Easter

I'm so slow at posting my thoughts on Easter...so I won't say much, but Easter has been my favorite holiday since I was a little girl. I think as a child I loved it because it meant going to Snow Canyon with a group of families in the neighborhood. We'd come home on Saturday every year and on Sunday we'd have dinner at my Granny's after church. I also think I liked that it meant spring was here.

As an adult I love Easter because of what it represents. To me it has the most beautiful significance of all the holidays we celebrate. The tomb was empty! My favorite talk in general conference this session was Elder Hollands about the last week of the Savior's life. I felt the spirit stronger than I have in so long. (It was one of those rare moments when my children were being quiet!) I was grateful to reflect on Elder Hollands words last week as Easter approached. I am so grateful for my Savior who has made it possible for us all to live again. I love knowing that my friends the Jacksons will be with Lucy again because of the Atonement and resurrection. I love that my friends the Hoffmans will have their daughter Kate for eternity and know that she will one day be able to have all the blessings of a normal body and mind. All that Easter represents is beautiful!

Girls Only vacation

Last week Ellie and I went to Disneyland. It was such a sweet time. Ellie's been going through a rough phase lately (that's a very nice way of saying that she's been a total brat!). So, it was nice to spend some one-on-one time at the "happiest place on Earth". We had beautiful warm weather (while it was freezing and snowy in Utah), which was good for my soul. And no demands...just spending time doing whatever Ellie wanted. Her favorite rides were the roller coaster in ToonTown (she puts her hands up the whole time and wants to go on it over and over), and the StoryBook Boat ride because she likes to see all the tiny houses and castles. But the funniest thing to me was her reaction to Goofy. I'm not sure if I've blogged about her crush on Goofy, but yes, my daughter's very first crush in her life is on Goofy! WHAT??!! It is so funny! Should I be worried? What is Goofy?! Anyway, it's so funny. John and I laugh so hard about it, and for Easter she's even getting a Goofy & Max movie...yes, I'm pretty sure it's harmless, so I'm not afraid of allowing her to be in love with him...or his son Max (whom she also loves). Anyway, so the very first character we saw was Goofy and immediately Ellie got all silly and shy. She wanted more than anything to watch him, but wouldn't go get her picture with him. So, being the nice mom I am :) I went up to him and told him about Ellie's crush so he started blowing kisses at her. I'm so bummed I didn't catch her reaction on video! She buried her face in her stroller and tried to hide, but kept peeking out and smiling. It was so cute (okay, more funny than cute). I had to call John and tell him about it right after because I was laughing at her so hard. We subsequently saw Goofy a bunch of times, but Ellie never would go up to him. So I got a couple of pictures of her with him 20 feet in the background, which she LOVES to look at. Oh my! Anyway, Disneyland was charming (as always!). We had a fabulous time. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to do fun things like this with my kids.

Notice Goofy in the back ground...this is the picture that Ellie loves!

And....Of course I can't end this post without a mention of what happens when I'm away :)! John and Jack had a great time with the girls away! And Jackson got into LOTS of good stuff! This picture was taken at about 11 am, and it was already his 4th outfit of the day! Thank goodness the markers were washable!! He had also dumped an entire carton of yogurt on himself and had a huge blow-out that morning! Fun times for John :)!