Easter 2013

We just celebrated Easter - a little early this year {I thought Easter was in April usually??} but so wonderful nonetheless! The celebration started out on Friday at work with an Easter luncheon. Everyone signed up to bring something - salad, rolls, dessert, etc. I signed up to go in on a ham. Well, we didn't end up eating much of the ham that Dustin bought, so he wouldn't let me pay him for half since he took the rest of the ham home to his family. So I got free lunch! Lucky me!!

The cute decor Angie brought with Lindsey's chocolate covered peeps & rice krispie treats & Justin's soda! I don't like peeps but oh these were delicious!!!

Cute table centerpiece with some of the ham that'd been cut

Maria's 2 potato salads & Rachelle's pasta salad! Angie brought DIVINE rolls that I forgot to take a picture of. Seriously, SO yummy!! And they smelled HEAVENLY!!

Our ham cooking in the slow cooker. SO yummy!!

I felt insanely sick the rest of the day - I ate WAY too much lunch. So delicious but oh didn't sit well haha. We had dinner Pizza Hut with Lindsey & Spencer and by that night I was SUPER sick. Good thing I have a cuddle bug to snuggle up and help me feel better :)

My eyes get puffy when I eat stuff that  doesn't sit well - usually nuts. They look HUGE!

Saturday we didn't do any Easter festivities. Sunday was fast Sunday since we have Stake Conference the week after General Conference, so I decided to make dessert for Sunday night on Saturday night so that I wouldn't end up breaking my fast Sunday morning by making dessert. I got the idea from Pinterest - you fill the bottom of muffin pans with cookie dough, then put a Reese's Peanut Butter cup over it, and then cover the whole thing with brownie batter. Yeah, can you spell HIGH CALORIES?! I ended up snacking on cookie dough. Oh my tummy ache haha.

About to go in the oven

Finished product! So yummy, but so rich!

They were really good. VERY rich. But very good :)

Saturday night while I was at the Young Women's broadcast, my awesome visiting teacher Laura Barlow brought me over these gorgeous tulips! Aren't they SO pretty?!

They are the funnest orange & yellow color - I love them!!

After church on Sunday, we headed over to my parent's house for Easter dinner & festivities. I was asked to bring dessert {the caloric goodness}, a salad & rolls. Check out these rolls I made!!!

Not homemade - they were Rhodes rolls but oh so yummy. I was quite proud of myself!

We helped make a few things for dinner, got it all in the oven and then went out for our Easter egg hunt. I gotta admit - I think we are all too old for this still {my youngest sibling is 15} but hey whatever. Blake, Richard & Matt hid the eggs this year.

Blake getting video of the hunt

Brynne searching the Orchard

Popper searching in the rocks

Rick helping my mom look {she got attacked by a few neighborhood dogs the day before and was REALLY tore up}

Blake & Matt watching Jeannene hunt

Richard, Rick & Jake looking for eggs

The best wheel ever - a wheel covered in Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs?! UMM yes please!! PS This is Brynne & Blake's wheel on their new Hyundai Elantra they got - Gladys {Brynne's well loved Ford Focus} finally hit the dust so they got a GORGEOUS new car!

After the hunt, we came inside and snacked on candy {great idea} before we sat down for dinner. Easter dinner was super yummy - salad, rolls, ham, funeral potatoes & green bean casserole. We all talked and ate and then went in the living room to do presents for my mom's birthday. We had planned a family party for her earlier in March {her birthday is the 8th} but it kept getting pushed back because we all had other things come up on Sunday so we combined Easter with her birthday! And of course, Jake & I forgot her gift. Well, one of her gifts - we already gave her a Cinemark gift card so that she could go see Oz. So Brynne & Blake gave her their gifts :)

Wreck It Ralph! I keep hearing this is really good - Jake & I haven't seen in yet though!

And Mormon Messages 2!

Popper, Jeannene & Buzz watching mom open gifts

Brynne & Blake :)

Matt & Richard - Emily & Keaton weren't able to come since Emily is working graveyard shift and needed some sleep before work. We know how that goes!!

Me & my bestie 

After gifts, we played a game. Jake is so not into games but he played anyway - good job babe! We all were given a picture of Christ, and had to put them in chronological order of the last week in his life. Someone had just said something really funny - that's why everyone is laughing. I promise we were taking this seriously and being spiritual! After we got in the right order, we each read the description on the back of our picture.

Richard, Blake, Popper, Brynne, Rick & half of Jake

Brynne, Rick, Jake, Matt & Jeannene

Matt, Jeannene & where I was standing - thanks for holding my picture up Roo!

Afterwards, we talked about the Resurrection story and things we had learned that day in church, or recently in Institute/Seminary/scripture study. And then my mom bore her testimony. It was really fun. And then we ate our dessert, and Jake & I snuck out so that he could get some sleep before work.

I am grateful for this time of year, and for the opportunity that I have to reflect back on the first Easter Sunday. I am grateful for the Atonement, and for Christ's suffering that he endured for me. Plain, boring, crazy minded me. I am grateful for His love, and for the opportunity that I have as a result to change and to be forgiven for my many short comings. I am grateful that he was resurrected - that someday I will be resurrected as well and be able to be reunited with my body - once it's perfect. That's an AWESOME thought.

Loved this too much not to post it!

I am, once again, so grateful for the reason behind Easter and for my Savior - for His love for me, for His amazing example of how to live life in true joy.

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!