easter 2013.

a few pictures from Easter at grammie & grandpa graf's house in the spring of 2013.

the kids always love coloring the eggs and grammie always has everything ready for them!

                    

we always try to give the kids things other than candy in their "baskets."  they usually get a new water bottle and this year zach got a water bottle, stickers and new pj's.

brady also got a new water bottle, some stickers, a chocolate bunny and a few eggs full of jelly beans and candy, some new flip flops.

olivia got a new swimsuit outfit for her baby "stella," some jelly shoes, a water bottle, stickers, chocolate bunny and some new shirts.

easter 2014.

we had a last-minute change of plans and easter dinner at our house this year.  the last event before we moved.  boxes were piled everywhere but we had no furniture left in the living room so we set up two long church tables and had a feast.

the kids also had a big easter egg hunt in the backyard which was a lot of fun.  

we were all so excited because shawnae and tim got to bring home their darling baby, brielle after a week in the NICU.  they surprised us by showing up to dinner with her!

the kids in their sunday best.  grammie morgan was here visiting for the month and she loved filling their easter "buckets" (i get my kids a new beach bucket or some other container every year instead of a basket).  zach loved his "cool dude" glasses.

we got a bunch of pics with my mom because after dinner she headed down to SLC with chris, nick and nickie to catch a plane early the next morning back home.

my pretty girl

it was a beautiful day.  we had lovely talks at church and focused on the resurrection of the savior.  everything was so busy i didn't get to spend as much time as i usually do talking with the kids about easter and the real meaning, but we did watch the video the church had up on lds.org.

Easter 2012.

On the walk to church...(I have LOVED living just down the road from church!  We will miss walking on sunny Sundays!)

We had a relaxed, wonderful Easter at home this year with the kiddos.  Because we had church at 1:00 p.m. we had the kids wait to find their Easter buckets until Grammie and Grandpa Graf came.  I had the kids do some fun Easter crafts and pictures though to curb their excitement!

I was able to sing in the ward choir, which I truly love and we had a wonderful talks as well.  I am so thankful for the Savior who broke the bands of death for all so that we may return to live with Him and our Father in Heaven again someday!!!

We went relatively candy-free for Easter.  I made a color-coded Easter egg hunt for everyone to find the eggs of their color which each had a Cadbury egg inside (Chris' favorite).  I personally am not a fan of any Easter candies so bypassing them was not hard (for me).  The kids got Easter "buckets", as well as some new clogs, flip flops and a few toys.  Olivia also got a new Easter dress and Brady squeezed into his outfit for one more year!!!

Great-grandma Jones joined us for Easter dinner (which was in large part thanks to Mom Graf, who brought up almost the entire meal as we made last-minute change of plans to go out of town due to Zach being sick!)
Grandma Opal gave each of the kids their own little Easter cakes which they thought was really special!

Grammie outdid herself as always, making Easter nests with Peeps and Jell-O jiggler eggs!

Thanks for coming up for a nice Easter Sunday dinner and good company!

Let's start with EASTER...

We had a wonderful Easter and Conference weekend at Chris' parents' house. Brady loves to dye Easter eggs every year with Chris and it's a special tradition for him to remember. Olivia was still too little to understand the egg dying but she loved to look and be a part of it too.

Livy and Auntie Shawnae

While Mommy and the aunties went and did some last minute Easter shopping Brady and Grammie made these little Easter nests:





On Easter morning the kids were excited to find the hidden Easter eggs that they had dyed and their Easter baskets that daddy had hidden for them. Each of the kids had a dozen eggs to find and they had so much fun! It took a few minutes for Livy to get the idea but once she did she was so funny to watch:



I like to fill the kids' baskets with little toys instead of all candy. Here's what they got inside of their baskets:



Brady: Magic set, chocolate bunny, some eggs filled with peeps, bunny straws, a fishing pole and a funny bunny (stretchable like gumby)



Olivia: Chocolate chicks, some egs filled with peeps, some pretty barrettes, a pink and white baseball glove, bunny straws, a funny bunny and a little chicky and some bunny ears (which she refused to wear. She also wouldn't let us take any more pictures)



Since it was Conference we pretty much stayed in our pj's all day and had a nice breakfast made by Dad Graf. The kids had dressed up in their Easter outfits the Sunday before but I didn't remember to grab a picture....We talked about the true meaning of Easter a lot with Brady and did a little lesson the week before for Family Home Evening about Easter. It was a wonderful weekend.



Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

Easter 2009

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On Saturday our Ward had a Primary Easter activity which was really nice because they focused on the Savior and what the true meaning of Easter is. We went to four mini classes that taught different things about Jesus like:

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1.) How he was born

2.) How he lived and served others

3.) How he died, what happened to the Earth when He died

and His visit to the Nephites

4.) What happened to him after his death (his resurrection)

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The kids got a small reminder to put in their Easter basket from each of these classes. In one they got a CD of primary songs about Jesus, a bag of homemade playdough to represent the clay that Jesus put in the blind man's eyes to heal him, an egg with a tiny baby Jesus inside representing his birth and another egg with a small message inside that read:

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"Jesus died and was put in a tomb,

A caterpillar goes inside a cocoon,

Jesus was resurrected on the third day,

Just as a butterfly emerges to fly away!"

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"A butterfly coming out of its cocoon can remind us that death is not the end.

Jesus made it possible for all of us to be resurrected one day!"

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The children made and colored a butterfly to go along with that quote.

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It was a really neat activity and I thought they did a good job keeping it simple, spiritual and exciting for the little children.

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Brady's Butterfly:

This is a cute poem:

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If you can't read it, it says:

THE JELLYBEAN PRAYER:

"RED is for the blood He gave

GREEN is for the grass He made

Yellow is for the sun so bright

ORANGE is for the edge of night.

BLACK is for the sins that were made

WHITE is for the grace He gave

PURPLE is for the hour of sorrow

PINK is for the new tomorrow."

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We had a really nice Easter with Chris' family in Burley. We decided to go down on Saturday evening and spend the night so we could go to church together. On Saturday afternoon Brady helped Grandpa plant the garden. They planted peas and onions, but I think it's more like "peas and carrots" because Brady followed Grandpa around all weekend!:

Olivia watched from the sidelines

Later that evening Daddy initiated Brady into his all-time favorite Easter tradition: dying Easter eggs! Since I don't like things that are messy (or that can stain) I let them have at it and of course I stripped Brady right down to his underwear!!! Hey, how cool is it to be a 4 year and hang out with your dad for an hour wearing nothing but Spiderman underwear?!

They did a great job and late that nigth Daddy and the aunties hid the eggs in the livingroom for Brady to find the next morning.

Look what the EASTER BUNNY brought!!!

He didn't even miss these two girls!!! Aunties - Shawnae and Chelsae

Our attempt at a nice Easter picture on a windy day...

Later we joined Grandma Jones at the Rehab facility she's staying at while recovering from knee surgery. We brought all of the fixings and had a nice afternoon visiting.