Easter - Hallelujah!

The Easter Bunny came by this year and the kids were so excited, Emma woke up at 6:20, which never happens!  I told her to come back at 7, which she did right on the nose.  They got some fun little toys and treats and were happy with their swag. 

Covey kept whacking his head with his eggs.  Silliness!

Emma helped me make resurrection rolls, which was a great way to start of the Easter, remembering the sacrifice of our Savior and the real reason we celebrate Easter.  The kids got dressed in their new Easter outfits.  I didn’t sew anything this year because I wasn’t sure when we’d be moving and didn’t want to be in the middle of something and have to pack it up and buy clothes anyways.  So the girls had navy and bright colored paisley, floral dresses which were so cute.  The boys got navy blue with bright colored striped ties.  Cal was jazzed because this was his first real tie, not a clip-on or zip tie, and Cov had a little bow tie they wore with white dress shirts and navy pants. 

Church was beautiful!  The Primary kids sang “Jesus is Risen”.  I had to help out and we practiced only last week, but they did so well and the Spirit was strong.  “Jesus is risen, Jesus our friend. Joy fills our hearts, He lives again.  Praises we sing to Him this Easter morn.  Jesus is risen, Savior divine.  Jesus is risen, Savior divine.”  What profound meaning those simple words have for us all!  Sister and Bishop Layton spoke.  Sister Layton said when she woke up she just felt like shouting to all the world “He is Risen!” She and our Bishop tried to sing together that morning, but they just couldn’t as their feelings for the Savior overcame them.  She talked about the Passover week, and it was very interesting and I learned a lot.  She said that when they would offer animal sacrifices before Christ came, they would place their hands on the animal before it was slaughtered to symbolize their pains, worries, and sins being placed on Christ and going away through Him.  That really hit me.  Bishop told a story of how his aunt and uncle were burned in a house fire, saving their five children.  The children all made it out and were healthy, but the parents all died right after due to burns and smoke inhalation.  One of Bishop’s cousins went back in the house after the fire was all put out and remembers seeing foot prints where some of the skin burned off onto the floor from his dad, who was barefoot.  Bishop’s uncle risked his life without hesitation to save his children.  “Oh how Fathers love their children!” He related this to how much our Heavenly Father and Savior loves us and how much they love us they do all they can for us.   I was so touched by their testimonies!  We were also able to sing my favorite Hymn #136 “I Know that My Redeemer Lives” so that made Sacrament meeting that much more special.

After church, we drove down to Utah to be with our family for the week.  The kids are going to miss a few more days of school at the end of this week, but we’ve got interviews and changes coming, so it’s okay. 

We went to Grandma Di & Grandpa Scott's first, Mark, Mayela, Amber and Grammie were all also there.  We enjoyed a nice dinner my mom prepared - the usual ham, cherry kolachies, asparagus, carrots, salad, mashed potatoes, and the cutest carrot cake for dessert.  The kids played outside with sidewalk chalk after dinner, and then the kids went on an egg hunt in the back yard. They were more excited about hiding a few eggs rather than finding them though.  Cov kept saying in a loud rough voice, "Yes!  I found an egg!"  He was pretty into it this year!  Em and Cal and Amber were pros and found them easily after so many egg hunts! The plastic eggs had candy, toys, erasers, hair things, and more in them.  The kids traded some of their goods. Grammie was teasing Cal at one point that one of the erasers was his, and so sweet Cal went over and said "Here, Grammie!" and gave her an eraser, though he knew she was teasing, he wanted to share.  Grammie's smile was so big and she was gladdened by Cal's sweet action.  It was a delightful time!

Then we went over to the Grandma Sue & Grandpa Dan's for their egg hunt.  All of the kids were able to find 12 hard-boiled eggs.  They dyed and decorated 8 dozen eggs the day before, whew!  Grandpa, Jerry & Jeff hid them all and they're notorious for making some of the spots very tricky, which they did again.  The kids found most, but they helped us find four or five we would've never found.  It's always so much fun to watch, I don't know if the parents or kids have more fun!  :)  The coveted egg was one Todd made that said "Well poop!"  I guess after decorating so many eggs he was at a loss for any way to decorate it, so that's what he wrote and all of the kids thought it was hilarious!  Cal was the lucky one to get it.  We never got the chance to decorate eggs this year, but we are so glad we were able to go down and celebrate with family and take part in our traditions.  The rest of the night, we talked and played and ate more Easter candy than we should've.  Sue gets everyone Easter goodies and this year the kids got bubbles and chalk.  The adults also get some treats and everyone gets their favorites.  We all get the same classics - Reeses eggs, lots of chocolate, and then Dave & I got these Dove coconut eggs we like a lot.  Some of the others got Peeps, the Hershey's eggs or whatever.  Yum, mabe I'll gain 15 pounds by the time our spring break is over.  

A few weeks earlier, we talked about the events leading up to the atonement, cruxifiction and resurrection.  Lucy especially liked the story of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, where the people waved palm leaves.  She kept going around all month with leaves she'd found saying "Hosanna!"  Not to mock the event, and we made sure to tell her how sacred those words were, and that the people used it out of love and respect to honor him, but she loved practicing doing that and told us she did it because she loved Jesus.  

There was a media campaign by the church this Easter time called “Hallelujah!”  I was going to do the Handel’s Messiah Hallelujah virtual sing-in, but thought the submission deadline was later, so I missed it.  I love this inspired work by Handel and love playing through and singing the songs for fun at home.  Watching the completed video was enough to make me break down with tears and make my heart burst with joy!  So beautiful that all around the world, God’s children are exclaiming “hallelujah!”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akb0kD7EHIk

According to Merriam-Webster, the origin of hallelujah is Hebrew and means "praise ye the Lord".  It is "a shout or song of praise or thanks to God."  "A shout or song of praise or thanksgiving."

They also had another beautiful video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2wdMwpYByI.  It included some of my all-time favorite scripture verses from Isaiah 53:                                                            

2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 ¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

"He is Risen!"...3 little words that changed our world.  I know Jesus Christ came to the earth and died for us so we all could have his enabling help, grace, forgiveness, happiness, consolation, and life eternal.  #hallelujah  

I love Him, I am thankful for His simple, yet powerful life and the way He gave himself for all of us so willingly so we could have help and hope in this life and know there is a life to come with Him and our loved ones so wonderful we know not anything like it in this world!  Truly, praise ye the Lord - hallelujah!