Spring Break and Easter

Spring has sprung here in Oregon.  Well, at least the trees looked at the calendar and decided it was time to wake up, and of course Easter happened as it always does.  I'm not sure how the trees know it is time, because it is still pretty cold and rainy on most days, but somehow they do.  Granted, we have had a few nice days recently, and fortunately two of those nice days fell on Easter and the day before.  It was beautiful outside the last few days with the trees flowering and the sun shining a bit, and that helped it feel a bit more like Easter should.

Matthew's spring break fell in the last week of March and coincided with spring break for my brother Jay's kids down in Medford in southern Oregon, so we packed up the kids mid-week and spent about three days with them.  The kids love it because they are all kind of crazy together and play and fight like siblings, and we always have a good time hanging out, even if the rain kept us mostly inside (except for one afternoon at the park in Ashland).

Jay made play-doh and was a hero - hours of entertainment.

As for Easter weekend, our big event was moving Isabelle finally out of her crib and into a bed on Saturday - probably long overdue since she was climbing in and out like a little monkey anyway.  She's small for her age but stubborn and determined (and that's putting it lightly).  Before we did that though, we joined in a big Easter egg hunt with a bunch of people from church, and while the weather did cooperate, there must still be a bit of Arizona left in us because we took them in Crocs instead of boots (forgetting they'd be walking on semi-swampy grass still).  They loaded up on a bit of candy, although the highlight for Matthew was seeing a little snake and later a giant worm that he watched cross the sidewalk.

One of the best things about being a parent is how excited your kids get about stuff that you as an adult might not even notice.  (The other might be when they tell you that they love Easter because Jesus died for us and not because of the candy, which Matthew did on the way there, which in turn led to a lot of tears from him that night as he went to bed because he was so sad we would die someday and not be with him for a while).

For some reason Isabelle decided to start Easter proper before 6 a.m., so it was a bit of a tiring day and she was a bit grumpy and crazy, but all-in-all it was good.

Karin cooked some amazing food for dinner - I really try to not take that for granted, but I know I am pretty lucky there (as are the kids, even if they don't always know it - see below).  The kids dyed eggs, and we had about four egg hunts in the back yard, mostly fun because of how excited they got about finding eggs but also with the requisite drama since Isabelle would hide eggs and then show you where they were, which drove Matthew crazy.

Now we are turning our attention to Isabelle's birthday on Tuesday.  There has been a lot going on lately - both good and challenging - for a lot of people who mean a lot to us, and I came through General Conference last week and Easter this weekend with a lot of gratitude for the reality of my faith and how that impacts how I experience and approach life and for my amazing little family, which wouldn't be complete without that equally cute and feisty little girl.  And driving home from Portland the other day and looking out at the green farms and trees in bloom, I am grateful to live where we do right now, even if it means getting a little wet sometimes.

OK, as a side-note on the food thing, Matthew is a picky eater, and the other day he was struggling with some pasta Karin made because she had tried to slip in some leftover teriyaki meatballs into it - he didn't fall for that and had a hard time eating even after we took them out.  Karin decided to capture the face Matthew makes when he doesn't like something: