Easter Week 2016

What a beautiful and blessed Easter week it has been for the Nutt House!  We enjoyed a wonderful church service today where we heard the tender testimony of a returned missionary.  It was such a sweet sister that spoke, one with an intense love for our Savior and the Gospel, she serves as an example for me on how I should strive to develop the same strong love for our Savior at all times.  We were treated in Sacrament to also get to hear the Primary children get up and sing today, Kara enthusiastically got up to sing, “He Died That We Might Live Again” while a tired Kaden opted against going to sing, later revealing through once again falling asleep at church that it was a tired spell which caused his lack of singing desire. 

Two styling Nutt's in their new Easter duds

Following church, we celebrated Easter by starting to watch “Ben-Hur” as a family while preparing an Easter dinner that we shared with friends.  A great meal followed by phone calls to family members then more family movie time ended up as a perfect way for this Nutt House to spend our Easter evening.

We try to keep Easter Sunday focused on Christ and family and with that, we’ve found that the Easter Bunny visits the Nutt House on the Saturday before Easter.  We started off our Saturday with our ward family as we enjoyed an Easter pancake breakfast at the park followed by an Easter Egg Hunt with some park play time mixed in throughout the morning.  While the food and friends we enjoyed were nice, for at least the younger half of the Nutt House it was seeking out and gathering their 10 Easter Eggs that proved to be the highlight of the ward activity.  While egg hunting Kaden became so laser focused on collecting his 10 eggs that when his shoe fell off he didn’t even stop to put it back on until he had grabbed all the eggs he could find in the area he was searching in.  I’m here to tell you that these two Nutt’s take their egg finding seriously.

Our annual post Easter Egg Hunt Picture

And the reality of our Nutt-y lives

Upon returning home we observed that while we were out the Easter bunny had visited our home so with Easter bags in hand Kara and Kaden sought out each and every egg they could find that the Easter bunny hid both out front of our house and in the front room where they also located Easter buckets for the both of them.  After noticing the size of her Easter stash Kara squealed out in glee how fun Easter is and that the Easter bunny was so nice to the both of them.  Just as at Christmas, this is the first year I feel the little Nutts truly understood the holiday and observing the amazement and excitement that they both feel at each of these holidays is warming to the soul and leaves me wanting to do more and keep the magic that they are feeling alive for as long as possible.  Why or why can’t we just live in a bubble world where the joy, happiness, and Christ like spirits that they both possess won’t get tarnished and dented from the effects of the outside world???  

So many eggs to find

Easter baskets

They are LOVING the walkie talkies they both received

Anywho, after Easter basket excitement had died down and the new toys played with the little Nutts chose to play “swim teacher” where they both put on their swim suits, went out back and took turns teaching the other how to swim.  Hearing how happy they were just playing together I snuck myself out the front door where I proceeded to turn the sprinklers on the little Nutts.  After the initial shock both little Nutts ran, giggled and played until they realized it is not yet summer and their little bodies were too cold to remain in the sprinklers regardless of how much fun they were having.  *This took a whole 4 minutes before the fun had worn off, be it good or bad, they stayed outside in the water for another 4 minutes before the sprinklers turned off and they could come in and get dried off.  

Our weekend was less chaotic than a typical Nutt House weekend and that all started with Friday where we skipped out on some park time with friends and enjoyed a slower day at home.  There were scooter races, cartwheels (that have become a favorite pastime) anywhere and everywhere, and oh yes… Easter Egg dying.  Kara had vague memories of dying the eggs and Kaden really didn’t remember what was going to happen so when the aprons were on, eggs boiled and kits ready to go they sat with great anticipation for what was to come.  It didn’t take long to get in the swing of things and soon eggs were being dipped in dye, stickers applied and creativity was in abundance around the Nutt House.  One of my favorite parts when it comes to Easter egg coloring is that our big Nutt gets in on the fun too.

Friday evening brought what has become a family favorite Easter activity, going to the Natural History Museum to hunt for eggs.  We went to the museum for the first time last year for the egg hunt and that is when we fell in love with the museum and purchased a membership that has more than paid for itself over the past year.  That membership came in handy and the line to gain entrance into the museum wrapped around the museum and halfway down the block.  As the kiddos and I stood in line it was music to our ears when we heard a voice questioning if anyone in line was a museum member as we didn’t need to wait in the line.  With great exuberance I captured the hands of the little Nutts and we marched our way through the crowd to get to the front of the line and into the museum.  The crowd outside was nothing compared to the crowd indoors.  There were so many people that we had to truly honor the 5 eggs per child request from the museum.  We thought for a moment we’d follow a museum volunteer around who was dropping and hiding the eggs and easily capture our own.  However, when we witnessed mobs around the volunteers, one of which was a child herself the fun of following them around was quickly lost and we took our time finding our eggs as we enjoyed bits and pieces of the museum while there too.  Thankfully, the exploration station room, which is full of books, crafts, and toys associated with dinosaurs and natural history was open and we enjoyed some time in there and had fun playing some of the games the museum had available for us.  We learned more about dinosaurs and overall had a great evening.  While I am not a fan of large crowds like that, if we can avoid it, which thankfully, memberships allow us to do the little Nutts were having such fun they paid no attention to the crowds and wanted to keep enjoying the museum that they have dubbed their own. 

The best picture they'd let me take the whole night...  ugh!

Thursday we took advantage of the gorgeous springtime weather we’ve had and after school was over found ourselves dashing over to meet up with some friends at the Hall of Flame Museum and the zoo.  While our friends had not been to the Hall of Flame Museum before it didn’t take long before we headed over to the family favorite, kid friendly areas as observing the antique fire trucks with just our eyes and not our hands quickly became boring and less appealing for little ones.  Fortunately, playing in the fire truck, sliding down the fire pole and the other kid-friendly activities captured the interest and excitement of the kiddos and we were able to call the trip a success.  

After the Hall of Flame, we took the short trip over to the zoo where we continued our outing with friends.  Witnessing Kara link arms with her friend while Kaden blossomed with another boy around was enjoyable to say the least.  While we didn’t engage in Kara’s new favorite of petting the sting-rays we did take the train around the zoo, which is always a highlight for Kaden.  As well, where we were going later in the day it allowed us to see much more of the zoo than we would have otherwise.  The jaguar was a favorite animal for the day, most likely because it is one of the big cats and was active while we were there.  Unlike the lions and tigers who at most lay around the jaguar was pacing his cage, jumping up on perches, rolling over on his back, stretching open his large jaws to show off his teeth… putting on a regular show for us.  Only thing that was missing was a growl from the jaguar for this to be the talk about moment of the day.  After the jaguar we journeyed toward the alligators where the kiddos excitedly witnessed an alligator in a different part of the exhibit than normal.  When the alligator traveled underneath the bridge area the kiddos got down on all fours to watch him from the cracks in the bridge.  My attempts to remind them they could see the alligator from the other side of the bridge were lost on them at first, though honestly, I didn’t try too hard to get them to look as they were too cute watching from the ground.

"All Aboard!"
 *and thanks Kara for looking in the complete opposite direction!

"Take my picture mom!"
Pretty sure he was attempting karate here

Looking at the alligator

After our trip to the zoo the little Nutts and I headed toward the Mesa Temple Easter Pageant where we met up with Brent for our annual Easter Pageant attendance.  During the first part of the pageant I enjoyed watching Kaden’s face as you could see he was focused, paying attention, and taking in what he was observing.  Also, the fact that he and Brent had the exact same expression, down to the partially opened mouths was kind of fun to see.  Kara was determined to stay awake for the entire pageant and she succeeded though it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep in the car.  Kaden didn’t survive the pageant and was asleep in my arms for at least a good third of the play.  However, this was the first year that we didn’t need our end row seating as Brent did not need to get up with Kaden and walk around to keep him entertained, so I’d say we are making progress.  Also, considering that the little Nutts had to wait a good 2.5 hours, staying close to our seats before the pageant started I’d say they were rock stars for the evening!  As for myself, the pageant wasn’t but 2 minutes in before I felt the warmth of the Holy Ghost envelope me, testifying of the truthfulness of the messages being shared.  And true to form and true to each year, I was sobbing at the end of the pageant.  My emotions hit a sensitive high as the sound of nails being driven into the hands of Christ resonate across the Temple grounds and from that point on, each message shared, each highlight allow for more tears to flow.  From the simple “Mary” spoken by Christ, the rising of angels from on high, and the final eruption as Christ ascends into heaven.  What a wonderful night and true reminder as to why we have Easter, what is truly important  during this season and hopefully during each day in our lives.  

Two goodballs waiting for the pageant to start

My little hero with two of the Roman soldiers

The first part of our week brought our standard activities of school, assorted lessons/classes, and play dates.  This week for school on Tuesday we joined up with the mom’s group I’m a part of for a field trip to the Fire Station where the kiddos were given a tour of the station and the fire truck.  Watching a fireman slide down the fire pole quickly became the highlight of the trip and though not granted, several requests were made for him to “do it again, do it again”.  While Kaden had fun hopping up in the fire truck and standing next to a fully-suited up fireman Kara wasn’t having it and opted to hang back by me.  Kaden was in his element and excited to see and do anything and everything allowed of him.  He would have stayed all day if someone had even shared such a thought.  So it was safe to say that the fire station field trip was a great success.  

At swimming this week Kara took her swim test to advance from the Seahorse swim level up to the Dolphin level.  With great ease she was able to jump in the water and swim across the length of the pool fully clothed.  She is so excited to be a Dolphin as we committed to the kiddos that when they reached the Dolphin level of swimming they could go to a large water park with their dad.  Kara is excited to cash in on the reward though Brent keeps reminding her it is still a little cold for such an outing. 

Kaden enjoyed swinging between the pads like Tarzan at his My Gym
class this week.  He is so excited to host his birthday party there this year
that he talks about each time we even see My Gym and the theme
he wants has changed daily

Kara swimming her way to become a Dolphin

Though not at all as exciting the kiddos also went to the dentist this week where Kaden was happy to sit watching the movie with his mouth wide open and Kara proudly got in the dentist chair as she wanted to show off the fact that she had lost a tooth to the dentist.  Dental visits can be so frustrating as Kaden, whose dental habits leave something to be desired has 0 cavities and Kara who tries so hard to keep her teeth clean walked away with two minor cavities that we need to have filled. 

She even makes the dentist office look cool

As long as he could watch the movie he was happy to lay there
all day

Oh well, so goes life, right?  And with that, another Nutt-y week is in the books and we are prepared for anything and everything that this new week has to offer us.