Easter Days

April 19 was Hanging Out Day. I got to hang out with Jr. at another UVU event. 

Besides the lunch they provided, the also had a soda bar and candy bar. We got lots of candy. I got a lemon-lime soda with coconut and pineapple flavoring in it based on Jr.'s suggestion. Thank you, Jr. It was yummy.

At the end of the event, they had a Bingo competition. I won! I won! I won! I won a little air fryer. 

I've used it a couple times since I brought it home, both times to make mini jalapeno popper egg rolls. I love those things.

 

That afternoon we had an Easter egg hunt at home. Jet loved it. I'm sure the older kids did as well. It was fun to see Jet didn't need guidance this year like he has in some past years. He was told which color egg to look for and didn't try taking anybody else's eggs.

April 20 was Easter. We went to church and had a beautiful Sacrament Meeting then a brunch in the cultural hall afterward.

We were able to put together an Easter dinner that day. We had ham, scalloped potatoes (from a Season of Family Meal Plans, volume 2, by Jordan Page), pineapple, and resurrection rolls or empty tomb rolls.

I had everybody come help with the rolls and taught them what each part represented.

Roll dough represents the tomb. A regular sized marshmallow represents Christ's body. Dip it in melted butter then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture to represent the oil and spices used to prepare His body for burial. Wrap it up in the tomb/dough and bake about 20 minutes. When you open the tomb, it is empty for He is risen. That's what it represents.

 

It was a nice little reminder during our dinner of what Easter is really about. Because Christ was resurrected, we will be resurrected, too. All the physical troubles our bodies go through in this life won't follow us through eternity. But the relationships we cultivate here on Earth, whether it's going to church together to learn more about our Savior or making a fun treat together, will last. What a marvelous blessing.

Reading Challenges

If you know me, you know I love reading challenges. You should see our whole family in the Summertime with our local library reading programs.

This photo represents three reading challenges. In March, I finished a read-along with author Anneka R. Walker reading a book a month of her Matchmaking Mamas series. The fourth book, The Rules of Matrimony, comes out today, May 6. These books are sweet clean romances, and I love the humor in them. Having read the first two books before this read-along, I was looking forward to certain scenes I knew would make me laugh again.

The mug in my picture says, "Just one more chapter..." This is very appropriate for this series. I had a hard time stopping in order to stretch each book out for a month. The mug I earned from the Winter Reading Program with Provo City Library.

The last challenge that goes with this picture is the Adult Reading Challenge with Orem Public Library where I had to pick one of two categories to use The Gentleman's Confession since it fit both.

I'm sure when Summer Reading comes along again, I'll use that as an excuse to read and reread more of Anneka R. Walker's books. 

It turned out I didn't have to wait until May to read the last book in the Matchmaking Mamas series.

I won an advanced copy of The Rules of Matrimony from the read-along. I was so excited to read it in April.

It wasn't intentional but I happened to be wearing a shirt that matched the cover in this picture. Fun!

When the book arrived in the mail, Jet was very happy to help me open it. He's so cute.

Anneka R. Walker posted a quote from the book on Instagram and I just so happened to have read the scene with that quote early in the morning... because I was reading the book in the middle of the night. I mentioned it on Instagram saying:

How could you do this to me, authorannekawalker?

I woke in the middle of the night and thought I'll just read a little bit more of this book I started yesterday. The next thing I knew it was time to get up for the day. Now I have to teach my children there are consequences for my actions because I am so so tired.

And I want to do it again.

 

This was her response:

 

 

Remember the mug? "Just one more chapter..."

I knew it would be like that for The Rules of Matrimony because it was the same for the rest of the Matchmaking Mamas series. It was true. It didn't take me long to read the whole book because it was so hard to put down.

There was something I realized about myself, though. That attitude of "just one more chapter..." is great for reading sweet clean fiction books but I should really be feeling it when I sit down to read my scriptures. It's a personal goal I want to do better with and if I'm being honest, when I am doing those things that bring me closer to my Savior, I can enjoy other wholesome things in my life (like books with "humor and heart") even more. 

We Won! We Won! We Won! We Won!

I mentioned back in September (September 2, 2024) that Jeremy won a movie night at the Orem Library through the Summer Reading Program.

He was allowed to have 20 people for the movie night, so each of us in the family were able to invite two or three people. So on a Saturday afternoon in September, our group of 20 met together at the auditorium at Orem Library to watch the movie, Wonka, and eat chocolatey treats that Jeremy put together for everyone.

It was a nice activity. We really like that movie.

picture taken by Stephanie Goodman

This is what Stephanie sent to us after the movie was over. Some of us got a quick picture together.

Battle of the Books

Lucky wanted to compete in Battle of the Books again this year. Like last year, he read all 20 books and was prepared. His team was called The Reading Unipenguipotterpuses. That may sound a little familiar if you look at my Valentine's Day post this year. The Valentine cards Lucky gave to his class had unipenguipotterpuses on them.

His team once again made it to finals against another team that was really good. This year however, Lucky walked away with a first place trophy and two new books (he got candy for participating earlier).

Way to go, buddy. Such a good reader.

I Won! I Won! I Won!

If Jeremy can do it, I can do it. 

I've written before about Jeremy winning swag from The Odd and Offbeat Podcast (see my blog post from August 17, 2020) and calling out, "I won! I won! I won!"

Recently, I could be heard doing the same thing. "I won! I won! I won!" after winning swag from Sarah M. Eden celebrating the release of her book, Fleur-de-Lis. Stickers and bookmarks!

I'm silly, too.