ and the Atonement and Resurrection for a couple days when madison said this in her prayers one night, "thank you for dad, and all of his sins.  thank you for mom, and all of her sins. and thank you for gracie and me and all of our sins."  hahaha. we straightened that out a little bit more when she was done.  but it was neat to see her thinking about what we'd been teaching and talking about. 

the girls also watched the living scripture movie "He is Risen" a dozen times, we went through the classic Easter egg nativity with scriptures and objects to go along with them in plastic eggs, and madison learned about Easter last week at preschool.

i am grateful for a holiday that helps us slow down and remember important things.  i'm grateful for the Spirit in our home as we focused on the Savior and the significant events at the end of His life.  i'm grateful for little girls that are interested and excited about the serious things Easter celebrates and not just the fluff like the Easter bunny.

most of all, i am grateful for the knowledge that my Savior lives and that He loves me. 

hope you all had a wonderful Easter!