Easter in Little Rock

 Easter was eventful and fun this year. We made a spontaneous decision to go visit Tally in Little Rock, Arkansas. It was the perfect time to see her before her big move to Pennsylvania. So Mom and Dad, (yay! They're home!) the Barney's, and the Kesner's took off for the long weekend. The working husbands stayed in St. Louis with Maren and Adam, who already had big plans. Adam went on a bike ride in Nauvoo with the Young Men and Maren had a Young Women sleepover.

We did the Easter basket thing before we left. That simplified Easter morning and we didn't have to haul that stuff.

Here come a bunch of pictures... I know I get carried away. But this is like my journal, and I like to look at pictures!

A picnic on the way to Little Rock

We made it to Elena's soccer game. Here's Elena and Mariah warming up on the field.

Goal!

A beautiful family walk

Little Rock is lovely.

Our nature hike ended at a little park.

These cute girls gave everyone free, ice-cold lemonade. (We didn't have money on us)

It was so sweet of them to share and everyone was thirsty. We moms didn't plan ahead very well and brought no water.

This cat was friendly with the kids, and they loved it.

 Russian Easter Eggs

The kids are old enough now to enjoy this traditional Easter activity. When we were young, we made Russian Easter eggs with our best friends the Sutliff's every year.

It's fun! The kids worked on the eggs for hours. I forgot to photograph their finished eggs.

 The Easter Egg Hunt

We drove a few blocks away to a little creek and hid our eggs there. It was a gorgeous location.

Just wish I wasn't allergic to spring...

 I noticed that the egg hunt is a pretty intense activity among the grandkids- lots of running, serious faces, with a few tears. Everyone was greedily trying to get the most candy of course. I found myself wondering about this tradition, but I find no way to get out of it. Tawny did stretch the candy by putting one small piece in each egg. No one even complained about that surprisingly. Maybe it's less about the candy and more about winning. Either way, the Hunt is not my favorite.

Next year I want to balance a little more with activities about the true meaning of Easter. There are so many beautiful Bible videos online to show the children. (Tally's ward did have a wonderful Easter program though)

Max is a sweetheart. He gets cuter and cuter.

It's so nice to have grandparents in these pictures! And so fun to have them home!

   Nonny braided all the girls hair for Easter. It reminded her of the days when she had her five little daughters at home. This was so darling. They all sat in a line waiting for their turn. What a sweet memory.

Mom asked me to get a picture of the girls' braids. 

   Isn't that sweet?

 Some twirling

A few boys joined in the Easter morning walk.

  I felt very lucky to be surrounded by all these wonderful children. They are so sweet.

These three cousins were extra cute holding hands.

\Waving at the passers-by

Back at the park 

What a great weekend. Family, fun, delicious food- can't beat it. 

Thanks, Tally!

And more Max...