I'm way behind on posting everything that's happened since March. So today I thought I'd start catching up with Easter.
On Easter, Taylor spoke in church. He gave a great talk, but because he was speaking I had to sit alone with the kids during sacrament meeting. It started off okay- we got to church early, sat down, both kids were quiet. Then Will wandered away and sat with another family before I could grab him. They said it was fine, and since I didn't want Will to have a tantrum right at the beginning of the meeting I let him stay there. Mistake #1.
At one point the mom took a couple of her kids to the bathroom and Will thought, "Hey, I should get up and walk around too!" So he escaped, ran up to the front, then back down the aisle. Meanwhile, Emma had started to fuss so I had to take her out and when I walked back in I couldn't see Will at first. He was behind me. I thought, "Perfect. I'll just walk with him back to our seats." Mistake #2.
When we got back to our seats, Will decided he didn't want to be there and started to cry. So I turned around and started to take him out of the room. Then he got really upset, dove dramatically onto the floor of the aisle and started really crying. Still holding Emma with one arm, I attempted to pull Will up, quickly realized it wasn't going to happen and started looking around me for help. Sure enough, Tod Turley came to my rescue and carried Will out of the room. Then a bunch of the women offered to take Emma and eventually I was sitting back in the chapel, Will was quietly sucking his fingers on my lap, someone had Emma in the hallway, and I got to listen to Taylor speak. As embarrassed as I was, I'm glad I was at church where I know most people have gone (or are currently going through) the same struggle with their kids and most people are just happy to help. Since then, we've really been focusing on reverence and sitting quietly in church. We even moved where we normally sit so Will wouldn't be as distracted by his best friend Harrison. It seems to be working and Sundays have been a lot better.
Anyways, after the adventure of sacrament meeting Will went to Nursery, Emma fell asleep and the rest of church was wonderful. When we got home I hurried to take Easter pictures before the kids went down for naps. I set up a blanket on the ground, made sure their outfits looked good, had Taylor help prop Emma on Will's lap so I could snap some pictures and before we knew it...
...Will pushed Emma face first onto the pavement.
These were the only two Easter pictures I got before I gave up and put them both to bed.
Luckily, Emma survived without any cuts or bruises (just a little dirt) and after naps our day took a 180 degree turn.
We had two families over for dinner, the Smiths and the Coxes. We spent the rest of the afternoon with them, mostly just talking and eating. We also had an Easter egg hunt for Will and Harrison. They didn't really get it. There definitely wasn't a sense of urgency to find the eggs until we opened them at the end and they realized there was STUFF inside! So it took some prodding but they found all the eggs.
About half-way through Will took a break. (Apparently egg hunting is hard work.)
They kind of just followed each other in the end.
Harrison found the big prize, with lots of hints and direction.
And Emma just watched and looked cute.
After the egg hunt, we ate an awesome bunny cake that Elizabeth made, complete with donut tail and birthday candles because it was Rachel's birthday.
It may have been a crazy morning, but the day ended on a good note. We are grateful for good friends to celebrate with. I am also grateful to know what we truly celebrate on Easter: that Christ lives again! It's fun to do egg hunts and eat treats and throw fake grass everywhere (Will), but remembering that Easter commemorates Christ's resurrection brings me true joy. I know that He lives! I love Him and I love living his gospel. It brings greater joy to everything that I do and every relationship that I have. It helps me through those crazy Sundays and helps me find joy in them. Happy (belated) Easter, everyone!
