Leading up to Easter

 So, I finally finished the quilt I started four years ago (before Evelyn was born. Actually, I was at the fabric store buying more fabric for the back when I started having the contractions that would eventually lead to her birth).

It only took four years. I guess it's good that I can be persistent about some things. I am, however, proud of the fact that I did the entire thing myself (including the binding, which was a new thing for me). That might, of course, be why parts of it are sort of wrinkly. Instead of doing the normal thing where you put the quilt on a quilting frame, I pinned the pieces together and then used a small embroidery frame and, working from the inside out, proceeded to hand-stitch designs in every other quilt square. (Um, yes, this would be a big part of the reason why it took me so long. It may not have been my smartest decision every).

 In other news from the week, the kids had Spring Break, so on Wednesday I took them down to SG. We did all the things we don't get to do here: we went to Target, and to the local splash park. After the kids got soaked and cold--it was maybe a little cold for getting that wet--we dried off, changed clothes, and rode the carousel. We had lunch at Red Robin and generally enjoyed ourselves.

The last part of the week was a little crazy. On Thursday, I packed up our mini-van and, as soon as I was done teaching my class, I picked up the kids from Bubby and we drove north to my parents' house. One of my good friends from high school was getting married and I wanted to make her reception. As it turned out, I didn't need to be quite so worried. I guess one of the benefits of getting married in your 30s is that you know *lots* of people. The receiving line was fairly long, so I was in no danger of missing anything.

The woman next to me in line turned out to be pretty talkative, which was nice (to a point) since the line was long. It was also a little odd for me, because I'm pretty reserved and don't often share personal information as freely as did my new acquaintance. In any case, she talked me into staying for refreshments (she didn't want to sit by herself), and I'm glad I did, because it wasn't until I'd finished that a bunch of other friends from high school arrived. It was fun to catch up with all of them--even if it's a little disquieting to realize that we're all staid married women now. Of the four of us, I was definitely on the low side in terms of kids: one friend had six, one had five, and the other had four. (Of course, it helps that they've all been married longer than we have).

Friday afternoon, all my siblings (except, of course, Justin, who's on a different continent), their spouses, and our kids assembled at my parents' house for a dinner. Of sorts. It was originally conceived as a tea party, but it ended up being more of a buffet. In any case, it was fun to see everyone again. While we were waiting for Grandma to get home from work (and for Jeni to arrive), Jared entertained the kids by being a human jungle gym. All of my pictures turned out blurry, but you can see him getting attacked by four kids at once (Joshua's on the left, ready to pounce on him).

 

Saturday morning brought the real reason for the trip: my niece Katie (Sarah's daughter) was baptized in Salt Lake by her dad. It was a nice ceremony, and, of course, Sarah always plans good food (Cafe Rio style salad) for afterwards. The kids had an Easter egg hunt (turns out Andrew and his second cousin Jasper were by far the most aggressive egg hunters--big surprise there). The aftermath of the egg hunt says something about my kids, I think. Evelyn ate all her candy that afternoon. Andrew has been hoarding his--and added to it the candy he got this morning. He spent all weekend jealously guarding his hoard from predatory grandpas.

And, of course, today was Easter. We spent the morning with my parents and then attended sacrament with them. The kids each got a small toy and some candy--but it was from us, since I'm not a big fan of the "Easter Bunny." We also watched a lovely Easter video, "He is Risen" from the church's website. Andrew cried when we watched it. He's such a funny mix of rowdy, aggressive kid and at the same time he can be really sensitive sometimes.

Mostly, though, at week's end I'm grateful for the message of Easter--especially for the hope it brings.