Easter 2014

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Sitting down to Easter dinner
Easter has all the ingredients for a great holiday. It has traditions that are fun - like decorating hard boiled eggs and playing hide-and-seek with candy filled plastic eggs. It might even mean a new outfit or a basket full of goodies. Easter means good food - a great dinner, and scrumptious candy. It can mean good music. The deeper significance of Easter is just as meaningful as Christmas, with the idea of resurrection, eternal life and rebirth. I enjoy this time of year, watching my tulips and daffodils open up and tiny seedlings sprouting. I love the trees that break out in pink blossoms. I am entertained by the squirrels as they chase each other up and down the trees, and by the birds trilling their sweet songs for all to hear.

Peter's candy creation
This year, the kids woke up and began their search for  candy-filled eggs that were concealed amid the books in the bookshelves, behind pictures on the piano, and amongst the cushions on the couches. When their bags were filled and no more eggs could be found, we sat at the table for muffins, bananas and orange juice. When the food was eaten, we quickly dressed for church. Hannah and I both had new outfits to wear that I've sewn this past month. (Sorry, no pictures yet.) Then we headed out to the car for church.

At church, I got to sing "He Is Risen" with the ward choir during Sacrament Meeting. (Straight from the hymn book with no fancy stuff. Anyone from the audience was welcome to come up and join us, since only about eight people regularly attend choir practice.)

John's candy creation
When we returned home from Church, we had lunch, and some of the kids began crafting things out of their Easter candy. (Why eat it when you can play with it???) We watched some of the church videos about Easter, including "Because of Him" and "He Is Risen". We also got to see and talk to a couple of Steven's siblings and their families via Google Hangout during the afternoon.

Dinner was ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad, corn and apple juice. It was delicious, but it would have been nice if Steven hadn't had to spend so much time in the kitchen on a Sunday. I helped get the ham ready to put in the oven and set the table, but Steven did everything else, including washing most of the preparation dishes. (I do love having a husband who enjoys cooking!)

After dinner, I got to participate in the choir for a "Multi-Ward Easter Cantata". That was a lot of fun for me, to have some challenging music to learn, and a fun director to watch. There were various musical numbers interspersed with short scriptures or quotes. There was a flutist and a violinist who added descants to some of the numbers. I was really impressed by one of the soloists last night who sang "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus". I don't know how old she was, maybe ten or eleven, but her voice was clear and strong and beautiful. Steven and the kids came to watch the cantata. Peter brought along a ball he acquired in Primary, and Josh was wearing an old curtain that used to hang in my bedroom pinned around his neck as a cape. After the cantata, there were refreshments and then we returned home to clean up and prepare for bed.

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