Sweet Surprises

Chocolate is a favorite around our house, so as you can well imagine, hunting for it is a much anticipated and delightful event every year!

First there is the preparation - painting hard boiled eggs and turning them into Easter eggs. This year we had a few additional eggs to paint, not your ordinary chicken egg... They were huge!!! With the Easter eggs ready, and dusk setting in, they were turned over to the Easter bunny... and hidden....

Now when the sun is shining it is pretty easy to spot sparkling foil wrapped eggs, and bright Easter colors, BUT when dusk is setting in, it makes it a lot more challenging!

The pictures make it look darker than it really was, but we sure had a fun evening. 

On reflection on our hunt for sweet surprises, it is hard not to see how life is much like an Easter egg hunt. Every day joys are only a few of them. Through the Atonement of Christ which we celebrate at Easter, we are granted a multitude of sweet surprises as we seek to become better and more like our Savior. Each stumbling block, trial or challenge we overcome enriches our lives with the lessons learned and the sweetness of the Atoning power of the Savior. That makes every day filled with sweet surprises - for there is nothing sweeter than feeling the love of the Lord!

Cardboard Creations

A few weeks ago I discovered some car shapes in the Relief Society cupboard that had been used as decorations for our Journey of Discovery. They will never be used again, so I brought them home to see what the kids might do with them.... I have to say, I was impressed!

Than last week Breanna and Myles decided that she needed a stove to go along with her toy dishes that she got for her birthday last year. She's been cooking up a storm since....

I love the creative ideas that flow from my kids and enrich the family life. It is great to see them working together to create something they all enjoy. Since making the car, the younger girls drive around the house handing out treats which they have stowed away in the trunk. What fun it is to be together! I find so much joy in my children. They are truly a blessing!

Outdoors at Last

This winter wasn't an overly harsh one but the past month has been wonderfully warm and springlike! I love spring, but that is no secret. My kids love it too and have been taking daily opportunities to enjoy the nice weather...

 Naomi managed to get an 'in flights' shot of a couple of sparrows.

The fun and delight of playing outside in the early spring! What fun we have had!!!

My Cup Runneth Over

I absolutely love spring! It seems that as the snows begin to melt and the spring rains come the water has to find its way - often through a variety of obstructions that come in all shapes and sizes, to get to the sea. Some obstructions are difficult for the water to get around, and it builds in volume as it patiently waits for its way to be opened once more. Some obstacles are simply pushed out of the way by the volume of water rushing at it.

Life is so much like water. Every day we have to make our way around obstacles, sometimes they are so big that we can't keep moving, and so we pause, and wait patiently for the way to be opened up for us. As we wait we exercise faith and trust in the Lord, knowing that we will be able to move past even the largest obstacles. Then, one day, the water starts moving again. As it waited it made a beautiful place, lush and green and full of promise. Exercising faith does that, and as we move on past obstacles we are able to leave them behind with beautiful places in our memories. Why? Because we learned so much while we waited there and it brings joy to look back and see the growth and experience we gained while we waited.

Today I just feel happy and feel like sharing that feeling with the world. Life is wonderful. My joy cascades like the waterfalls below. Each one I have visited and enjoyed. Each one is uniquely different from the other, but the one thing that they all have in common is that they keep moving, that water never gives up, even when it looks like it can go no further - then it makes a lake, creating beauty before it rushes on toward its eternal goal - the sea.

 Cameron Falls

 Castle Mountain Falls

 Castle Mountain Falls

 Johnson Canyon

 Johnson Canyon

 Lundbreck Falls

 Fairmont

Fairmont

I know that as I face my own challenges, they will become beautiful to me as I look back at the growth I gained as I waited and trusted. What joy there is in trust and patience. And look at the beauty (in the pictures above) that is created individually as we each make our way to the sea. I love the spring!!!

Another Adult

This month we now officially have 3 adults living in our home! Nope, nobody new moved in with us, but somebody had a birthday! The big 18. This was a pretty laid back birthday from my vantage point.

"What do you want for your birthday?" I asked multiple times.

"I don't know. I'll be happy with whatever you get me." was the reply.

So we found some fun things, and threw a party! The best part of it was the arrival of the grad dress! That was pretty exciting and timed perfectly!

Yup, she loved her gifts. What a joy it is to have grateful children. Of course, there are no pictures here of the grad dress, because it is supposed to be a SURPRISE! Only a few more months, and you'll see my lovely graduate!

It's hard not to reminisce when a child turns 18. It really doesn't feel like even half that time. It feels like only yesterday she was baptized, and even less time since I was painting the mural for her grade nine graduation. And suddenly we are planning another high school graduation! (Shylah, look what you started!) It is joyful watching children growing up, interacting with others, learning and practicing new skills, and then suddenly (the not so joyful part) watching them leave. After they move away, then we look forward to the fun visits and moments we have together as life moves swiftly forward. I found the following quote and couldn't help but think of my little girls and the fun they had as toddlers....

“A girl is Innocence playing in the mud, Beauty standing on its head, and Motherhood dragging a doll by the foot”      ~Allan Beck

To me innocence and beauty help prepare a girl to nurture others and touch lives for good as she moves into adulthood. Alisha you are a beautiful girl. I am so blessed to be your mother.