Easter

With General Conference the week before Easter this year, there was a lot of talk about the corresponding events that take place during Holy Week.  There were such great parallels of doing the Hosanna Shout on Palm Sunday and then participating in the world fast on Good Friday. I tried to utilize that and focus our Come, Follow Me lessons on the different events of Holy Week. We barely even scratched the surface, but I feel like it made Easter a lot more meaningful for me.

Just as an insert about the worldwide fast on Good Friday. There seemed to be such a beautiful spirit the whole day. Even in our house there was just a special calm. I'm especially proud of my two older girls who took it upon themselves to really focus hard to participate in and make it through until dinner. Granted they sequestered themselves in their bedroom most of the day to avoid any temptation, but they did awesome! It ended up being such a great event to be part of.

On the Friday before Easter, we got to hop on over to Grandma Israelsen's for an Easter egg hunt! (Yup, that pun was intended. Just couldn't resist). That was so very kind of her to put it together for us and was such a great little outing. Even Jace got in on the action. Thanks so much Grandma!

In an effort to keep Christ the focus of our Easter Sunday, the Easter bunny visits our house on Saturday. The bunny has a tradition of sending the kids on a scavenger hunt to find their treats and it's always a big hit.

For breakfast Easter morning we have a tradition of making Resurrection Rolls. It has become another one of those "must do" traditions.  Apparently Allie is super enthralled with it all....

This is likely the last time we will celebrate Easter with a special Sacrament meeting in our home as the world awaits for the coronavirus pandemic to subside.  Hopefully these will all become special memories we can treasure. if anything, this year we found an even greater recognition of just how much we need a Savior.

Groundhog Day

Here we are.  A little over a month into our "new" schedule, courtesy of a microscopic devil wreaking havoc across the globe.

It's starting to feel a bit like the movie Groudhog Day, where Bill Murray somehow gets stuck into a realm where he wakes up to the same day every day.  Like a shampoo bottle- lather, rinse, repeat.

In our limited little corner of the world, we're trying our best to keep life exciting.

Here's a recap of the past few weeks:


A few Sundays ago we decided to take a chilly walk around the Wellsville Dam. It was fun to just walk around and be together.

Another desperate attempt at a change of scenery led us over the mountain to Brigham City to the Dairy Queen drive through and then a little stop at the temple. Always a good stop. I love to remind my kids "you're never really lost as long as you can see the temple."  It's strange to see the empty parking lot, but Angel Moroni is still waiting faithfully at the top calling for us so I'm sure that will change.😉

Kenna and Allie decided to repaint the downstairs bathroom. Gosh I love a good paint job. Said no one ever.  Thankfully the girls took over and did a pretty darn good job.  Now they're at an age they go back and read all my blog posts and I frequently get reprimanded for my choice in pictures. Ah, the luxury of being the author.

Jace loves to be outside. He'll take any chance he can get to go out. Who said sleds are strictly for winter? We try to think outside the box. Take note of Kenna's "sugar baby" she made for Aunt Maria's class. Leo got to hitch a ride on the back of the sled too.

What do you get when you cross a trampoline and a rope? This, of course.

The kids LOVE to have Jacob come out and rope them on the trampoline. I like to think it greatly enhances their IQ.

Don't forget the importance of a good game of badminton. In our great inquiries of life, we may or may not have had deep intellectual discussions about what makes it bad......

Seeing as though this social distancing snafoo has occurred over March and April, the weather hasn't always been conducive to going out and letting off steam. Needless to say we have been utilizing the BYU TV app on the Roku. We've caught up on 2 seasons of Relative Race and a whole slew of episodes of Random Acts. I love that my kids enjoy those shows and will turn to some uplifting stuff to help pass the time.

Not gonna lie, even though I knew it was coming I had to let out a big sigh when I heard school was cancelled through the rest of the school year. I have moments of feeling really weary and overwhelmed at trying to constantly meet the needs of 5 kids, but I'm trying to gird up my loins and fresh courage take. Granted sometimes my courage is feeling more on the rotted side, but it all seems to come around. It doesn't help that banking has exploded and Jacob is absolutely buried at work with loans for the stimulus money from the government. 12 hour bank days are going to be the norm for a while. 

Guess for now we'll just keep taking it one sunny day and one episode of Random Acts at a time. This too shall pass.

General Conference

The beginning of April brings the anticipation of General Conference, and this was one we especially looked forward to. President Nelson was right, this was a Conference like no other! For our Come, Follow Me lessons the week leading up to Conference, we spent our time studying the different aspects of the Restoration.

All of General Conference was so beautiful.  It's like drinking from a fire hose- there is so much all at once. Not to mention Conference with 5 kids isn't lacking in interruptions despite our best efforts. Hopefully over the next little while I can take it in little bits at a time.

I'm realizing as a mom that I am really limited in how much I can really teach my children. All I have to offer is opportunities for learning, then allow the Spirit to take over to really sink it deep into their hearts. I love the initiative to "Hear Him." I feel like I have had such awesome experiences for learning and growth lately and I so hope my kids can experience the same and have those moments.  Sometimes I feel I have just a measly little sardine and a saltine cracker to offer. It's then I have to hope and pray the Lord is able to turn it into an incredible feast of learning for my kids. By the time it comes from my heart, out my mouth then across the room, it seems to really fizzle. I suppose that job is to be left up to the Spirit so I'll give Him room to do His work and pray that my kids will really come to know.

One of our Conference traditions is setting up our King Benjamin-style fort. The kids are the ones who initiate this and love doing it every time. Jace is learning the ropes.

The couch is also prime real estate for General Conference viewing.

General Conference for youngsters is a BIG undertaking. It's easy to get lost in big words and ideas and lose interest. Thankfully the internet offers tons of printable options. Our Conference packet this spring included fun little Restoration-themed activities which helps keep them somewhat focused. What really gets their attention though is our treat bucket. We have 4 buckets filled with treats, and each bucket has it's own word the kids have to listen for.  During the session they have to listen and keep a tally of how many times they hear that specific word. At the end of the session they get to count out treats. It's always a big hit! Surprising how well they listen when sugar is involved! And of course I missed out on a picture.

I will forever remember the scene in our living room as we all stood waving our white handkerchiefs to participate in the Hosanna shout. What an incredible and humbling experience to be part of that Solemn Assembly and hear the new proclamation. This is another one of those times where I feel like my words fall so short in helping my kids understand just how remarkable and special this was. Once again, I leave it up to the Spirit and hope that in time it is something they will appreciate and treasure.