Easter 2012

Our Easter was a lot of fun this year. I really believe holiday traditions are important so we've been trying to start traditions for holidays. This year we did some Easter Egg Scriptures {I was going to write everything up here but another blogger I follow did it for me! Check out her post too see how to make your own Easter Egg Scriptures - and see some of the rest of her blog. It's one of my favorites.} on Sunday morning. We had thought we would use them as a kind of count down/advent type thing to work up to Easter, but then we kept forgetting to do them. Livie loved it! I don't think she got the scriptures and meaning behind everything but she really loved opening the eggs and discovering the new things in them.

Easter morning our bunny baskets were empty, to symbolize the empty tomb when Christ was resurrected. {Thanks for the idea, Nicole!} We were supposed to have Resurrection Cookies on Easter morning, too, but we ended up doing them for Family Home Evening the next day. 

For dinner we had some pork sirloin, mashed potatoes, and corn with pink lemonade and fresh strawberry pie for dessert. I am definitely making the strawberry pie part of Easter tradition. I love strawberry pie! Next year, I hope to add Resurrection Rolls to our dinner fare, to continue keeping the true meaning of Easter in focus. {I also hope to someday replace roast with ham . . . I love ham. It's one of my most favorite meats, but there was no way I could buy a 13 pound ham (the smallest I could find) for the three of us to eat. Maybe I should start having people over for Easter dinner?}

While we were eating dinner, the sneaky Easter Bunny made an appearance and left a couple of bunny baskets for us. Livie was so so excited about hers {and I'm thinking the Easter bunny went a little overboard . . . next year will be simpler I think......}. She loved pulling stuff out and seeing all the cool things she got. {On another note, we really loved having the bunny baskets after dinner . . . this way we were all full of good, delicious dinner and didn't eat too many sweets, plus we didn't have to struggle to get Livie to eat her dinner because she hadn't spoiled it with all her Easter treats. It worked out really well.}After examining everything in her bunny basket, Livie went outside and did an Easter egg hunt. She had so much fun and kept looking for more eggs even when we told her there were no more.

Before Dan and I went to bed, we watched a short video about Christ's Atonement and Resurrection. It was very touching and a nice relaxing, focused way to end our Easter celebrations. We also want to add reading the First Presidency Easter Message to our traditions. 

Well, that's a lot of talking. Sheesh, what a long post. Anyway, now on to the part everyone actually cares to see - a few photos.

I don't really know what is up with the tongue. She is always sticking it out when I take photos . . .

Look at my two favorite people!

I wish I had captured a better look of her big eyes. She also started smirking right after she picked it up. So adorable!

Already enjoying the spoils.

Trying to hold as much as possible to show me.

Checking out some new jewelery! She loves bracelets and got a whole bunch for Easter. She loves packing them around and wearing them everywhere.

Putting on her new necklace. She loves my pearls and I figured she'd enjoy some of her own. I was right.

Pearls and Cadbury Eggs. What more could a girl want?

Finding an egg! At first, she wanted to hold all the eggs in her hands. She quickly learned that the basket made things much easier.

Yes, that's a pile of leaves and twigs. No, it's not from last fall. At least it's only like a month old.

She loved dragging her daddy around to find all her eggs.

Did I mention we had to tape all the eggs closed so she wouldn't open them and eat as she went? :D

Enjoying some jelly beans. When Dan gave her some, she accidentally dropped a few on the ground. She almost beat us to them, too. Can't let jelly beans go to waste! After all the festivities, we had to bribe her with a walk to get her to let go of her basket. Then we had to hide it.

I just realized that not a single photo from Easter has me in it.............hmmmm