Easter Weekend

What a wonderful weekend we've had! Busy, but wonderful...get ready for a LOT of pictures!

On Friday, I got some flowers to put in the pots in front of our house. Some of the little neighbor girls were out while Rylee and I were planting the flowers, so they came to help.

After the job was done, the girls enjoyed a nice snack of Sun Chips and Peeps on our front porch - just the nourishment every girl needs! Rylee was really funny; she kept saying "Come on, guys!" and trying to get the big girls to follow her around.Later that night Quinn zipped Rylee up in his hoodie and she thought it was hilarious!
We had a fun Easter party on Saturday evening, so we spent most of the day getting ready for it. The first task was to make the bunny cake (it's not Easter in my book without one of these...) Rylee was happy to help...or maybe she was just happy to eat the frosting...but she was happy either way.
By the time we finished the cake, Rylee was ready for her second bath of the day (o:

Later that afternoon after a bath and a nap, Rylee ran around our backyard hunting eggs with all the other kids. Her basket was about half as tall as she was, so it was pretty funny to watch her trying to lug it around.

The egg hunters: McKenna, Ari, Katie, Ava, Priya, Rylee and Lauren

Checking out her loot...

All the kiddos; Ari, Ava, Priya, Lauren, McKenna, Brooke, Katie, Rylee, Cailyn, and Cohen

Baby Bunnies! Cailyn and Brooke

This morning Rylee was very excited when I told her that the Easter Bunny had come last night. She started saying "Presents! Presents!" When she looked down the stairs and saw the Easter baskets at the bottom she said "Look!" very enthusiastically.

Rylee with her "presents" from the Easter Bunny.

This time, Rylee didn't bother carrying her basket around with her; instead, she ran around grabbing one or two things at a time and then running back to put them in her basket.

Cailyn and Rylee with their Easter baskets.

The Easter Bunny brought Cailyn a Hungry Caterpillar and an Elephant...they are meant for strapping onto a carseat, but they work great around her wrists as well!

On a sugar high...

After church we did the photo shoots, first with the sisters, and later with Ava. (This is proving to be an increasingly more difficult task to accomplish as Rylee and Ava get older and more stubborn...)

Rylee loves smelling the flowers! She sort of pants like a dog through her nose...

Rylee kept trying to pick the neighbors' flowers, so finally I found a dandelion for her to hold. She kept smelling it...

...then she had Ava smell it...

...and finally Cailyn!

Cailyn was by far the most cooperative subject for our pictures!

We had a yummy roast for dinner and left over bunny cake for dessert and good company - Grandma Clawson came down from Salt Lake and my sister Emily came up from Provo. Oh, yeah, and Katie, Josh and Ava came too...but they kind of just seem like part of the household (o:

After Grandma and Emily left, Rylee and Ava colored eggs...

As you can see, they were pretty intrigued by the bright colors! They had even more fun eating them (although I didn't catch any pictures). Rylee probably ate 3 or 4 eggs! After the first two, we caught her trying to peel her own egg...she peeled off almost all of the white along with the shell!

I am very grateful for Easter and the chance it gives me to reflect upon the atonement. I am grateful for good friends and family and the blessings that allow us to gather together with them and create good memories. And I am grateful for two sweet daughters that love each other and bring so much happiness into our family.