Easter!

Easter weekend was filled with fun activities. Sadly, Chris was gone all day Friday and Saturday with Army obligations. We started the festivities on Thursday night by dying some eggs - a first for Claire. :) With our recent trip to the zoo, it was only appropriate that we bought a zoo animal egg dying kit.

Claire with our finished eggs. We enjoyed a lot of egg salad the following week. :)

On Saturday morning, there was a breakfast with the Easter Bunny in Carmel. My neighbor and I took our kids to go. We had a yummy breakfast, took pictures with the Easter Bunny (which shockingly, Claire was completely comfortable with), and went to a play area where they had obstacle courses, real bunnies to pet, crafts, games, and face painting.

Dressed in her Easter dress, all ready to go meet the bunny with friends!

Dancing with her new Easter Bunny (also in a pretty dress) while waiting for me to finish my breakfast. She couldn't contain her excitement.

Giving the Easter Bunny a high five.

She made bunny ears and also got a bunny painted on her face. She was having so much fun!

Claire went with her best friend, Jaxson. They were so sweet, holding hands, hugging, and even a kiss! This was right before the kiss. They are so sweet.

Later in the morning, a friend in the neighborhood hosted an Easter egg hunt. The kids had a blast, and there were a ton of eggs for each of them filled with candy and little toys. This was after the hunt. Claire found an egg filled with jelly beans and was enjoying a treat. :)

On Easter morning, Claire woke up to an Easter basket hunt. We hid it the night before. This is her discovering all the goodies in her basket after she found it.

Daddy and Claire all ready to go to church on Easter.

We had our own little Easter egg hunt in our backyard on Easter. This is Claire all ready to find some more eggs! We kept a Naugle tradition and had one larger egg with some money inside that she got to put in her piggy bank.

Found one!

It was a beautiful, fun, and special weekend that we were able to spend with family and friends. Even though we had some fun, traditional activities with Claire, we were sure to teach her what Easter is all about. We read Easter books, read the Easter portions in the scriptures with her, and had a special family home evening where we taught her about some of the symbols of Easter (like eggs) and what they represent. Though she met the Easter bunny, we don't really teach her anything about him, as it never made sense to me, whatsoever.

I am so grateful for the atonement and sacrifice of our Savior so that we can one day return to him and can live together forever with our families! I certainly love EVERYONE in my family and am so grateful for them. :) My greatest joys in life come from and through them.