Easter 2016

We had a full and fun Easter weekend this year. I always forget that J.rue gets Good Friday off, so we had an extra long weekend! Friday we spent the day running errands and cleaning out our closets. I think we ended up with 7 trash bags full of clothes plus a few extras...like a white tuxedo, that we were finally able to get rid of. That evening we went over to James and Melinda's to dye Easter eggs. Ellie kept calling them her "paintin' eggs" and she was in heaven. We stripped the girls down to their skivvies and spent a very messy 10 minutes dying eggs. They had a blast.

Before we went to bed that night we had Ellie plant some jelly beans in hope that a few lollipops would grow over night. She was stoked. She made sure to water them and checked about 5 times to see if they had started growing. Every time she would come back in she would report that they had grown "little tiny bits". The Easter bunny came late that night and him and I need to have a talk about getting his crap together and coming earlier. Same with Santa.

Our Saturday morning started early. We had a train to catch, so we woke Ellie up a little early to dig into her Easter basket. This age is amazing for holidays. I wish I could bottle up her 2 year old enthusiasm and save it forever. Any kind of surprise literally takes her breath away. I can't tell you how much I love hearing her tiny gasp as she puts her hand over her mouth. It's truly magical. She ran downstairs and ran straight for her princess peg dolls. The Easter bunny picked these up from a friend last minute and was so glad that she did! The Easter bunny also brought the usual swimsuit, outfit, and book. He also decided to throw in a sandbox, but that won't be the usual. 

After she tore through her basket she ran outside to see if any lollies had sprung up over-night. Lucky for her, they had! So, we had them for breakfast as we got ready to catch the Easter bunny train up in Heber.

In February I caught a KSL deal for the Easter train up in Heber. We had really wanted to talk Ellie on the Halloween train for her birthday, but were to slow and everything had sold out so I jumped on these tickets. I was a little sad that I wasn't thinking and scheduled it during all of the Easter egg hunts, but it was totally worth it. Ellie was so excited when we pulled up. She kept pumping her arm and saying "choo choo!". We filed onto the train, sat back, and enjoyed the slow ride forward and then backwards. I will admit, the ride itself left something to be desired, but it didn't matter. Ellie loved being on the train, meeting the Easter bunnies, dancing with them, watching a magician, eating popcorn, and petting the baby animals. I'm realizing now that I haven't mentioned Fitz through all of this. He was amazing and liked the train too. He was content just sitting on my lap and cuddling in the carrier. I gave him a few tastes of my Sprite and he thought that was pretty special too. Every time I go through my pictures I am so sad that I didn't take more, but then I realize that we're taking way more videos right now because pictures don't quite capture Ellie's essence. Hopefully I can get a few of those loaded up on here as well.

After we got off the train and pet a few bunnies and chickies we headed through Provo canyon over to Lavell Edwards stadium to watch the BYU spring scrimmage. J.rue could hardly contain his excitement and looks forward to this every year. I wasn't super excited about it, but it's fun when he's so excited and I made sure to grab Cubby's for lunch. It was chilly, but we ended up having a good time with our fam. J.rue has been teaching Ellie to say "GO COUGARS!" since she could speak so she definitely got good practice in. The best part was the pictures that J.rue got of Cosmo and Ellie.

We headed home exhausted and happy from a long day. J.rue left to play basketball and I happily made a mug cake and went to bed. 9 a.m. church always comes too early for us on Sundays, and boy did it. I was up early making a cake for Easter dinner but we managed to get to church with about a minute to spare. Ellie was in love with her Easter dress that her Nana got her and was convinced that everyone had come to church today to see her "beauty and the best dress". J.rue made to sure explain that we were here to celebrate our Savior and that her dress was just a plus. It seemed to appease her because she loves Jesus. Fitz looked as sweet as ever. Blue is definitely his color. He was happy to nurse away during sacrament meeting and roll around on the floor during Sunday school and Relief Society. Of course we were running too late in the morning to take pictures so we settled on some after church, which is never super great. But gosh, aren't they so cute?!

Later that afternoon after j.rue got home from doing tithing and we woke up from naps, we headed up to my grandparent's house in North Ogden for Easter dinner. We were lucky enough to have Tori join us, or as Ellie calls her, Aunt Tora.

We had a delicious spread of food, good conversations, and a fun Easter egg hunt. Micah and Cale were good sports and filled and hid the eggs. We also had to inform Ellie that this would surely be her last year of solo egg hunts, so I think she made sure to enjoy it. We missed my mom (who was in Ireland!) but were glad to be all together. I love spending time with my grandparents. They are the best. Really, there is no one better than those two. I love watching them love on my kids especially. They are sweet moments.

Again, we drove home late and exhausted, but oh so happy. We made sure to talk to Nana and Papa once we got home for couple of minutes (the 4 hour time difference is kind of killer) and then we were off to bed. I am so thankful for such a loving family. I am so thankful for my Savior. I know that He lives and because of him, my family can be together for eternity.

Oh, and our furnace also went out that morning, so it was a cooooold weekend. Lots of blankets, space heaters, and snuggling. I didn't mind it too much. These pictures were also a little random, but fit into the Easter theme so here they are!