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...

 

The "Mormon Prom"

 I love that the church has a more modest and appropriate version of Prom. They go all out- lots of decorations, (007 theme this year) a dinner, (spaghetti may not have been the best choice for a formal dance :) ) and professional pictures. All for free. (Maren's school prom is $130 per couple)  And you don't even have to have a date to attend. The dresses are modest and so is the dancing. Maren and some of her friends from church went together in a group, and although she complained that there wasn't enough dancing, I think they had a great time. She especially enjoyed primping and getting ready for the dance with her buddies. I'm so glad she has such nice friends. And I'm grateful for all the adults that work so hard to give our kids these special experiences.

Her dress wasn't fancy, but she looked very pretty.

She ordered a dress for the school prom, but it still hasn't come.

   

 

 

   

 

I love this! She's looking like Aunt Jenn.

Conference time at the Barney's

I love General Conference weekend. It's so nice to have the family gathered around listening to the inspiring messages from the prophet and apostles. It feels so relaxing and there are generally good feelings among the children. I make cinnamon rolls as one of our newer conference traditions. I try to have things to keep their hands busy so they don't mind as much listening to the hours of conference. Hopefully someday they will grow up to love it as much as Geoff and I do. 

We pulled out a new puzzle as soon as the first one was finished.

Lately there is always a puzzle in the formal dining room. We don't do much formal dining.

Popcorn munching Annalisa

Like how she uses Maren as her comfy spot?

Calli did what she usually does- sleep on her couch perch.

Landon joined us for conference time.

My famous cinnamon rolls

Sister picture

Maren was invited to prom last weekend. Her date set up these candles while I distracted Maren in the basement. (braiding the sisters' hair and taking those pictures above) Then he texted me when he was ready. I told Maren to come up to my room and see the storm damage on the balcony. She was easy to trick. She had been the one who showed me the storm damage (broken gutters) on the back of the house. Then she saw her friend Yi standing there among the candles holding a bouquet of tulips. 

Good one, Yi! It was pretty awesome.

Yi's friend awkwardly standing in all of the pictures...

Baby Smiles

 I got some cute smiles from Max yesterday when I was watching him. Here are some of them.

You would think this is Tawny's blog with how many Max pictures are posted. Oh well, I'm just a proud aunt, I guess. And I love babies.