Easter Weekend.

We went out to my Gramma's to color and decorate eggs with all my cousin's and their kids. They also played a few Easter games, and got to find the eggs in the backyard. The kids always have fun playing with all their cousin's. It was a nice afternoon. Then we went over to Adam and Britt's for a nice ham and potato dinner that Britt and I made for the Malacko clan. It was delicious. We had a great day.

Sunday after church we went out to my in-laws and spent the night. We had a nice dinner and a nice little lesson and video on the Atonement. I am so grateful for my Savior and all that he does for me. Especially that he died for me. The kids are starting to understand the atonement more and the video really affected them.

There was a lot of talk about the "easter bunny" and all the things the kids wanted or expected from him. Now I really hate lying to my kids about all of these things...easter bunny, santa, tooth fairy. It just really irritates me, but don't really know what to do. I mean, I want them to have the magical experience of it all, but I hate that they expect expensive things and they have this faith that this magical being will bring them anything and won't disappoint them. It puts a lot of pressure on parents. Anyway, McKenna was terrified to go to bed at night because she was picturing this huge bunny with fangs sitting on the edge of her bed. So I kind of just blurted out that the Easter bunny wasn't real, and that Dad's and Mom's just hid the treats. I think I pretty much ruined Ty's life. He was pretty disappointed. Nate and McKenna weren't bothered by it at all. Actually McKenna was quite relieved. When they woke up I had a scavenger hunt made up for them to find their treats. All was forgotten and all the kids were excited and happy, and the best part was they thanked us for their treats. I wasn't sure I made the right decision but felt good about it in the morning. Now the hard part is stressing to the kids that they can't tell their friends and cousin's that the Easter bunny isn't real. Don't worry, I am not going to reveal the Santa secret to Ty for awhile (I'm going to have to remember to take parts of this out when I make my blog into a book), but we have reduced how much Santa is a part of our Christmas traditions. Anyway, it all worked out in the end. We spent the rest of the day playing outside. Ryan and his Dad were working on their house, and Ty and Nate helped Gramma rake the leaves and earned enough money to buy Pokemon binders. We had a great weekend celebrating with family.