Easter Weekend

We did a weekend getaway for Easter to Port Aransas. It was a quick trip, but fun to relax on the beach and play pickleball and games. It started with a scare at the beach, though. I instructed my boys that I didn't want any of them going out too deep in the water and definitely not alone due to the trauma of Carter getting caught in a riptide when he was 11 and almost drowning. It felt like deja vu when Alex was far out in the water by herself, and she would disappear below water for periods of time. She couldn't hear any of us yelling at her, even as Kari went in the water after her. When the water got too deep for Kari, she yelled back at the beach to call 911. Thankfully, Alex felt safe the whole time; she had reached a sand dune and was diving below water with her goggles, exploring under water. Carter reached her first to tell her we were all worried about her. It was a big commotion with the rescue team arriving; we were all so glad that she was safe!

Listening to General Conference

 

Easter

As part of my stake calling, I helped run an Easter Family Musical Experience. Guests signed up in 10-minute increments of a walk-through of different 5-minute stations. I was in charge of decorating and running Gethsemane. I read a scripture, and then we sang Gethsemane together with a sing-along video.

Matt is the artist that helped with the vision of decorating Gethsemane.

These are the ladies I serve with in our presidency.

A good friend played Mary Magdalene where she acted a script and then sang "Risen." (My niece, Alex, sang the song for the first part of the day before she needed to leave for her soccer game.)

Melanie has since become a good friend. She sang a musical number for the Last Supper station.

For a high school tennis fundraiser, I headed up Egg My Yard with another booster club friend. This is Caleb hiding eggs with Carter in the deflating bunny suit.

Kara and Clayton hosted our Easter family dinner this year.

Easter Festivities

Neighborhood Easter egg hunt

We did a family service activity for the refugees in the downtown area. Their religious beliefs are different than ours, but we provided an opportunity to get out of their apartment and participate in some fun outdoor activities.

Ariane hosted Easter dinner/egg hunt this year. One of the activities we did for the kids is each kid used peeps to create a story from the scriptures. Bryson did Gethsemane, Caleb did Nephi tied up on the ship, and Carter helped Luman do a scene of King Benjamin preaching on the tower.

Egg hunt afterwards

Carter's 10th Birthday/Easter

Carter and I celebrated our birthday during this Covid-19 mess. I woke up to meet a friend for a run; we run together every Monday and decided to continue even during social-distancing for our sanity. When I left the house, the front door and parts of the yard were covered with hearts, sweet notes and candy. I wish so much I would have thought to take a picture of it! :( Lots of love.

Carter's request for his birthday was swimming, so a friend let us use her pool for a few hours in the afternoon.

Clayton swung by with some cookies. Ariane wanted to take me to the movies to see Emma for my birthday, but since the theaters were closed, she purchased it for me to watch at home. I got lots of sweet texts and a gift card from friends. Carter got fishing gear for his birthday as well as some smaller things--gum, candy, and an expansion to Exploding Kittens. Grandma and Grandpa gave him a gift card to Academy to pick out more fishing gear as well as a new book. It was lonelier not to celebrate with family or friends, but still a nice day.

We chose lasagna for dinner and a Razzleberry pie for dessert.

We celebrated Matt's birthday a few days later by ordering take-out from Texas Roadhouse.

 Easter was lonelier as well all by ourselves. We did an egg hunt in the afternoon after our family church. 

Easter 2019

Egg hunt on Saturday morning with Carter's baseball team.

Austin taking off

Bryson on the hunt

Coloring eggs

Family Easter egg hunt

So glad Lindsey's family made the drive and joined us!

Monday we went to the Secret Beach with friends and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Easter 2017

We went to the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt. Austin didn't catch on very well, but Bryson had a great time!

Austin's very first wagon ride! 

[And we've been going daily ever since per his request.]

Family gathering and egg hunt

 

Easter 2016

Dying Easter eggs

Carter's eggs

We hosted Easter dinner this year. My parents were visiting my little sister who had just had a baby. After a yummy dinner, we went outside to do an egg hunt. We let the littlest kids go first followed by the eldest kids.

Bryson won the prize for gathering the most eggs! It was all strictly business to him whereas the other kids his age that got a head start only looked for a certain color or opened and ate while they hunted. Matt had to grab him another bag for his mission. Bryson only cared about winning, however, and was very happy to share once it was over.

Baby Austin was there too!