Easter Weekend 2015!

Happy Easter! I have obviously been on a blogging hiatus, and that is directly related to the busy-ness of our lives at the moment. I am hoping to catch up in a huge way over the next few weeks, so here we go....

We started off the Easter festivities a week ahead with the annual Easter Egg hunt put on by our town.   Caden was all geared up and ready to go...but he did announce to me that this was his last one. Apparently, it just wasn't the same when it was just the two of us instead of the whole family. (The boys were too old for it--and elsewhere, and Tim was in China on business.)

The Last Hurrah!

My friend Katrina and her kids stayed with us for several days while
in the process of moving to Utah.  These little cuties were a delight to have around!

Tristan and Gavin, just before heading off to Trek. We thought it rather metaphorical that poor Mark was looking out (longingly, dare we say) at the Trek-goers. It did NOT seem fair at all that Mark missed Trek by 1 week (had to be 14) and now has to wait another 4 years for the next one. He was a great sport, though, about staying behind with the younger kids (Gary and Melissa were a Pa/Ma on Trek).

Looking rugged, pioneer-like, and clean. See below for the "after" pic....

Everybody's ready!

Emily B., Tristan, Kevin, Chris, Hailey, Lindsey, and Emily C.
One last shot and then they were off!

Meanwhile, back at home, we were set to have all sorts of adventures. Katrina was still with us Thursday night as we went to Matt's soccer game.

Kate entertains herself at the game!

Breakfast on the patio!

One of the best parts of the day started soon after breakfast--the kids spent HOURS making a video in the backyard. It is on Caden's iPad, but I will link it as soon as I can get it. It's fantastic. I was blown away by their creativity and imagination (not to mention their ability to entertain themselves for hours on end in our backyard!).

Kate taking a break from all the filming with a little TV time. 

Heading over to the pond for some fishing!

Final tally: they caught 30 animals (fish and turtles combined). Not bad for three hours!

Is it any surprise that Kate makes a new friend at the playground?
Pretty par-for-the-course for Kate! 

We head back home from the park for an Easter egg hunt in the yard.

Inspecting the loot. 

Saturday morning at another game of Matt's (Caden had one later in the afternoon, but we had to send him with a teammate due to the timing of the Trekkers' return and General Conference).

Some very reverent Easter-egg coloring during the Saturday-morning session of General Conference! 

And they're back!!! A little scruffier and a LOT dirtier and smellier (wait, is that a word? It should be in this case...). They both had an incredible experience at Trek--hooray! 

The Easter Bunny left a note Saturday morning, along with a carrot, explaining that he'd hidden the boys' baskets this year so they could find them together once Tristan and Gavin got home from Trek. He also pointed out he'd like some cookies (a la the type that Santa gets) as opposed to any more carrots next year. :-)

Easter morning we awoke super early to go to the Sunrise Easter Service at the Flower Mound. We were very excited because our Church had been asked to conduct the non-denominational service this year. Hundreds of members of our stake were singing, and Tristan had even been asked to say the opening prayer for literally thousands of attendees! However, for whatever reason, it was an absolute downpour during the time of the service, and it had to be canceled. We were very disappointed, and can only imagine that it must not have been meant to be this year--the rain stopped and it didn't return for the rest of the day after about an hour. We've been asked to lead the service again next year, but Tristan will be out of the country on his mission and so he will miss out. Fingers crossed for a sunny day next year!

The gray skies didn't dampen our enthusiasm for General Conference and we enjoyed a low-key day (with Iris) watching conference, celebrating our Savior, and enjoying being all together again (Tim had gotten home from China after the boys left). Happy Easter everyone! 

(Check back later to see the video made by Mark, Matt, Kate, and Caden!)