Family Fun

This year I took Larry with me shopping for Easter and so of course we ended up with these big, awesome stuffed animals! (Larry loves stuffed animals) The grands love stuffed animals too and were so funny to watch trying to carry these around. Made me laugh!

We must not have had a sweet tooth the day we went because we didn't even get original Easter candy. We got cookies, jerky stick, granola mix...you know the kind of treats you expect on Easter. ;) The kids liked it. I did go the day before Easter and bought a few peeps and jelly beans! Just didn't feel quite right without something traditional. The older kids got movie passes in their buckets. They seemed happy about that. :)

I love having everyone together! It's noisy and crazy but oh so fun! They are all just so darn cute!

We all look forward to the Easter Egg Hunt. I love watching ALL the kids run to find eggs. It totally cracks me up to watch all my kids still enjoy finding eggs. Sometimes our hunts are very rewarding....some years they aren't.....but one never knows......so they continue to hunt! This year wasn't a big year. It's been kind of a rough year finacially so we didn't have much. Oh well there will be other years when we do. It makes us all grateful for what we do have and that is each other!

I tried having everyone line up this year for a picture and I think I got most of them. We lined up first for the grands to hunt just by themselves. I love watching them run around and find their eggs. They have a great time.

After the grands are done finding their eggs everyone gets to hunt the rest of the property. I laugh because they are all (ok maybe not all but Braxton & Kevin.....yes) so eager to be the first ones out! GO!!!

It is fun to see how thoroughly they go through the yard. Always looking up and down and behind and under. I love it! Some times we even find eggs from last year. :)

I sure do love my family! They put a smile on my face and heart! They make me happy!

Naline Lee sent me this text: "Some BuNny thinks your EgGsTrA special!!!!!!! HoPpY eAsTeR =)

Easter is my Favorite Sunday

I absolutely LOVE Eater Sunday! It's my favorite Sunday of the Year and always has been. I like the "feeling" that I have when I go to Church and hear about Jesus and the LOVE He has for each of us individually. It's so personal to me! It's so Real!

Today I taught in Relief Society and instead of giving the lesson which was on Immortality I gave a lesson on Christ and all that He went through for us! (they went hand in hand anyway)

Jesus was: Betrayed, Denied, Accused, Rejected, Bound, Scourged, Mocked, Reviled, Crucified, and Forsaken and experiencing all that He still did His Father's Will. He Forgave all! He gave His Life so that all of us could also live again. He Rose from the dead and was Ressurrected.

His story breaks my heart but also touches it so deeply. I know He loves us! He proved it to us all. I think of Him and hope that by the way I live my life I can prove to Him that I love Him too! Jesus is my Hero! He's absolutely everything! I do love Him!

His Will or Mine?

I pray to Heavenly Father for friends and He blesses me with friends. I pray that Jared will be safe while he is lost in the mountains and He blesses Jared with safety. I pray for my family and friends to be blessed with safety and good health and we are blessed. Whatever I pray for God hears and answers my prayers. He always does!

I also pray that I will do His will. What can I do for You Heavenly Father? Well He told me about 6 months ago to give one of my friends (that He has blessed me with) a Book of Mormon. Oh wait.....really you want me to give my friend a Book of Mormon? This friend will think I am judging them....that I think they aren't good enough. They might even think that I think I am better than them. Really Heavenly Father? Isn't there something else....like take a neighbor a treat....or tend someone's kids.....or something I am comfortable with? I could even tell them how much You love them....would that work? But please help me to do thy will!

How crazy is that but how real is that? I just realized that I do that. I feel bad that Heavenly Father can't depend on me like I do Him. He doesn't specify what I can ask Him to help me with. Well today I did take the Book of Mormon to my friend. My eyes were opened to how my prayers have been conditional. I will help you Heavenly Father as long as I am comfortable with it.

I had a good chat with Heavenly Father about this situation today and I feel good. It is Him that I want to please. It is Him that I can't make it through this life without! This was just a test for me and even though it took me six months to do~I did it! I hope that I will recognize His Will and respond to it quicker in the future. I want Heavenly Father to know that He can count on me like I do Him. (that's impossible I know but I can do better.....a lot better)

I LOVE Heavenly Father! I love that He is patient with me! I love that He forgives me for making stupid mistakes! I love that He trusts me to eventually do His Will! I love that He comforts me when I feel sad! I love that He will always give me another chance.

***just a little note.....I went to see my friend a few days after giving them the book. It was so cool to see how much receiving the book meant to them. They touched it with a reverence and my friend held their hand over their heart and couldn't describe how they felt. I was touched. I let them know that I had no idea that they would even appreciate it at all but that God did! God just knows and we should trust HIM more!

Denise had a Birthday Shout Hooray!

It's that time of the year that I get to see Denise. It was her birthday! It seems we only see each other for our birthdays. I am glad we make time to do so. I love visiting with my friends and getting caught up on their families and their lives. Denise and I are both thinner than the last time we met but she has lost more! I always think she looks great! She's so darn cute inside and out! I sure do cherish my friends.....I cherish Denise! This is a friendship formed because of Visiting Teaching. She was my visiting teacher when we moved to Roy! She was more than just a visiting teacher.....she was a friend. I have always felt strongly about visiting teaching and this is one of the reasons why. I get attached to people that care about me.....I'm attached to Denise because she has always cared about me and my family! (I care about hers too)Thank goodness we each have a birthday once a year so we make time to get together. These moments in time are priceless to me! I love Denise!

this is good

So today I went bowling and that is exactly what I did. I bowled like I actually knew what I was doing!
First game: 178
Second game: 197
Third game: 179
My series: 554
I had to record because that may never happen again! It was fun.....I liked it a lot!

Bunny Bait.....yum!

Here's a yummy recipe for Easter & Spring!

2 bags of popped popcorn (I used Tender White)
1 bag of white chocolate chips
1 bag of Easter M & Ms
pretzel sticks~broken into small pieces
colorful sprinkles

Place the popped popcorn in a large bowl with the broken pretzels and M & Ms and sprinkles. Heat the chocolate chips in the microwave in 30 second intervals...stirring each time until melted and smooth.

Drizzle white chocolate over the popcorn mixture and stir to coat. Spread out on a large piece of wax paper or cookie sheet to cool. Add more sprinkles if you want. Let it cool and break into pieces and Enjoy!

Spring Break

The kids have Spring Break this week! Yahoo......no schedules and just a bunch of relaxing. (at least for the kids...I still do my jobs) Today was also Larry's day off and so we decided to make it a fun day with the kids. We ended up going to the movie since they love going to the movies and we don't that often. We went and saw Mirror Mirror. A "Snow White" kind of story. It was pretty cute and they liked it. Truth is Larry and I liked it too. I loved the costumes. I thought they were awesome!

Kimleighel loved the Prince. She thought he was awesome. She loves any kind of love story!

Jared loved the "little guys". They were funny and cool. Larry loved the humor and sitting by me. ;)

After the show we went to Iggy's for lunch. It was late enough that it counted as dinner too and I like that! I'm still not a big fan of preparing meals.

Today was a very nice "break" for all of us!