Easter

Easter was really fun this year.

We "accidentally" ended up with kind of big gifts for the boys - they got scooters.

To make it interesting, Andrew created a treasure hunt for them.

They woke up and received their traditional baskets.

Then we did our normal egg hunt.

But once they found all their eggs, Andrew pulled out a plastic egg with the first clue.

The hunt took them through the house, out into the yard, around to the front and back into the basement.

At the end of it all, they were excited to find their scooters.

We actually bought a scooter for Peter at Christmas.

But then he ended up with enough other stuff, we decided to hold onto it until his Birthday.

A couple of days before Easter Ammon mentioned that he wanted a scooter.

I was surprised.

I felt like the scooter was kind of unnecessary because they already have bikes.

But by this time we had something else we wanted to get Peter for his birthday anyway.

So we went on a quick shopping trip to hunt down a scooter in a price range similar to the deal we got Peter's at.

The one we ended up wasn't quite as cheap, but it was close enough we decided to do it.

As it turns out, scooters are COMPLETELY different than bikes.

The boys love them and ride them EVERYWHERE.

They are super easy to pack up and take to the park, which is SOOO nice!

They also started using the scooters to ride home from school, saving me a trip to pick them up.

I was really leery about whether or not they would be worth it.

I have been glad over and over and over again that we just took the plunge and bough them.

SO worth it!

After church we went to my mom's house.

Every year she does a fun egg hunt for the kids.

We usually avoid doing it ON Easter, but this year schedules were hard.

The kids each have a specifically colored egg that is for them to find.

My mom hides between 1 -2 dozen for each of them.

Some are filled with little candies.

But she also puts "coupons" in the eggs that they trade in for bigger prizes at the end.

She also did a scripture read for the kids once the egg hunt was over.

We weren't able to schedule an actual dinner with Andrew's parents, but we took them food.

After our egg hunt at my mom's house we headed home.

Peggy and Derrick joined us for dessert.

The boys were excited to tell them all about their day.

We had a great time visiting.

Andrew and I had recently experienced the most crazy temple session EVER.

(Seriously a "series of unfortunate events" that were quite hysterical.)

We were practically rolling on the floor telling them about it after the boys were in bed.

It was a great holiday.

Easter

Pictures taken April 8, 2012

Easter morning was filled with fun family time.

The Easter Bunny thought Ammon was getting old enough for some trickier hiding places.

But it's true what they say - people don't look UP.

He had a hard time finding some of the eggs that were put up high.

It was fun.

Peter was excited to get a compass - he'd been asking for one.

Andrew was excited to give Ammon his first pocket knife.

Both presents turned out to be a disaster.

Peter broke his compass at my parents house later that evening.

My mom happened to have another one she was planning to give him.

He broke that one too.

The next day or so we went out to dinner.

Ammon left his knife in the restaurant and we never saw it again.

So basically, Easter had some awesome gifts, but ultimately, they were both a bust.

After church my Grandma hosted a dinner at my parents house.

I was relieved since I had been so busy the previous week I hadn't planned any food.

My brother David came with his wife.

It's always fun to see my brothers.

The kids always climb all over them!

It was a fun holiday!

Getting Ready for Easter

The day before Easter was a fun, but busy day.  Andy spent the morning helping my brother move into his new house.  The boys played while I helped unpack the kitchen and then we headed out to a birthday party for my cute little nephew Quincy.  From there we rushed to my mom's house where we hurried and colored eggs before the annual Easter Egg Hunt began.  I already missed carving pumpkins for Halloween, I couldn't skip the eggs!  Fortunately for me, my Grandma was planning to make deviled eggs so she bought the eggs, boiled them, gave them to the boys to dye, we took them home for the Easter Bunny to hide, hunted them, peeled them, and brought them back in time to make the deviled eggs for Easter dinner.  It worked out quite nicely.  (Thanks Grandma!)  We got done with our eggs just in the nick of time and all of the cousins arrived for the big hunt.  We had all the grandchildren plus two foster care children that were staying with my sister.  My mom did 28 eggs EACH which added up to a LOT of eggs all over her yard.  In the past, the eggs have always been hidden in the back yard, but this year we overflowed into the front yard as well.  We had tons of fun and the kids all LOVED the prizes my mom had for them.  (Note the picture of Peter blowing bubbles and wearing sunglasses - both items courtesy of the egg hunt!)

One thing my aunt did this year for Easter was provide her twin boys (who are preparing for their missions) with eggs containing testimonies of family members.  Here are the testimonies my boys contributed:

My Testimony

By Ammon Shadel

A testimony is something you know is true.

I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus live.

My Testimony

By Peter Shadel

I know that the Holy Ghost will come to you when you are eight years old.

I know that President Monson is a true prophet.

(I think he will be our prophet forever.)

and last, but not least, here is the testimony I shared:

I know Heavenly Father is real and He loves His children.  He is aware of us and knows our name.  This sounds so simple and yet when you consider the intimate knowledge He has of EVERY person who ever has and ever will live on this earth, it is astonishing.

I know Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer.  His obedience and sacrifice makes it possible not only to gain eternal life, but exaltation as well.  Through the power of His Atonement, my heart has been healed from pains and struggles.  Through Him I can be sanctified and justified.  The power of His love is miraculous.

I know Joseph Smith restored the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is organized through revelation and the laying on of hands.  He translated The Book of Mormon which testifies of the Savior’s divine mission and His will for us.  It is true scripture.

I know that President Monson is a prophet of the Lord.  He has heard the call of our Heavenly Father and obeyed.  He leads by example and most importantly through revelation as He fulfills the will of the Savior.  Ours is a church guided by our Lord and Savior.  We are blessed to have His guidance and teachings made clear through modern day revelation.

The church is true.  Living the teachings found therein brings joy, peace and comfort regardless of the trials and circumstances in life.  In my life I have been strengthened and healed by the power of the Atonement.  I have been led by the Holy Spirit and guided as to the things I should be doing by a Heavenly Father who knows my situations intimately.  I love the gospel!

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Amen.

Easter Weekend

I look at all of these pictures, and I can't believe we fit all of this in on General Conference Weekend.  Last year Easter collided with Peter's Birthday.  This year, with General Conference.  I am looking forward to next year having Easter all by itself.  But despite the business of the weekend, it was a good one!  Before the first session of conference, we headed over to the city park for a candy hunt.  It is always fast, but fun.  My sister and her family came as well, and once it was over, we headed over to their house to see the new little chicks the Easter Bunny had brought them!

Between sessions of conference, we dyed our Easter Eggs.  It was a good, fun, family time.

After the second session of conference, I headed out shopping with Andy's mom.  He went to the Priesthood session with his dad and brother, and then we met up, like we always do, for dinner afterwards.  It's a fun tradition that I look forward to every six months!

We got home late, and realized that the Easter Bunny still had some shopping to do, so we headed out for that.  We were finally resting our head to our pillows around 1:00 in the morning when I casually mentioned that I was feeling paranoid about carbon monoxide poisoning.  We have been meaning to get an alarm for a while since we have two furances, both of which are about 20 years old.  Anyway, I apparently spooked Andy a bit with my comments, because next thing I knew, he was headed out to the store.  He came home and then we had the alarm going off at 2:00 in the morning while we tried to get it set up.  Wow.  Tired, loud mess in the middle of the night.

Sunday morning started all too early.  Ammon was eager to see what had happened during the night in terms of a visit from the Easter Bunny so we went in and woke Peter up.  Poor guy was sleeping on his feet.  He perked up when he saw the light saber in his "basket", but even then it took him a while to wake up completely.  He spent the morning chomping down chocolate and other candy, though, so he got his sugar buzz and was good to go eventually.

We had a yummy breakfast ready to eat just in time to sit down for the first Sunday session of conference.  We had our kids watch that one, so it was pretty torturous for us all.  We survived the two hours and started cooking for our family dinner.  The second session of conference was much more enjoyable for me and we had guests arriving shortly after.  At dinner I noted that Nunes people married smart - all of our spouses are great cooks.  My sister and her husband brought deviled eggs and a ham that far surpasses Honey Baked.  My brothers wife brought an amazing Apple/Pear salad and some divine mint brownies.  Andy and I made the Lion House Baked Beans, Lion House Potato Casserole and homemade breadsticks.  I love family and good food.  It's the best combination ever!

After dinner, my mom did her annual easter egg hunt with the grandkids.  Each child had their own color egg to hunt down in the back yard.  It is SOOO fun!

This weekend was packed full and completely exhausting, but what a great time!

Cousin Egg Hunt

This year for Easter, my family decided to get together in a more casual atmosphere the day before. We had a great and easy dinner involving sandwiches and chips. Of course, what starts out as easy with my family tends to turn into overdone so we had WAY too many foods to choose from and way more than we could eat. We enjoyed it in the days afterwards though, so it worked out well.

After we ate, the kids were ready to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt my mom was putting on for them. Each child had there own color eggs to find so they had fun running around in the back yard crossing paths and helping point out each others eggs as they hunted for their own. It was a brilliant success.

My mom was also mindful that we didn't want to give our children too much candy. So, instead of hiding candy in the eggs, she hid pieces of papers with numbers on them. Then, she brought them into the living room where she had hidden several numbered prized. That way they were able to get things from their hunt that wouldn't have fit in the eggs themselves. They got a visor with things to decorate it, pencils, magnets, cars, and other things like that. She also ended up giving them a fair amount of donuts and other pastries, which I thought defeated the purpose. But - oh well, what can you do? It was a good idea...

After the egg hunt we had a fun time decorating the cookies Aunt Krista brought. This has become a favorite holiday tradition and the kids love getting together and working on their cookies. I just love eating them!

South Jordan City Easter Egg Hunt

We started off our Easter weekend by going to the city Easter egg hunt. It was lots of fun. Last year Ammon's cousin Kylie was in his age group. With the way their birthday's fall, he was actually grouped with Carolyn this year. It is fun that he gets to hunt with his cousins. Although Carolyn is much more dedicated to it than Ammon is. Her basket seemed to be overflowing when she was done. Ammon, on the other hand, bailed out early and headed over to the playground once he felt he had found enough candy.

Peter enjoyed the hunt alongside his cousin Isaiah. Andrew monitored them both in their activities so I didn't get to see Peter in action. I saw the aftermath of him enjoying EATING all the candy though. Isaiah was a clever boy. Apparently he likes Dum Dum's so he specifically focused on picking those up.

After the hunt was over, we all walked over to a less busy playground and let the kids play there a while. They had a great time. Then my brother--in-law Jeremiah invited us over for some amazing waffles. He served them with syrup and freshly whipped cream - a combination I never would have thought of but that was amazing to eat!

It was a great start to a fun weekend!

Easter Egg Hunt

We went to the Easter Egg Hunt at South Jordan City Park. Katy met us there with Carolyn, Kylie and Isaiah. Kylie and Ammon are the same age so their hunt was together at the far right end of the field. The age groups got progressively higher to the right. The hunt was scheduled to start at 10:00. It was crowded, and, especially in the age group we were in, there were 1-4 parents (lots of Grandparents) attached to each child. It would have been nice if parents would just let their kids stand there by the line instead of cramming in all the kids AND adults waiting for the hunt to start. Once Kylie was there with Ammon, I stepped out of the crowd and took some pictures from the other side.


A few minutes before 10:00 we heard a commotion. We looked down the field and there were kids in the oldest age group running onto the field as the people in charge were waving their hands to stop! But once one kid was out there getting eggs and candy they were all out there. The trickle effect started and soon it was not only that age group, but the group next to them, then the group next to them and so on down the field.


Pretty soon the reaction reached Kylie and Ammon. They ran out and immediately found some eggs for their basket. I snapped a few pictures and then I noticed both of them standing literally on mounds of candy searching frantically with thier eyes. I realized that they were EGG hunting. Most of the eggs had already gotten picked up so I ran over and explained to them to pick up the candy! Soon they were filling their baskets again and having a great time. Afterwards Carolyn and Ammon were excited to show off their loot!


The whole thing was over in a matter of minutes. I think the hunt was done before 10:00 when it had been scheduled to start. We had a blast, though, and it was a great kick off to our Easter festivities. While we were waiting for the hunt to begin, the Easter Bunny came through and talked to people in the crowd. Afterwards we were able to go meet him and take a picture!