MORE Easter

(Disclaimer: These are totally unedited iPhone pics.  :)

We celebrated Easter a week later than the rest of the world with my mom, sisters, and nieces/nephews.  We even got a phone call from my brother, which was exciting--I haven't really seen him face-to-face in about 4 1/2 years since he's been in prison and all.  A fun, relaxed day all around.  Here are some pics,in whatever order they happen to upload, of the baskets and egg hunt, kite-flying, silly-string, bubbles, and of course eating that was shared that day!

We are going to edit a light saber into Caida's hand in this one.  :)

I love watching little boys and their grandmas play!

Paul was tired.  Obviously.  :)

My Easter, in Pictures

Not pictured, but also awesome: our stake musical Easter fireside, in which I got to play the flute for a brief song and otherwise enjoy the beautiful music and sweet spirit of Easter!  Definitely needs to be a new tradition.  :)

Just some pre-Easter pics :)

So our church had a really great breakfast and Easter Egg hunt this morning at a local park. I was sooo excited to take pictures of Caida (my niece) as she ran around laughing and looking for the magical eggs that bring such happiness on Easter weekend. But this is what really happened. Caida walked around like a zombie because she was so tired and sad her cousin couldn't make it, not to mention she didn't really know what was going on. And she hadn't done a real Easter egg hunt in a while so she didn't really "get" how to hunt for them...so we would find one and then throw it in front of her and yell, "Look, Caida, you found one!" Then she would slowly pick it up, look at it, open it and decide if she liked what she saw inside...not in a rush whatsoever to find eggs faster than any other kid. Oh yeah, and if she had to get down on her knees and get dirt on her hands to get an egg? Forget it! She slowly wiped the mud off and stood up, leaving the egg where it was and just looking at us like "What is happening?" :) It was an adventure. I couldn't find a good photo moment, so I don't have any. :) We will have to do a practice round next year to prepare her, I think! :)

But afterwards we stopped by my sister's house and decorated eggs, make sugar cookies, and played with Caida's toys while she attempted to tell us knock-knock jokes with minimal success. :) It was a good Satirday-before-Easter. :) And here is some proof:

I love DEALS!

I picked up this treasure (it's about 2 feet wide) for 90% OFF at Hobby Lobby today!  Yup...from $30 down to $3!

I love deals!!!

Bunny Buns

I can take a whopping 0% credit for the recipe itself...I found this recipe in The Friend this month.  But I CAN take the credit for actually making them for us!  They were cute and delicious and perfect.  We don't have a lot of Easter traditions in our family yet (neither of us did growing up, either)...but I'm adding THESE as the first!  I don't bake bread from scratch too often, but on holidays, it seems appropriate.  These had the perfect amount of orange in them, and with my new citrus juicer it was actually fun to make!  (And the leftover juice?  YUM!)  A bit of a hassel (in my opinion...but then again, bread in general is too much of a hassel for me...I hate kneading, waiting, punching, waiting, rolling, waiting), but the outcome is worth it, especially for one day out of the year.  The only thing I changed from the original recipe was the glaze--I used 1 cup of powdered sugar instead of 2.  It was plenty sweet, and still clear and liquid enough I could brush it on with a basting brush like a glaze is supposed to be.  :)

The recipe made enough dough for 15 bunny buns

and a whole pan of just bunny tails (which were our favorite part, anyway).

Check it out and make them yourself--maybe Easter has passed, but it's still spring, and what better way to enjoy your spring cookouts and picnics (or Killer Bunnies parties) than with buns shaped like bunnies?  :)

Linking up HERE!

Happy Easter!

So proud of my felt bunnies and button egg!  :)

I realized yesterday as I was stuffing some eggs with tiny toys for our Primary kiddos that they matched the colors of our spring gerberas, too!  :)

Paul's and my Easter baskets (thank you, Dollar Tree, for cute metal baskets and tasteless-but-affordable candy selection!).

Our mini wreath, with three big Easter lilies and 6 easter eggs.  :)

Of course, all the cutesy stuff is not even SORT of the reason we celebrate Easter, but it's still fun. 

I'm more grateful for Easter this year than I think I've ever been before.  After all the family deaths this past autumn, and my subsequent almost-phobia of losing Paul early, I've been reflecting a lot on what the knowledge of Easter does for us.  Without Easter, there would be no Christmas.  Easter is the hope of the resurrection of ALL men.  Etc. etc. etc.  And I believe it's all true. 

But when I think about what it does for us NOW, as we deal with the loss of loved ones, I realize that having faith in the Atonement and resurrection of Christ means that we deal with the same pain as everyone else when death comes into our lives.  The pain isn't less.  But we are made stronger by our faith.  The eternal perspective, especially as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who believe that families truly can be together forever, may not lessen the pain of our losses, but it makes us more capable of bearing them.  I'm so grateful that, today and always, we have been given the most precious gift of all--the HOPE that Jesus Christ gave to us in the words of the angels--"He is not here; for He is risen!" 

Happy Easter, everyone!

Easter Button Egg and Felt Chocolate Bunnies!

I love following artsy-craftsy blogs, because I find the best inspiration for easy, cheap projects.  I particularly loved this craft because it looked simple and I had all the materials I would need on hand already--which meant a cute, simple, perfect Easter decoration that cost me NOTHING!  Can't get better than that!

My white chocolate bunny.

My milk chocolate bunny.  :)

Anyway, you can find the GORGEOUS original as well as a tutorial (including the bunny pattern!) HERE.  I pretty much did what she did, except I used a slightly less sophisticated color palette since I had all those springy buttons and lots of spring felt.  I also used two different colors of felt instead of the burlap, and hot glued it (after I sewed) right onto the backing of the photo frame.  (Side note: this was even MORE perfect because I had a boring 5" x 7" wood frame that was missing its glass and needed revamped, so this worked out just right!)  Otherwise, I pretty much just followed exactly what she said in the tutorial.  I WILL advise, however, that if you make the bunnies, you stuff as you sew--especially on the smaller size!  Even my pinkie didn't quite fit in the ears or front feet, so stuffing as I sewed made it easy.  Still, it was a SIMPLE, cute project and I would make it again in a heartbeat!

The finished product.

What do you think?  :)