Easter 2017

I had all the stuff ready for the kids to dye Easter eggs when they got home from school on Friday.  It was Ivy's first time and she thought it was pretty great!

Ivy's hands were stained because she just used her hands to dip her eggs so I got out this big bowl, put a little bleach and warm water in it and let her play in it.  It got her hands back to normal and she had lots of fun at the same time!

We usually go to Plain City on the Saturday before Easter but since we had just spent a whole week with my family, we decided to stay home and get some work done around the house.  My mom made up for it on the trip by having a little trinket for each kid for each day we were there and we'll get back to our regular tradition next year.

I don't talk about the Easter Bunny at all because I really don't want to focus on that aspect of Easter.  If I dared, I would do away with the Easter Bunny all together but that will most likely never happen.  Stockton did remember to set out a carrot the night before-he didn't want me to take a picture of him so Justin kindly stepped in.

We have 9:00 church now so I told the kids that we would do all our hunting after church.  They were really great not to complain and to get up and get ready for church.  I made as good of a breakfast as a could that early...store bought cinnamon and orange rolls and scrambled eggs with ham and cheese.

Before church pictures.  All the girls got new dresses and Stockton got a new tie and new church pants.

Brynn got her dress for her birthday from Grandma and I made her save it for Easter.  We went to pick out bows and she was delighted that the store had matching earrings that she could wear.

I ordered Ivy's dress online and thought about hemming it.  Then I decided I didn't want to...I thought she looked adorable!

Since they waited they were ready to hunt for their baskets the second they walked into the house.  I couldn't even talk them into changing out of their church clothes.  The rule is always to find baskets first.  Their baskets this year were just small and only had some treats in them.

I think the favorite part of the morning (er, afternoon!) is hunting for the chocolate eggs all over the house.  This is a tradition from my childhood and was always my favorite too!  I love seeing which eggs get found throughout the week.  No hints are allowed from mom and dad.

Everyone would give every other egg they found to Ivy.  I put all the candy into one bowl anyway so it really doesn't matter whose basket it ends up in.

We did stick with tradition for the afternoon and went to Gene and April's for dinner.  We were able be there for a special blessing that all the men gave to Kai and then one for Camille.  We met Kai too and he is a cutie!

Kai, Molly, Tiana

After dinner is the Easter egg hunt.  The kids have to wait downstairs in the basement while the dads hide eggs outside in the yard.

Cameron, Stockton, Jake, Luke, Brynn, Evie, Riley, Eli, Ivy, Micah, Tiana, Molly

And the hunting begins!  Even the older kids still have fun.

Tiana and Molly

Stockton found the golden egg this year...a whole $5 to add to his piggy bank!

 Here's a video of Ivy dyeing her eggs. She kept giving me a goofy grin thinking I was taking pictures!