Easter Celebration

Happy Holy Week!

I loved unwrapping some of my spoils from our Israel trip

 to use for decorations for our celebration!

 This newspaper that was wrapped around my

crown of thorns sensed unhappiness  and war without even

being able to read it.

Sadly, times over there are way worse right now.
Praying that peace and light will over come the hard times

Israel is facing right now.

This happened before Holy Week, but we went to the
Easter pageant during dress rehearsals to see the Evans!

It makes it more exciting to watch it when you know people who are in it!

Travis, Stephanie and Olive got special roles in the pageant.
Travis was Jairus, Olive was his daughter who died, and Stephanie was her mother.

This is probably one of my favorite bible miracle stories.
Especially after being able to visit Capernaum last year, where this
story takes place.

Boy was it emotional to watch, I can't imagine acting it 
night after night!

They were the perfect choice and did such a good job!

The night we returned from Disneyland, with a sore mouth Della,
we mustered up the energy to do our first lesson.

There, I admitted it.

Not every Holy Week night is rainbows and butterflies.

I was beyond exhausted and gave it a valiant effort.
But the kids caught their second wind and  my patience was very short.

We survived, with some fighting and yelling.

The next night went a little better.

We were down Lane almost every night because baseball started up.

The kids crafted beautiful sugar cube temples.

I was excited to light our authentic

oil lamp that the Jergensen's gave us while

shopping in Jerusalem!

 

I loved its ambiance while we made our own oil lamps!

 

For Judas betraying Jesus, I always do out of the ordinary activities.

I grabbed our 5 gallon glass jar full of coins and told them whoever

comes up with the most different ways to make $1, wins!

Good activity for the brain!

Only it backfired when the jar cracked and broke when putting it away.

Sorting that many coins through broken glass takes a very long time!

Passover meal!

Our favorite night. 

 Once again this week didn't allow a ton of time

to plan a Passover party.

We didn't invite anyone over, and

had a nice dinner with just us.

Minus Lane, once again.

Time for the story of Moses and Pharoah, and the 

escape of the Jews from Egypt.

 We all got a kick out of Casey looking like his
 brother, Travis (who likes to adorn long beards that is mostly gray in color),
 instead of Moses!

I think making Garden Tombs is becoming another favorite for these girls.
Lily said her mom just made her throw away the one from last year, haha.

Della's I love Jesus on the tomb rock is my favorite.

It was more of a stressful Easter Sunday as I was asked to speak in church!

Being bishops wife doesn't get you out of everything like you think it would.

I was more than happy to speak as Easter is a bright place in my heart.

The only problem was trying to dwindle down what avenue of Easter to talk about!

There are so many different topics of Easter

you can branch off on.

I focused on the celebration aspect. 
Easter is a joyous celebration of what's possible because of Jesus Christ.
Because of Him, we can have a fresh start as we repent and are forgiven for our sins.

We all need Jesus in our lives!
 

My dad was sweet to come.
I did not invite him, ha!

Casey likes to share of moments like this without my knowledge. 

My mom was supporting Travis who also was speaking in his ward

at the same time.

 

Off to Grammy's for Easter dinner and egg hunt!

The rain that day kept things interesting.
It all worked out and everybody was happy!

Dancing at Disney pt. 3

We didn't get to rope drop this morning because the girls needed to get

ready for the parade!

And Della's abscess made its way through the night

and was HUGE!

Poor girl, she really was in pain!
Which explains her not normal behavior the whole day before. 

I tried not to bring attention to it to keep it off her mind.

I also made sure to stay on top of her pain meds.

After rushing with hair and makeup I dropped the girls off
 to their coaches at 8am and wouldn't

see them until they were in the parade at 12:30!

We knew it was going to be a rainy morning, darn it!
 The parade people said they try their best to not cancel the performance
unless absolutely necessary.

The forecast showed no more rain at noon,
so we were crossing our fingers big time!

 

In the meantime it was just Rusty and I for a bit!

We were on our way to meet the Heywoods at Space Mountain

and the smell of pizza carried us in for a morning slice!

Who knew pizza could be a fabulous breakfast!

I forgot I had this cookie in my hand I grabbed with the food so I used it

as a photo prop:)

I met up with the moms to get good spots for the parade!
And checked the weather updates like crazy!

It was getting closer for it to start and the rain was getting worse

even though it said clear skies, whaa?!

Impact dance crew!!

I saw my friend LaRee!

Killing time with suckers.

We got word that they were going to push back the start time an hour

to give the weather a chance to clear up like it said it should be.

I stayed put, but the others hopped on a quick ride.

IT HAPPENED!!!!
We got word they were lining up to start the parade!

I could hardly believe my emotions as they came closer.
The music with the cheering, just WOW!!

They are in a Disneyland parade!!

I was teary the whole time!

They had the biggest smiles and I was so  proud of them as they
danced by us!

Lindi is on the far right.

Got one with both girls in it!

After they passed us I followed behind them until I couldn't anymore.

So glad they were the last dance group so I could get more pictures!

I think we were all on a high after that!

NEATEST experience for the girls, and me, weirdly!!

So very grateful for this opportunity and that the lady in charge of

the All Stars at our studio pushed and worked her booty off for this

to happen for us!!

I had to go back to the hotel to get the girls, so Rusty got

to stay and live his best life again with the Heywoods!

It worked out so perfect to have them there!

Watching the parade and now knows how it feels to be in one!

Love this guy being good to interact with them.

Ghirardelli Sundaes was a must and well earned treat!

The Heywoods were going back for the night so we said our

goodbyes and hugs after snapping their picture with Mickey.

So incredibly happy we could enjoy this trip with them!

I love family and the bonds we create together through experiences like this.

Then there were 4!

Rusty finally got to meet up with his friend Canon.

He was here the exact same days as us but we never crossed paths. 

A late night ride on Thunder Mountain was a thrill!

Lindi!!!!!!

Hahaha, it never gets old.

She hates this picture and swore she did it on purpose.

I know she will kill me for putting on here but its just too good!

We closed down the park and rode Pirates of the Caribbean as our last ride.

I'll never forget being on a boat all to ourselves,

with the kids snuggled all around me.

My heart was swelling with gratitude and love for these humans of mine.

 And mentally patting myself on the back that I survived!

Dance performances alone are exhausting.

Adding that to Disneyland is a wild ride!
The bags under my eyes were unreal, but it was worth it.

We made it to our hotel bus shuttle at midnight to see Blake

who shut down the parks with her dad!

We finally got to sleep in!!!

And ate lunch at the hotel restaurant before getting our uber to

the airport.

I hope this $15 ramen was the best you ever had, Rusty!

Then the crash happened.

 

Well done, girls.