Conference, Earring, Ham, & Hunting

Easter Sunday was a wonderful and relaxing day! We woke up in the morning and I told Scott to stay put in bed while I took care of some things. I went down stairs, loaded up Easter eggs and hid them all around the house. I then came back upstairs to tell him that he was going on his very own egg hunt! (Side Note: Over the past couple of years, Scott has been disappointed in the fact that his parents won't let him participate in the Easter egg hunt they do for the GRANDCHILDREN.)

(us)

After Scott found all of the eggs, we both got ready for Stake Conference. Scott was asked to be an usher so he left me home to finish getting ready. Of course, I ended up being very late but somehow managed to find where Scott was sitting. About mid-way through the meeting, the little girl with Downs Syndrome who was sitting in front of us decided she wanted to come sit next to us. The rest of the meeting she played with my hair, giggled, talked and held my hand. While I don't think I took much away from the talks, my heart melted as I interacted with this little girl. At one point Scott leaned over to her and whispered, "Did you know that she is my wife? (pointing to me)" She responded, "Kiss her!" Scott said, "No! We can't do that! We are in church!" Her reply? "COME ON!" :) As I sat there and looked at her adorable little face, I couldn't help but think about what the Savior would have done if He were there. It was a sweet experience for me and I wish that everyone, for one moment, could experience a portion of that deep love which the Savior has for each of us.

When the meeting was over we said goodbye to our friend and went home to change and take Aspen for a Sunday walk. Recently we've been taking her to a field at the elementary school near our house where she can run around while Scott and I walk the perimeter. She enjoyed the exercise, and we enjoyed chatting about our future.

When we had finished our walk we packed up and head over to Scott's parents house. We had arrived early in order to hide the eggs but also so we could show off Aspen's "Easter present". A few weeks ago I was trying to think of a way we could make sure everyone knows Aspen is a girl. (We constantly get "HE is so beautiful" or "How old is HE") Scott didn't want to give up the red collar for a pink one so I got to thinkin' about the magnetic earrings you can buy. A few days later, when we were at the mall, I found some magnetic pearl earrings that I thought would be just perfect. SO, after we got over to the house we got her earrings on in the front yard and then walked her around to the back porch so we could show Aspen's Nana and Papa her sassy earrings. Right when Scott let go over her collar so he could tell them to come and look she shook and the earrings went flying off and under the deck! After searching for about 20 minutes we found one complete earring and a half of the other one. We ended up just putting on the one and showed them her profile view. :) Too bad I was busy holding her and didn't get to snap a picture...

When Aspen was done modeling her new jewerly line, we started hiding the eggs. Aspen seemed to be a little upset that we wouldn't let her pick any of them up but she settled for playing with a pine cone. (Are children this easy to distract?)

Everyone began to arrive including Chelsea's family which came in from Wisconsin and Idaho along with my parents. It was fun to have so many loved ones there and we enjoyed seeing everyone.

(marsha, ella, carter, cole)

Dinner was AMAZING as usual. Scott's mom is a fabulous cook and she made ham, cheesy potatoes and some other tasty sides. Tyler brought an old family baked beans recipe which was also so yummy!

(mom & dad)

When dinner was cleaned up, Scott's dad shared an Easter message with the group which went amazingly well considering the kids all had their baskets in hand and ready to go. :) The egg hunt went off with a bang and the kids ran all over the back yard to pile in as many as they could. Parents (and aunts!) were chasing them around with cameras and camcorders to catch all of the action.

(ella)

(cole)

(henry)

(jack)

Dessert was carrot cake (fitting) and sugar cookies for the kids. We were all STUFFED and enjoyed one another's company for the remainder of the evening. Thanks to the in-laws for all their hard work in preparation for the party. I hope everyone enjoyed a very HAPPY EASTER this year!