Celebrate!

Fred's birthday

Avery & Emma eying Easter dinner

The girls prepping for the egg hunt - the guys hide them

Liz is probably wishing for more teeth for her 7th birthday

Uncle Justin is a magnet for the kids - oh, maybe it's the gifts...

Easter

We celebrate Easter with a casual Saturday dinner and egg hunt for the kids (pics of them on the Grandma blog).  Here's the spread...

 My daughters Jennifer and Aubrey

 Krista's wonderful baked confections

 Grandma B, Kenlee and I

 My DIL (I prefer daughter-in-love) Krista and Kenlee (cute mom and daughter)

 Fred and Grandma B

 Jennifer and my son, Justin

 Sons-in-law/love - Fred and Rob with Alex (Avery in the background)

 Aubrey and Max

Easters from the past

Traditionally we would go to my grandparents' home and we loved spending time with our cousins.

Kathy, Cindy, Me, Carolyn

Me, Gary, Carolyn, Wendy, Cindy, Craig

Me, Carolyn, Kathy

Kathy, Carolyn, Peter, Me

Craig, Kevin, Me, Carolyn, Kathy with Colleen, Gary, Wendy, Cindy

Me, Carolyn

Me, Carolyn

Me, Kathy, Carolyn, Pete

Craig, Me, Carolyn & Cindy

Easter

"The word Easter is from Eastre, a Norse goddess whose pagan festival was observed at the spring equinox. The association of this pagan goddess with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ was only by adaptation and synthesis. There is no real connection.... It thus became a springtime anniversary, and has come to be called Easter in the Christian world" (Bible Dictionary)

Easter Trivia from About.com:

How is the date calculated? The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the 14th day of the paschal full moon, which is the full moon whose 14th day falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.

We know that Easter must always occur on a Sunday, because Sunday was the day of Christ's Resurrection. But why the 14th day of the paschal full moon? Because that was the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter was the Sunday after Passover.

Interesting perspective on Pastor Rick Warren at Easter on One News Now.
I am grateful that our Prophet and Apostles will never apologize for defending what is right and moral, even when it is unpopular with the masses, and even under pressure and in the spotlight - even when interviewed by Larry King - they remain strong and upright. But, their love for all comes through, nevertheless. They may be rejected by man but they will not deny God.

Another Easter - 1964

My cousin, Kathy, Colleen and I
Craig, Kevin, Me, Carolyn, Colleen with Kathy, Gary, Wendy and Cindy

Easter Sunday

Olivia, Ashlie and Alex - ready for Church.
Ready for Church - Adam, Noah, Emma
Liz and Emma after Church

What does Easter mean? Every person who has been born (and thus died) on Earth will be resurrected. It is a free gift to all and is not the result of good works or faith. Jesus Christ made the resurrection possible when he himself broke the bands of death: "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22.) Contrary to what some care to believe, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does teach and believe that all are saved in Christ. As a perfect man, through his death he was able to pay the price for all the rest of us who sin. His resurrection led the way and showed us that we will live again.

If you want to know what the LDS people believe, please check out the official Church website or talk to active members or missionaries. I am always amazed that people will believe the opinion of non-members (even anti-church folks) about what we believe (and take that as fact) rather than going to a source that actually knows. If you want to know what the Catholics (or Muslims or Jews or Baptists) believe, don't ask me. I may have an opinion and even some facts but would I be the right source for truth here? H-e-l-l-o! www.lds.org

Have a blessed Easter day.

Emma and her Easter goodies.
Emma Adam & Noah

Music last night, Family today, Easter tomorrow

Easter family dinner today. Natalie has plans with the in-laws on Sunday so we are doing our thing on Saturday. Everyone here except Aubrey and her family. We miss them! Obviously we like to eat.



Last night I enjoyed Pete's bluegrass concert. Of course I forgot my camera (again!). Tried camera photos but not enough light.

Happy Easter to everyone!

Good Friday

"He is not here: for he is risen..." (Matthew 28: 1-15, Luke 24: 1-12, John 20:1-10)
Good Friday: The day Christians believe Jesus was crucified by order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Following his death, Jesus' body was wrapped in a shroud and placed in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea.

"The gift of immortality to all is so choice a gift that our rejoicing in these two great and generous gifts should drown out any sorrow, assuage any grief, conquer any mood, dissolve any despair, and tame any tragedy.

Even those who see life as pointless will one day point with adoration to the performance of the Man of Galilee in the crowded moments of time known as Gethsemane and Calvary. Those who now say life is meaningless will yet applaud the atonement, which saved us all from meaninglessness.

Christ’s victory over death routs the rationale that there is a general and irreversible human predicament; there are only personal predicaments, but even from these we can also be rescued by following the pathway of Him who rescued us from general extinction.

A disciple’s “brightness of hope,” therefore, means that at funerals his tears are not because of termination, but because of interruption and separation. Though just as wet, his tears are not of despair, but of appreciation and anticipation. Yes, for disciples, the closing of a grave is but the closing of a door that will later be flung open.

It is the Garden Tomb, not life, that is empty!"

Neal A. Maxwell, Wherefore Ye Must Press Forward, pp. 132-3

Easter is Early

Making plans for Easter. Josh & Asher found the Easter Bunny at the mall in Kansas.

My mom shared this trivia with me about this year's early Easter . . .

Interesting facts about Easter:

Easter this year is: Sunday March 23 2008

As you may know Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives!

And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above!).

And none of us have ever or will ever see it a day earlier! Here are the facts:

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now).

The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you're 95 or older you are the only ones that were around for that!).

The next time it will be a day earlier March 22 will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now).

The last time it was on March 22 was 1818.

So no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Weekend's here!

Some miscellaneous photos...

I cook on Sunday (This photo was shot at Easter, 2007). Flowers from Jenn.A day at work (Ask a nurse anything you want about reproductive health - I answer phone and email questions, interview clients, and miscellaneous other health-related "duties as assigned").

Emma and Jenn going to a mother-daughter tea at LaQuaille
Emma is a natural on the horse (she says she will take riding lessons when older)
Adam was not so sure about it
The look of sheer terror on Noah's face!