Easter Egg Hunt(s) pictures

We had a busy Easter Saturday as we had three different egg hunts to hit before noon. We were excited to stumble upon the Syracuse city Egg hunt early in the morning and then had our own family hunt a few hours later. Lastly, we went to our neighbors annual egg hunt which takes place on their mini farm. The pix from above are from that latter. We dyed eggs (and hands) and had a nice family day together as Andrew was able to take the day off.
Easter Sunday was spent with extended family as we attended the blessing of my sister Sarah's little boy, Ethan. It was a nice day spent relaxing and eating.
With all the warm weather lately we have been enjoying plenty of outdoor sunshine (and sun-tinted skin). Lily's preschool had a field trip to Black Island Farm to see the farm animals as well as play in the blow-up pumpkin, ride the animal train and cruise around the farm on a tractor trailer.

I also got a wild 'hair' last week and chopped the girls' hair. It was definitely time for a trim, and it turned out decent considering it was so impromptu and done by an unprofessional. At least it makes for less drying time and easier curling...

[belated] easter festivities and fun

You can't judge a book...

For those who have not had the PRIVILEGE of watching this clip, please take a moment and be stunned. This goes to show that beauty comes in ALL different shapes and sizes. This is WOW!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

mean guys

Lily has this little fascination with 'mean guys'. It all started with the mini stories out of the Book of Mormon book for kids (you know those ones with all the framed pictures and short, concise captions). We started with the story of Nephi and eventually how he came to kill Laban, and it snowballed from there. Whenever we pull it out to read Lily will ask for a story with the 'mean guys'. To date, her two favorites are Nephi killing the mean guy, Laban, and King Noah burning Abinadi (and King Noah getting burned in return).
So when it came to this past Easter weekend, I was explaining to Lily that Easter Saturday was the day the Easter bunny came and we got to do fun things like color eggs and search for candy and baskets, and Easter Sunday was the day that Jesus came back to life.
"Why, Mom? Was Jesus killed?"
I explained to her that some 'mean guys' killed Jesus, but that because Heavenly Father loved Jesus and all of us so much, he allowed Jesus to come back to life on Easter Sunday.
This was all Lily needed to love the story, but after having all day to contemplate on the story she told me that night.
"Mom, I think we should change the story. We should make the mean guys be nice so Jesus doesn't get killed."
So there must be some stories that don't merit 'bad guys' for Lily. It's okay for Abinadi and King Noah to burn and for Nephi to kill Laban, but Jesus is extra special and for good reason. But either way, Jesus won as did we all. How grateful I am for his atoning sacrifice for me, my loved ones and all his children, so that we can all live with him again if we live worthy, grateful for the opportunity and holiday to reflect, and grateful for sweet children whose innocence and wisdom astounds me on a daily basis.