Easter Weekend & Spring Break

I am going to try really hard to get everything caught up on my blog. These pictures were taken during Easter weekend. It fell at the same time as General Conference which made for a very memorable weekend. We were lucky enough to have Mitchell & Janessa come and visit on the Saturday, April 3rd. They wanted to see General Conference, so luckily they were able to get enough tickets for the 4 of us. Byron & I met them up at the Conference Center around 9 a.m. We were lucky to find parking pretty close and Janessa & Mitchell took trax from their hotel. It was great to see them. We sat in the 2nd balcony directly in front of the speakers. When we got our seats, we found out that Melissa and some of Byron's cousins were seated a few rows in front of us. It was fun to see them.

Conference was such an emotional session for me. The talks seemed to hit me and I felt like I was being directly talked to on some of the talks. It was also awesome seeing President Monson there with his sweet wife. After the session was over, he pushed her out while she sat in her wheelchair. I'm sure we could learn a lot from the First Presidency if we just sat and observed them.

After conference, we walked a few blocks to eat lunch at an Italian Restaurant. The food was so delicious. We also loved being able to talk with Janessa & Mitchell and spend time with them uninterrupted.

We went up to Byron's parents house that evening while for the Priesthood session and spent the night. Since we hadn't decorated Easter eggs yet, we decided to do that while the men were gone. Sharon had received some eggs that were brown. We decorated with the darker eggs and white eggs. I was so happy to see what brilliant colors come from the darker eggs. We got shades of colors I had never seen before. We had a great time. Melissa & Sharon participated with us. Sharon also wrote the kid's names with calligraphy on one of their eggs.

Johnathan being crazy!

Some of the eggs we dyed.

Sharon writing on some eggs while Carter & Camille watched.

Sunday morning the kids were very excited to see what the Easter bunny brought. Here they are lined up youngest to oldest.

Bradley hadn't remembered much about the Easter bunny, so it was fun to see his excitement. He caught on quickly, though and loved finding all of the candy and treats that were hidden.

My crazy boys before we began looking for eggs.

The kids after finding their loot. Johnathan, Bradley, Tanner, Carter, Parker & Camille

We enjoyed watching Conference and spending the day reflecting on the Savior's life. How awesome to enjoy Easter and Conference on the same weekend. We were truly uplifted.

Every year Grandma Beck does a treasure hunt for all of the grandchildren. She is so talented and comes up with such fun clues. The kids always look forward to this and love running from area to area to try to find the clues first.

Spring Break followed Easter this year which made for a fun week. We rolled our Easter eggs the next day, Monday, with Allyson and her children. The weather was pretty cold, so we didn't stay at the park for very long. The kids love having reasons to throw things and had fun seeing how far they could throw their egg without having it break. It always surprises me how resilient these eggs are.

Johnathan, Parker, Bradley, Carter & Tanner with their eggs before we started.

Bradley & Myles having fun together.

The whole clan including Myles and Rose.

Spring Break didn't exactly end up like we had hoped. Byron & I got sick for 2 days which threw a loop in what we had planned. Instead we stayed home and relaxed for much of the break.

Byron ended up taking a day off work. We went fishing at Highland Park. We didn't catch any fish, but had a great time trying. We were able to see some pretty big white fish keep swimming by, but they either were already full or didn't like what we were trying to feed them.

Byron & the kids trying to find the perfect location to fish.

Carter, Bradley & Johnathan

Camille & Johnathan being so patient!

Byron was great to spend so much time getting the kids lines ready. Since we didn't have enough fishing poles for everybody, Carter & Parker found a long stick that Byron attached a line with a hook and worm. They were so proud of their fishing poles.

Byron & Camille

Bradley & Parker

Carter

I got a laugh out of Bradley. For Christmas he got a small fishing pole that had gumballs attached to it. He had to make sure he got his fishing pole before we left home. What a cutie!