Spring! And Easter!

There is no such thing as winter in Arizona.  What would  normally be winter months in other places with awful things like snow, rain, temperatures below 65, etc is a beautiful thing I like to call spring here.  It was during this time that I learned yet another new thing about lemon/citrus trees.  When they blossom, not only do they look beautiful, but they smell heavenly!  To me it smells just like jasmine.  Open up the windows, feel the warm breeze, and smell that light, sweet aroma.  Okay, I do realize I don't live in Hawaii.  I live in a desert with cactus in my front yard.  Just humor me.

 These little yellow beauties are on a couple of our bushes out front.

 And I bought a new plant for my pot by our front door.  Don't you love the beautiful red?  It has been about a month since I planted it and I'm happy to report that it is thriving!  (Despite the kids wanting to water it every single day.  Well I guess just despite the kids in general. :)

We are taking full advantage of the nice weather before we have to be holed up in airconditioning for months on end, and spending as much time outside as we can!  Jeremiah and Lily have finally become brave enough to climb our tree in the backyard.

 And I had to put this one in.  Jeremiah puts his bike on the rocks and when he pedals, the back wheel just digs in and gets stuck, so he rides his stationary bike!  He says he's getting his exercise.

 And of course the lovely Lily.

 Besides perfect weather and beautiful blossoms, spring also brings Easter!  The kids saw me buy the egg dyeing kit and kept asking every day if we could dye the eggs.  They were just a bit excited :)

 Ta-da!

Saturday morning, bright and too early, the kids found their Easter treats from that sneaky bunny.

 Turned on the flash for Lil's picture :)

 Sam woke up at a much more reasonable hour and quickly discovered his basket.

 He wasted no time in opening those plastic eggs and shoving whatever was inside, in his mouth.

A little bit later that same day, we went to Parker's school for an Easter party that they put on for the students' kids.  There were snacks and bouncy houses, the easter bunny, and of course, the hunts!  Jeremiah had been very excited about going to daddy's school for this and the Friday night before it, he told us, "Tomorrow, we hunt!"  They had 3 different hunts (and we'll use that term lightly.  They really just threw eggs on the grass) at different times according to age.  I'm pretty sure 90% of the students' kids fall into the 0-3yrs category.  They said "Go!" and no joke, about 5 seconds later there wasn't an egg to be seen.  This didn't work out so well for my shy Lily-bee.

 Samuel was ALL ABOUT the peeps!  That's my boy!  Blue or yellow?  Tough choice.

 After the 0-3yrs hunt, they did the 4-6 year olds.  Since Lily didn't get any from her turn, I figured it would be ok to let her join Jeremiah's group.  This time around, not only did we have strategy, but there were a lot less kids.

 They both got plenty of eggs!

 I wanted Samuel to get in the picture so I told him to sit down by the kids.  So he sat ON Jeremiah :)

 And the family shot:

Sunday (the real Easter) was a great day with wonderful church meetings followed by a delicious ham dinner.  First time making (or should we say re-heating) a ham for me!  Served with cheesy potatoes, cabbage salad, and fresh green beans.  That night Parker told me he thought that was the best meal I'd made since we've been married.  :)

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday, but we did miss being with family.  I realized that this was the first holiday we've spent without any family since we moved.  It was still a good day, and I don't know if it's because Jeremiah's getting older and asking more questions, or what, but the weeks leading up to Easter, I really thought a lot about the atonement and resurrection of our Savior.  I continually marvel at and am humbled by His love and patience with me.  His love makes me want to be better.