Easter Weekend

Our Easter weekend was full of activity this year. Baby Animal Day happened to be the same weekend, so Erik's family came up to attend with us. Lillian and Addison had a great time checking out all the animals. Addison was able to hold a lamb, and they both got to hold some chicks. It was a lot of fun with Lillian this year since she could actually identify most of the animals and make their sounds. After a day at the farm, we came back to the house where the girls hunted for some eggs and got their baskets from Grandma and Grandpa. (Boy, does she know how to shop!)


On Sunday, Lillian found the her basket left by the Easter Bunny and enjoyed all the goodies before church. After church, we headed down to Springville for Easter dinner and birthday festivities. My mom went all out with the decorating (so cute!), and we had a delicious ham dinner (sans onions, of course). We all found our baskets and dug into the candy, and then Lillian went outside to find the rest of the eggs. It was such a gorgeous day, thank goodness, and she was able to play outside and have some fun with Nana jumping off the big tree stump in their backyard.


It seems like Lillian enjoyed all the festivities so much more this year. She knew about the Easter Bunny and was able to actually help decorate eggs. She's getting to the age where she understands so much more of what's going on, so holidays are that much funner. And she's had so much fun playing with all the fun goodies from her myriad of baskets.

Easter is probably my favorite holiday. It's kind of a weird favorite, I know. For adults, there isn't much hype...commercially, it's more for the kids with the focus on the Easter Bunny. And I think most adults prefer Christmas. Not being much of a winter fan, I guess I've kind of gravitated toward the spring version of Christmas...and when you think about it, that's what Easter is. We celebrate the re-birth of our Savior, and really, without that re-birth, the original birth doesn't mean as much. Plus, in all the hustle and bustle surrounding Christmas, the real reason for the celebration tends to get lost. Since Easter tends to be more low-key, it's easier to focus on the resurrection aspect and reflect on what it really means (although having Fast Sunday on a Feast Day is a little odd, I will admit). Easter songs are the only songs I actually choke up singing in church. Maybe it's because we only sing them once a year, which is an absolute shame, but they always get me. I'll admit, I don't decorate as much as I do for other holidays and the preparations don't last nearly as long as for Christmas, but personally, it means so much more to me. I'm so grateful for my Savior and all he does for me. And I hope as Lillian continues to grow and learn, I'll be able to show her my appreciation for his sacrifice and she'll come to love Easter as much as I do.