Easter Eve and the snooze that it brought!

Easter Eve and Mckenna and Kyler are as anxious as if it is Christmas Eve. Where have I gone wrong?!
They don't care about what Easter is suppose to remind them of~The Savior and the Resurrection and the wonderful gift that He has given to us.
No, all they care about of course is the Easter bunny coming to our neck of town. Mckenna had the hardest time going to sleep. Matt and I were out before 10 p.m. and she was still awake!
Matt wakes up and notices her wandering around and tells her to go back to sleep. I guess she tried but was so excited that she came down again. Matt finally woke me up told me to get the trail and the baskets done before she came down again and that he would put her to bed and lay down with her for awhile.
By the time she fell asleep it was 3 a.m. and I was exhausted. We have a great family tradition of a jelly bean trail that sends each kid to their basket (like a treasure trail, but with candy!) It took me a few hours to get everything set, since I was trying to do these trails quietly and have them each end up outside on different parts of the front and back porches! Then because I was quite awake by then, I ended up cleaning up our bathroom, folding some laundry and ironing church clothes, finally, I guess I wore myself out and went to sleep, I think it was 5:30 a.m.
Matt came down after that and returned to bed, but low and behold around 6:30 a.m. here comes Mckenna Marie ready for the fun of the trail! YES, the Bunny had come and she wanted to get going! We told her to go back to bed especially, since I was exhausted. She had to wait until 7:30 and then we were ready for the kids to find their baskets.
Sadly for us, Church is at 9:00 a.m. so we didn't even get to go back to sleep. Church was awesome, we sang all my favorite songs, (mostly all Easter or related to the resurrection, "I know that my Redeemer lives," etc...) We had a great lesson in Gospel Doctrine and then I had the great smiling husband waiting for me in the hallway after his Young Men class was over. (no, he is only an assistant for Devin's scout group, dad, he is not teaching the class.)
Then we had a nap after a quick bite to eat. I sleep forever (until 5:30 p.m.) and had to be woken up so that we could have a nice dinner of the unordinary Easter Dinner: Beef, Broccoli and Rice. I guess it was an appropriate meal for one of our family; Mckenna's Easter dress was a pink, white and red Japanese dress. She was adorable. The boys got new shirts, and ties. They looked very handsome.
WE did end up talking about the real reason for Easter, and they did understand. Could it be because we had just watched the afternoon before the "Greatest Story Ever Told?" Maybe, or maybe it was because I had good back up in Church on what it was really all about. After it was all over Matt and I talked about doing the fun stuff on Saturday and leave the spiritual stuff for Sunday.
So here is to have a sleepless night next year on Friday instead!

And it is off to the races....The Easter Egg hunt that is!

Every year during this time, the Santa Clara Kwanis hold annual Easter Egg hunt with wrapped malted eggs as the treat. This year Matt and I weren't planning on taking the kids, but little did we know that Mckenna would have other plans for us! She woke us up bright and early and informed us that the egg hunt was today and that she had to go because it was her last year to participate! Since Matt and I were going to have a great Egg hunt of our own with all the bells and whistles since we have a great big backyard and the fun porches, Mckenna really had to twist our arm for me to agree to go. Could it have been the Please, please, Mommy, you always got to go to the fun stuff when you were little, Plea? Yep, that was it. Darn, I'm thinking that I shouldn't tell too many childhood memories to my kids anymore.

So, we got dressed, packed her dance stuff since she had solo practice and headed off for the Santa Clara Park where the hunt was being held.

Mckenna was so excited for the hunt to start and shared the anticipation with Chloe and Garrett who are school chums.



Mckenna and her friend Chloe waiting for the Santa Clara Kwanas Easter Egg hunt to begin.


Then it was was time and off she ran to find one of the glorious, precious "plastic eggs," ( it's like being Charlie and finding the golden ticket.) This rare and precious egg if found is turned into the D.J. (our former Bishop, Jim Sevy,) and then the bearer is given a chance to pick a really great old fashion prize! Mckenna always picks jacks or bubbles, this year the bubbles were gone and so she snatched a great package of jacks!



And she is off! Funny thing is, none of my kids like them! We leave them in a jar and the friends eat them all...



Wow, how many did I get?


Before she redeemed her plastic egg, she ran into a classmate who had arrived too late and didn't get a single malted egg. Being the sweet kid that she is and looking at Connor's frown and tears, Mckenna decided to give him half of her malted eggs, (it wasn't that big of a sacrifice, since she doesn't even like them, but hey, it's the thought that counts, right?) and then Garret gave Connor one of the cherised plastic eggs that he had (according to the rules, he had one too many, since you are only allowed one prize per person, but again, it's the thought that counts.) After that it was fun to see the smile on Connor's face, the happiness, that Mckenna and Garret had on their faces over the good choices that they made and the loaded baskets full of yucky malted eggs. Actually, I love the malted eggs and yet, dislike them because they are candy which I shouldn't be eating!


Mckenna and her classmate Conner.



It really was a fun time. Hopefully everyone else has a fun Easter Egg hunt too!