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!

Easter Breakfast

We have officially done our part to be active members of the Adobe Villa Ward! ;)  We are in this ward for such a short time, and it is honestly a little bit weird being in a ward when you know you won't get a calling because it is so short-term, and you know you won't see a lot of these people ever again....so do you form relationships?  Who knows.  Of course, it is easy to be nice, chat with people, encourage the kids to make friends.  So that's what we did at the Adobe Villa East breakfast this morning, and we had fun!  The breakfast was great for everyone all around, and the kids had fun doing the Easter egg hunt. I met my visiting teachers, we chatted with a couple of families, and the kids immediately ran to their own buddies.  I talked with some former Alta Mesa gals about some dietary issues that could prove to be helpful for some health things I'm working through, and all in all-it was comfortable.  I have appreciated spending time with family as the Eater holiday approaches-that was the best part about the morning.  Here's some shots of the fun! 

2016 Easter Pageant

One of my favorite days of the entire year is here, and it did not disappoint!  We were able to attend the Easter Pageant at the Mesa, AZ temple tonight-snagged great seats, a quick dinner, and only a 20 minute wait for it to begin.  Sara and James sat with me, asking questions the entire time and being totally enthralled in the presentation.  My absolute favorite part of this year's outing is the fact that Jordan, James, and Sara kept singing portions of "The Miracle", which I taught them in primary last year, to match certain things that were happening on stage.  They kept calling out things like, "Hey, Jesus is is raising the ruler's daughter from the dead just like it says in the song!" and "is he going to walk upon the waters too for real?"  My favorite moment happened right after the resurrection scene, when Sara very reverently whispered to me, "Now I understand why that's the most incredible miracle that we sing about in the song.  i need to read my scriptures more."  It was the sweetest thing, and reminded me how vital primary music is....and more importantly, the atonement, and teaching our children about these sacred principles.  So Amazing.

I never try to take a ton of pictures because there's usually no time, but here are the ones I snapped real quick before it started. 

Of course- we NEED a picture with a Roman Soldier and weapons!

Jordan is a Cub Scout!

Look at this brand new cub scout!  I can't believe Jordan is old enough to start attending cub scouts.  He has been so utterly excited for this transition after watching all the neat stuff JD has been able to do-I know he is going to love this part of his childhood!

Tonight was Jordan's first pack meeting after having attended two den meetings.  He has his Bobcat done, but he didn't get it tonight because the leaders didn't know he had finished it before they ordered the awards.  In any case, it was fun to see him do the flag ceremony, dress in his uniform for the first time, and do all the fun cheers during the pack meeting.

Great look, JD!

Here's to a great couple of years learning how to be a cub scout!