Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!  Devin, Becca and I drove up to St. George to my Grandma Stratton's home.  My family has celebrated Easter each year with her (and Grandpa) since we moved back to Salt Lake, and we were glad we could so easily join the party this time - less than a two hour drive for us!  My parents and younger siblings all met us there too.  

We arrived a little later than planned on Friday afternoon, so we just sat around and talked.  After an early dinner, I decided I better video some of the great stories Grandma was sharing - I got some really good ones that I hadn't heard about before.  She told a lot about her and Grandpa - dating, breaking up, how they got back together, when she knew she was going to marry him, their engagement, and their wedding day.  It was neat to hear - I was so engrossed that I used up almost all the video camera's battery, and my arm was sore afterwards from holding up the camera for so long. 

While Grandma was telling me stories, everyone else was off doing their own thing - Dad was working on the computer...

Uncle Jacob was playing with Becca...

Daniel hiked up the cliffs behind Grandma's house (can you see him?)...

Devin was snapping photos (this is the backyard)...

Sharlee was watching tv, Trent was off playing with a friend, Mom was - I dunno, maybe cleaning something? - and Dad fell asleep...

We played some games and Becca had a little snack of banana before she went off to bed - she's got great monkey cheeks (so does Jacob):

We stayed up playing a little later than we should've, considering our plans to attend a session at the temple early the next morning.  But no one fell asleep...for too long...and it was so lovely to be in the temple.  Devin and I felt very peaceful about some big decisions we've been praying about and it was great to be in the Celestial Room with family.  

Jacob is wafting the smell of the flowers so elegantly...

After a late breakfast and some naps, we were all feeling even better.  We continued the trends of eating, lazing, chatting, and game playing.  Here's Becca hanging out with her Great-Grandma (or "Mer-mah", as she calls all her grandmas and great-grandmas), who thinks she's the smartest and cutest thing ever (because that's just how Grandma's are, you know!):

"This is your finger, Great-Grandma"

Becca loves her Grandma, and truth be told, I think she wanted to be with Grandma more than with me - she was very excited to be reunited.

The guys all wanted to go climb the cliffs together, and I was content to let them go since I was feeling a little too womanly, if you know what I mean.  But as soon as they walked down the drive-way, I changed my mind (again - feeling womanly!) and decided that sounded fun after all, so I shouted out the door for them to wait while I grabbed shoes, Becca and her carrier, and convinced Sharlee to come too.  They were all gracious enough to tarry patiently (isn't tarry such a great word?!?) - although I'm not sure my brothers would've been quite so accommodating without the influence of Devin.  Anyway, it was a great little hike.  Carrying Becca gave me a workout, and we all had fun together and made a good memory.  I really like St. George - it has such a unique kind of beauty.

Readying ourselves to cross the line between suburbs and wilderness

Becca doesn't like to wear a hat and kept pulling at it, as you can tell

The adventurers ascend

Waiting for the slow lady with the chunky baby on her back

Pretty blooms on this cactus

The crew and Yao, king of the rock

Showing off my muscles and Daniel's tan

No, I didn't really climb up this with my daughter on my back

Sharlee's short legs made this part of the climb a bit difficult

Daniel is really good at posing, no?

What a darling little hiker!

The girls went up an easier way

 On top of the ridge

We like to think we're an outdoorsy family...we should do more...

The temple stands out so strikingly

Wearing Uncle Trent's sweet shades

Daniel spotted a fox, can you?

Grandma's house is to the left of the vacant lot - Mom and Dad are at the left end of the house talking to us on the cell phone and taking pictures of us

All hail the Conqueror of the Mountain Bluff

I'd never seen this interesting cactus before

Grandma will be moving to Salt Lake very soon, so Devin and I dug up two small pomegranate trees to take home to Henderson.  We hope that they survive the transplant so our family can continue our tradition of Pomegranate Salad at Thanksgiving (but we had it twice this weekend too - whenever there's a good excuse and available pomegranates!).  Egg dying and more game playing ensued after dinner - the men all stayed up until 2:30 playing Pinochle.  Dad stayed up until 3:30 dying one special egg for Mom.  Becca, Mom and I were the early risers on Easter Sunday - we took a nice stroll around the neighborhood.  Devin The Easter Bunny hid some eggs for Becca (filled with Cheerios, the lucky girl) and she was adorable to watch on her first egg hunt!  I didn't think she would do so well or enjoy it as much as she did.  I love being a parent! 

First egg found!

Somehow I must translate this eagerness for picking up things to her toys at home

I know, that was a lot of pictures in a very short space of time.  But I'm a first time parent, so sue me. She's the cutest baby around!

Dad wanted a four generation picture - we swore we'd take one later when we were all showered, make-up-ed and read for church...but we didn't...so I'm posting this one.

Sadly, most of our Easter eggs were accidentally cracked before we even dyed them.  These are the pre-cracked ones.

And these are "the contenders" (as Devin calls them) for the Egg Break, plus some pre-cracked ones we were quite proud of anyway.  We had some fun being creative and artsy - I got some good ideas from my artistic brothers for next year.

Since we all had only one egg for the Egg Break, it went very quickly...

I like Trent's morning hair here

The two finalists (Jacob and Devin), neither had any cracks

Devin's sure it was the special design that gave his egg strength

The proud winner of the Egg Break - both ends intact, which is rare!

All the eggs immediately went in to "Egg-a-la-Goldenrod", which is Mom's family tradition (the Egg Break is Dad's - the two traditions go together so nicely!).  Mmm. Good breakfast!

We attended Grandma's Sacrament Meeting, which had a really nice choir program.  I love the Easter songs from the hymnbook, I wish we sang them more often.  I also liked "This is the Christ" - that's another favorite.  The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent much as the previous days.  I love family vacations!

Daniel finally got the huge spoonful of whipped cream he had been trying to snitch for days

Grandpa ("Pah-pah") helps feeds Becca (pomegranate salad)

And Becca helps feed Grandpa

Whipped cream mustache on my cutie pie

We sang songs around the keyboard Dad brought, had ice cream, and stayed longer than we should've.  Our little car was overflowing with inherited items from Grandma and the pomegranate trees when we left.  What a wonderful weekend!