Easter Pictures and a Bit of Fun

I also snag this time of the year to take a family picture in front of this beautiful Palo Verde tree that flowers SO beautifully!  I am going to miss this tree!

We had a wonderful time at church today-I thought our sacrament meeting program was pretty darn amazing.  Interestingly, our family played a large role in it, and it reminded me how much I love music and how it invites the spirit. I sang "I Walked Today Where Jesus Walked" as part of a (nearly) double quartet.  We practiced exactly two times, and practiced the exact arrangement that we ended up singing exactly once.Thankfully, we are all reasonably good singers and sight readers, and the final product was moving, if i do say so myself-it wasn't so much the singing as it was the message of the song.  I actually directed parts of it for cut offs, and that was fun-and I think I called the cut offs okay.

Jared was able to sing "Oh Lord, My Redeemer" as a solo.  He was, without a doubt, the highlight of the program, hands down.  I had been practicing with him at home, and pretty much melted every time he sang for me at the piano.  Bishop Hunt told me after sacrament meeting that he was watching me while Jared sang, and he said I looked twitter-painted...I'm sure I did!  One of my favorite things about Jared is his singing voice, and man, he needs to sing more often.  His rendition of this song was just beautiful, and that really doesn't even come close to covering it.

The kids also sang as part of the primary choir-the first verse of "I Feel My Savior's Love".  They were kind of shy about it, but it brought a lovely spirit into the meeting as the first number of the program. I miss being the primary chorister in moments like this.  I love helping the kids share their testimonies through music, and even in just 2 months of not doing it-I miss it.  I'm sure my time will come again.  It was a tender moment though to watch my kiddos smiling away as they sang.

Jared and I actually dashed home after sacrament to get the turkey in the oven, as we actually did our own family dinner after plans with the Lautenschlagers did not work out for whatever reason. We prepped all the food and I filled eggs to lay out for the kids when they got home-they were not expecting any Easter egg hunt given the morning's focus on the Savior, but I still wanted to end the day with a bit of fun. Always nice to weave a little surprise into the day. Just a random smattering of pictures after we got home from church and as the kids started the Easter egg hunt.

We sure did enjoy dinner, and I was tickled my homemade rolls actually turned out really good. It was a beautiful day, filled with family, good memories, and most importantly, Jesus Christ.  I am so thankful for the atonement and the Savior's sacrifice.  So profound, the love that is represented in that three-day time period. I hope my kids know to the best of their ability how much the Savior loves them.  Happy Easter!