Gimme A "B": Easter

2 seconds ago....
C: Mom, do you want to hear a Spanish word?
M: Yes.
C: Ooplayanos
M: It's Cumpleanos.
C: Oh. What does that mean?
M: It means compilation of years, like how many years old you are.
C: How many years old am I?
M: You're five years old.
C: No, I'm five and a quarter...is that bigger than five and a whole?
M: No, five and a whole would be six.
E: I'm three and a penny Mom.

This Easter was the best Easter I think I have ever had. I think the only way it could have been better is if the whole family could have been there. My oldest brother and his family were planning a trip and decided they would come stay with us over Easter weekend. One thing led to another and it ended up being a small family reunion. It was planned that my youngest sister would fly out to my little sisters' house on Thursday, then my bro would meet up without them that same day and stay the night and do a little sight seeing, then they would all drive over to our house Saturday and we'd spend Easter weekend together. Well Friday afternoon I received the greatest surprise. My mom had told me over the phone that we would get our Easter gift from them Thursday or Friday...well we got it Friday and it was the bomb diggity of all surprises, it was my Mom and Dad...in person!!!!!!!! I could not contain myself, it felt to good to see them. I hadn't seen my Daddy in over a year, it was SO good to give him a big hug and see him look into my eyes like the loving father he is. I always love the way he hugs me then pulls me back to look at my face, which usually lasts for a good 30 seconds. It is good to be loved by my parents. It was SO fun to show them around our new and awesome house, and then have them take us out for the best burger and fries ever, Five Guys Burgers, SO good.

Anyway, they surprised us and the only other person who was here that knew they were coming was Lyda, so it was fun to surprise everyone when they showed up Saturday. That was a great day, the sun was shining, we had awesome company and played all day outside. We ate good food and had good conversation and the best part was that it was all happening in our home. We felt extremely blessed to have such a house where we could all gather together and play. We had a movie and a fire outside each night complete with Peep s'mores. All the cousins slept in the playroom and watched movies till they fell asleep. We had a lot of people and a lot of fun. There is something about having your house full and loud with so many of the ones you love and love you back.

We all got up early Sunday morning, after a late night of movie and Psych watching, and got to church on-time. We enjoyed Sacrament meeting and the speakers and hearing about our Savior and His triumphant rising from the tomb. I am so grateful to be able to celebrate such a beautiful day with my family. We went home and made the McLaws version of Eggs Benedict, it's has become a tradition, and it was marvelous, our Mommy had outdone herself. We had an egg hunt and family pictures and just enjoyed our wonderful time together.

The weekend lasted till Tuesday morning, I and others managed to convince my brother Jason to stay an extra day. If I could have made the weekend last till the next, I would have. It was such a great experience to see all of(well most of) my family who I hadn't seen in WAY too long.

Oh I wish we could relive that weekend again, it was so fun. I find myself sitting and thinking about it, wishing we were reliving it, today. Seeing what my house was like with all my family, I can't stand how quiet my house is now and how boring. Monday night and Tuesday morning were a huge bummer. It was depressing to wake up to empty rooms, the playroom was especially empty, especially to our sweet children who cried most of the morning because their cousin had slipped out in the night. My heart broke for them thinking of how it must feel to wake up to an empty room, when only just the night before, a few hours ago, was full of friends, family, company. Almost as if it were just a good dream, and you have now woken up only to realize it wasn't real. The dreams you had when you were a kid and you had a Birthday party and got the coolest toys and you wake up to empty hands. I am one that digs deep into the sorrow because I know that once I do that I can move on, something that I have passed onto our sweet Calvy. Alan is one who doesn't dwell on sadness, he chooses to think of something else or to remember the fun we had. We tried to make it fun, and the sadness went away, and we had a good day full of kids telling me how much they wish their cousins were still here. Wednesday was an even harder day, the feelings are still so fresh I find myself tearing up as I type. We woke up knowing we had to say good-bye to my Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa. We had breakfast and got things together then said our long good-byes and waved as they drove away in their little white, environmentally friendly, rental car. I had never been the one left behind after such a visit, I had always been the one leaving and having to worry about making a flight and not really having the time to be sad. This go around I had plenty of time to be sad, I was at home in our now very empty feeling house. I told my husband that I might need to take the children out for lunch or go buy a bunny to drowned my sorrows. It ended up being a very cold gloomy day, so we stayed inside and watched movies and I cried a lot. I wanted so badly to turn back time and relive Friday afternoon, where I was surprised and excited looking forward to how great our weekend would be, not sitting on my couch wondering how I could ever make life ever seem as fun. It was a hard couple of days, but eventually I snapped out of it and life became normal....until today when I decided to write about it, now I just want to go out to lunch or buy a bunny. Sometimes life gets a little mundane, but I do love my children and my little town, and our wonderful home and my sweet husband. I look forward to the day that we can live near family again. For now we are enjoying being out of school and into our new life.

Baby update, I am about 18 weeks and going strong. I have my first appointment tomorrow and I'm pretty darn excited. I look forward to planning this birth and figuring out how we are going to pay for it. ;0) Life is wonderful. I am grateful for the knowledge that I have of my Savior, that He died for me and suffered for my sins. I am grateful for the blessing or promise of eternal life with my family. What a glorious day to be reunited with the ones you love. I am grateful for Easter and for the opportunity to focus on our Savior and His rising triumphant from the tomb that we might live again with Him, our families and Heavenly Father forever.

I hope you had an equally fabulous Easter weekend.