Bond Family Easter

Every year my Mom's family gets together to celebrate Easter.  We eat, hunt, torture each other with confetti eggs, and then we torture a pinata.  It is great family fun.  I think that it is a rarity these days for extended family to spend time together.  I am proud of the fact that my kids know their 2nd cousins.  I love that my kids talk about their aunts, and people assume that they must be talking about my sisters.  I correct them, and tell them no that my kids are referring to their great aunts. 

We enjoyed our festivities at my cousin Tammy's house.  She and her husband, Randy, were kind enough to host.  They live in Greenville (almost to Wolf City), and they have plenty of room for us to run wild.  We always have fun at Tammy's house.  We were so glad that her friend Jody could join us.  Jonathan enjoyed Jody's son TJ and one of TJ's buddies.  We all enjoy TJ.  He talks with a slow East Texas accent combined with a little bit of a speech impediment.  But, it's not just his adorable voice that gets you.  He is honest.  For instance there was a love connection between my cousin's male dog and my Auntie Jan's dog.  TJ announced in his cute little drawl,"That one dawg is humpin' that other dawg."  There was no excitement in his voice.  It was just a statement.  We laughed and laughed.  It would not have been funny if Jonathan had said that, because he would have been in serious trouble.  But, it was too funny when TJ said it!

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we all had a blast.  Our little family was long overdue for a family get together.  Our last one was Aunt Judy's funeral the day before Thanksgiving.  We had Tammy's family join us for Christmas, but the entire group did not gather.  It was nice to finally be together.  We needed to relax, laugh and play!

I Love My Family

Saturday was a day spent celebrating with family.  I love my family so much, and I am thankful for their influence in my life.  I took some special pictures, and wanted to share them here. 

Grandma - getting her to pose for a picture is like pulling teeth!

Uncle Joe and Dad - I love this picture!  Side by side taking pictures of the pinata fun.

Sweet little Cheyanne

Don't you just love little girls?  Mismatched flip flops and dirty feet!

Jonathan brought this butterfly net as one of the prizes.  He ended up picking his own prize.  Funny how that works.  I didn't quite expect him to put it on his head though.

Sitting on the tractor.  Jonathan was so intrigued with Randy's tractor.

The highlight of Jonathan's day came when Randy let him drive his tractor, and then later he got to drive it again with Grady.  Jonathan is already making plans to go visit Mamaw and Grady, so that he can drive Grady's tractor.

Uncle Joe has an armful of dogs.  We brought Mollie, because we thought she might have fun Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe's dog, Josie.

It is so embarassing when Mommy has to trim your ears.  Mollie has a double ear infection. She scratched her right ear until she had all of the hair matted.  I ended up having to cut both ears super short to match.  Cut is too nice of a word.  I whacked at the hair on Mollie's ears.  The groomer is going to be so mad at me!

Tired kiddos!

While we were missing our sweet Aunt Judy this weekend, I'm sure that she was watching us from Heaven.  I think I might have heard her laughing during the confetti egg fight!  Cheyanne inherited her Grandma Judy's luck, because she won $10 in the Easter egg hunt.  Judy was always our big winner, so it is only fitting that she passed her luck down to her granddaughter. 

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family!

Easter Egg Hunt

Cheyanne, Jess, Molina, Jonathan, Dalton (TJ's friend), TJ

Run for it!!!

Sweet little Cheyanne

Jonathan

Jessie

Molina

There were so many eggs that Jonathan filled up his Easter basket and had to switch to a Walmart bag!

After the hunt, we told the kids to count their eggs.  After they counted their eggs, they were to let Fred know how many they had.  TJ and Jonathan came in 1st and 2nd.  TJ was quite proud.  he sang and danced his number. Both boys assumed that they would be rewarded handsomely for their efforts.  We had brought prizes for the kids, and they were set up in one of the bedrooms.  We were sending the kids in one at a time to pick the prizes over and over until they were gone.  Only we started with the kid that had the LEAST amount of eggs!  Jonathan and TJ were both confused at first, but they were good sports!

All of the kids had so much fun!  We came home with tons of candy.  I don't know how we will ever eat it all.  I am trying to stay far, far away from it.

The Adult Easter Egg Hunt

Easter isn't just for the kids.  We make sure that the adults have fun too.  We have an Easter egg hunt just for the adults, and there are prizes to be won! 

Jonathan hunted for Grandma, and Jessie hunted for Uncle Joe's mother, Ms. Leona.  Grandma was going over strategy with Jonathan.  She told him that she wanted the good prizes!

Molina helped me find a few eggs.  Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a single egg.  I got a late start, because I stayed behind making sure Jonathan got started.  Then when I finally got started, the eggs were hidden super well.  The blind girl couldn't see the eggs hidden up in the tall parts of the grass. Thanks to Molina I found SIX eggs.  Yes, I had the least amount of eggs by a mile!

Dad and Josie had an easier time finding the eggs than I did.  I guess they were able to see those eggs hiding down in that tall grass.  As we were hunting, I started worrying about my cute little sandals getting dirty.  About the time that I voiced my concern, my cousin Tammy yells out, " Hey everyone make sure that you watch out for snakes!"  Although, I get tired of the hustle and bustle of Frisco sometimes, I am so glad that I don't have to caution my guests to beware of snakes!

Fred was a rock star at hunting eggs!  He definitely has the better eyesight out of the two of us.

Usually, we number of the prizes and stuff the eggs with numbers.  This year, we didn't quite get this done.  Everyone just got the same amount of prizes.  We took turns going into the "prize bedroom."  The old people... yes that's you Auntie Jan and Mom... decided that we should go in oldest to youngest.  Poor 18 year old Chris graduated to the adult hunt this year.  Obviously, this didn't work out in his favor.  My cousin works for Rubbermaid, so I scored some mighty-fine kitchen items as prizes.  I think everyone should orchestrate an Easter egg hunt for the big people.  It is always sure to be lots of fun.

Bunny Pinata

Everyone has a bunny pinata for Easter, right?  Auntie Jan and Uncle Joe started bringing a pinata to our get togethers several years ago.  One year we gathered at my Grandma's apartment.  I'm sure we were quite the sight.  We hung the pinata in the breezeway and began to beat on this poor bunny pinata with Grandma's broom handle.  Turns out Grandma's broom handle wasn't so sturdy.  Let's just say Grandma needed a new broom after we were finished.  This year we used Fred's baseball bat.

Tammy, Jonathan and Grandma enjoyed watching the festivities!

Jonathan is trying to figure out what happened

I think TJ's form could use some work, but he made great contact with the poor, defenseless bunny

Pretty in purple.. Molina was next up to bat

Jess got in a good whack!

And, Chris was the one that managed to bust it open (despite Fred's efforts to keep him from making contact with the pinata)

The looters going in for the candy!

Now, doesn't that make you want to have a pinata next Easter?

Confetti Eggs

Every year my Auntie Jan brings confetti eggs (I don't know their Spanish name, so that is the name that I'm going with) to our get togethers. 

Of course, that is always bad news for a boy with ADHD! Jonathan has a hard time using his self-control when it comes to confetti eggs.

Even though his self-control is at a minimum, he has an absolute blast!  And, quite frankly, he isn't the only one that gets a little crazy.  Yes, I'm talking about you, Auntie Jan!

Everyone gets in on the act.  Even the littlest of littles.

And, we always make sure that the non-participators get hit!

No one is exempt... even if you are in charge of grilling.

Happy Easter!

We started this morning out just like most every other family... with a visit from the Easter Bunny!  However, at 14 and 11, the kids' loot isn't nearly as fun as it was when they were little. 

We had quite the Easter celebration on Saturday.  I think Jonathan needed more sleep, before getting up on Sunday morning.  Just looking at this picture makes me yawn!

Jessie was fresh out of the shower!  She must have been pretty tired too... her shirt was on backwards.  I realized it over breakfast and pointed it out to her. 

Jessie wearing her Easter attire.  I didn't buy new Easter outfits this year.  I brought out Jessie's 2008 Easter skirt, and bought a new blouse to go with it. 

Jonathan is still looking tired in his picture.  He is sporting his new turquoise shirt that matches Jessie's skirt.

How sweet is this?

Me with my sweet kids!  And, no, I didn't have anything turquoise to wear. 

We had a great time with family on Saturday (I will write about that later), and then the we had fun checking out what the Easter Bunny brought on Sunday.  The best part of the weekend was going to church Sunday morning.  We had the opportunity to learn about the true meaning of Easter.  Each and every day I am thankful for the Atoning sacrifice of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  However, I especially love the reminders on Easter.  I hope that our faith has been renewed and our testimonies strengthened today. 

Fun With the Young Women

I have learned that Young Women's definitely keeps the creative juices flowing.  The girls are so fun, and easy to work with.  We try to come up with fun and rewarding projects for them, but I think they would have blast no matter what the activity is.  That is just the kind of girls we have.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in charge of an activity for the Beehives in the 1st, 5th and 7th Wards.  I decided that we would make journals.  I was really on the fence with this activity.  I was feeling like it might be lame, but I just felt really strongly that it was the activity that we were meant to do.  Every time I turned around  there was an article on journaling whether it was in the New Era or in O magazine.  It was everywhere!  I gave the girls a short lesson on why journaling is important and then we made these super fun journals.  The girls actually had a really good time creating their own journals.  We talked about all the different types of journals that they can keep.  So, perhaps, some of the girls might keep a travel journal this summer to keep track of the their vacations.

As luck would have it, just a couple of days after my big Beehive activity, I gave the Fast Sunday lesson.  The lesson was on good health habits.  I made "treat bags" for all of the girls.  Each bag had a quote from the Strength of Youth pamphlet and contained a water bottle and an orange.  I'm not sure if the lesson was a success or not.  It felt very rushed and I had to condense my lesson down to 25 or 30 minutes, because we had so many announcements.  Because it was shortened, I think it might have come across as choppy.  Although, I do think they enjoyed the topic, though.

Last week, the girls dyed Easter eggs.  Every time we had a planning meeting, we would discuss upcoming activities and dying eggs would come up.  So, we planned the activity.  I brought a game, because I thought that surely we wouldn't be able to spend an entire hour and forty-five minutes dying Easter eggs.  Sure enough at about the forty-five minute mark, I could tell that we were losing them.  Many of them took a bathroom break.  When they returned, I planned for us to finish any eggs, and clean the kitchen.  Wouldn't you know it, they somehow caught their second wind and ended up dying eggs for the entire time!  Sometimes it is the simplest and least expensive activities that make them happy!

While we were acting crazy with our Easter eggs, Jessie and the rest of the Mia Maids were decorating cakes.  Each Mia Maid got to decorate their own cake.  Jess was so excited that she got to bring home the cake that she decorated.  I think she did an excellent job.  I think we would have all loved to have been in the cake decorating class!

I have loved serving in the Young Women's these last few months.  Even though Jess isn't in my group, I think that we both have learned so much.  These girls inspire me and make me want to be a better woman!  I love each every one of them so much!

Signs of Spring

When I was a little girl, I remember asking my mom how I would know when Spring would arrive.  Her answer was simple, but confusing... "We would see signs of Spring."  My little girl mind literally thought that I would see billboards and signs in ditches declaring that spring had arrived.

On April 3rd, our family settled in to enjoy General Conference (a time when we can hear the words of our church's general authorities broadcast from Salt Lake City).  April's broadcast of General Conference always reminds me of Spring, and I thought about all of those "signs of spring."  I was inside watching the broadcast, so I didn't see your typical signs of Spring. No flowers blooming, but there were different tell-tale signs of Spring popping up all around our house.

Our humble little spring display let everyone know that it is Spring!

No conference day is complete without treats!  This day had the added benefit of these sweet spring plates and napkins.  I am always a sucker for plates and napkins that match the season.

Conference notes.  I am a note taker by nature, and I love to take conference notes.

You won't find any "people pictures."  We all spent the day in our pj's or sweats.  I respected the wishes of my kids and did not take any pictures of them during the day.  CRAZY... I know!  I love this beautiful Spring day.  I love the opportunity to listen to our general authorities.  I especially love the opportunity to listen to our dear, sweet President Monson!