Easter 2017

This year Easter fell a little later in April (which makes things simpler so we don't have Zach's birthday, General Conference, and Easter all on the same weekend).

The younger children had a good time at the Primary sponsored egg hunt on Saturday.

The Easter Bunny left a little surprise on the table.

Easter Sunday was a beautiful day. We had stake conference that morning, so we snapped a few photos of the kids on the way out the door. 

After church the children decorated eggs.

New for us this year was making Resurrection Rolls (as described in the April 2017 Friend Magazine).

It was fun to see the hollow tombs (rolls). Adam opened his up and kept saying "In! In!"

Then it was finally time for the family egg hunt. This year the children hid the eggs for each other (10 each).

A Happy Birthday Star Wars Style

The excitement of the week was a Star Wars birthday party for Zach! There are tons of ideas online for SW parties so it wasn't too hard to plan (the difficulty was getting sucked in and spending too many hours browsing on Pinterest!). So this is what we did!

When guests arrived they built a droid (just cutting and glueing to put together R2D2 from a template).

Then we headed outside to free Han Solo (a laminated picture) who was frozen in carbonite (a block of ice). They were given a water squirt bottle and were told to "Use the Forks!". Some of the kids grew impatient and quickly realized that they could shatter the ice by chucking it at the sidewalk, so Han was freed pretty quickly (but wouldn't have survived in real life).

Next we alternated between Shoot the Stormtroopers (a nerf gun at toilet paper rolls) and BB-8 bowling (pop bottles). 

We moved into the patio and the kids used electrical tape to add details to decorate their own light saber (pool noodles cut in half, with the end wrapped in silver duct tape for a handle). 

They dueled with their light sabers and fought off storm troopers (white balloons) until they got to crazy, then they went through the Padawan training course (obstacle) that Anwyn created. 

Then it was time to eat. Padawan Popcorn, Edible Ewoks (teddy graham crackers), Vader Veggies, and Obe-One-Kababobi's (grapes, pineapple, cheese cubes on a skewer), with Luke Skywater to drink (water bottles with a fun SW label).

Zach opened his presents, the kids played a bit more, they watched a short Lego SW show, and then it was time for cake. 

Cake decorating is not a skill that I consider myself possessing, but as I looked online I realized that an R2-D2 cake was within in the range of my abilities. I used two cake mixes and made a 9x13, an 8-inch round, and a smaller oblong shape. 

I pieced it together (with Jared's help on the feet), frosted, and added a few decorations. I think it turned out well--at least it was recognizable as R2-D2. 

The party guests took home a little bag with a Star Wars ship, and a bubble wand with the handle decorated to look like a light saber.

It was a fun party, and a fun activity for the whole family, in addition to the 6 friends that came. After the party the kids had light saber duels with the neighbor kids for over an hour, so I think the easy to make sabers were a good investment! 

Happy Birthday to Zach (and the start of soccer!)

Our sweet boy Zach turned seven this year!

We celebrated his birthday with friends Star Wars style here.

About a month or so before his birthday, Zach mentioned that he wanted to "play a sport on a team". We talked it over and decided that soccer would be a good place to start. So his main birthday present was enrollment in a soccer team through upward sports. His first practice was right after his birthday, with games quickly to follow.

Adam made himself right at home on the players bench while watching the first game.

Lily's Art

A few weeks ago we received notice that a self-portrait Lily drew had been selected to represent her school at a district art display at the Thomas Center. Her portrait was really awesome and so fun to see on display.