A Month of Easter

Easter was a little more special this year. I attended a Relief Society meeting where Sister Emily B. Freeman spoke. She emphasized that we go all out to celebrate Christmas; that it's a month-long event. But Easter, probably the most important holiday (alongside Christmas), does not get the same kind of focus. She has made it a point in her home to celebrate Easter all month long and gave us tips on how we could too. 

I liked that idea. A lot of her tips were for older kids. I thought the best thing for our young family would be focusing our weekly FHE's around Easter. I found some really great lessons that taught about the symbols of Easter, the atonement, and one really fun part was some resurrection rolls we baked up for a treat. Anyway, success! It was just a different focus this year and it made the holiday much more meaningful than just presents and egg hunts.

That said, Easter with all its prizes and hunts was a delight! The Easter Bunny left a family set of laser tag guns. We had several rousing games of laser tag, which the kids have been loving ever since with friends. Throw in a couple egg hunts and it was a most memorable Easter. Thankful for my Savior, for his atonement and resurrection. Thankful that I have this little family to teach, love and watch over because of Him.

St. Patrick's Day

An all-green dinner is our favorite St Patty's tradition. I had all the table settings and food to do our green dinner, but it was a tight night and after a vote by the mom and dad, we decided to skip the green meal (just this once).

I did, however, manage to arrange for our leprechaun, Lenny, to make an appearance so the day wasn't a complete fail.

Kate was sure surprised when carpool dropped her home from school. Our house looked different! Lenny had strung rainbow-colored yarn all through the backyard, the garage, and the front yard leading to a precious treasure of real gold coins, gummy hamburger candies, and lego mini figures all inside the hose box.

We started this tradition back when Kate was just little and it's weird for me to see these 3 kids now doing this together! It's a fun tradition for them; nothing amazing, but they always look forward to the day and so do I.

The Viking Yurt

Okay, hands-down, one of the best nights of my life! I gave Dave a dinner to the Viking Yurt up in Park City for our anniversary. At first I thought it would amazing, and then I was sure it would be a flop, and in the end it was just wonderful!

My mom took our kids for the night since it was a 6-10pm dining adventure. When we arrived, there was the yuckiest couple that couldn't keep their hands off of each other. I KNEW they would be seated right next to us. I knew it. Alas, I prayed they wouldn't. 

We boarded on a sleigh with about 38 other people and embarked on our 22-minute journey up to the mountain tops. We passed by old mining buildings, enjoyed the sunset and views, visited with other passengers, and cozied up in our blankets. 

Once at the top, we snapped pics with our adorable yurt! It was so festive the way it was all lit up and smelled just like Christmas inside! 

Inside, there was a baby grand playing and a rustic, crackling wood-burning stove! No running water, and all the food had to be snowmobiled up in advance for cooking!

We were shown to our seats and guess what? You guessed it! Our handsy, super affectionate, icky friends were seated...RIGHT NEXT TO US!!!! Lucky us! I wanted to vomit. They introduced themselves, Kagen or something ridiculous like that, the one was named. I know. I'm a horrible person!

Honestly, it was no big deal! Those two love birds kept to themselves the whole night enjoying themselves, and the rest of us at the table were able to make wonderful conversation with each other and enjoy ourselves! Judge me all you want, but they were weirdies and I'm just glad it all worked out in the end!

Anyway, the couple kitty corner from us were cute; the dude was from Puerto Rico and had a fun Spanish accent. Directly across from us, the Kelley's (from the Chicago area), were just delightful. Keith was such the extrovert and kept conversation rolling for hours. It was so fun to have someone so interested in you and all your thoughts. I was super impressed with them and they have inspired me to be in the kind of physical and mental shape in my late sixties that I can take romantic skiing adventure trips with my spouse!

Dinnner, too, was a delight! 6 courses of fun:

• Glogg – served upon arrival. This was a hot, non-alcoholic berry based drink spiced with cardamon, nutmeg and cinnamon.
• Soup – Butternut Squash
• Salad – Smoked Trout, Fennel, Creamy Lemon & Honey dressing, Rye Crouton
• Intermettzo – a sorbet palate cleanser served in rocks from Norway
• Entrée – Braised Short Ribs, Jarlsburg Potatoes, Red Wine Braising Jus, Winter Vegetables
• Cheese course – A selection of cheese and fruit served on an aspen slab
• Dessert – Warm Pear Strudel, Lingonberry Ice cream

It was almost sad when they called it a night up there! What an adventure! Definitely something I want to do again, although because of the risk you run being seated next to any rando, we'll definitely plan to bring friends with us next time around! 

Happy 14th, Sweet Cheeks. Life just gets better and better all the time!