Happy Easter

This past week has been one of the usual-kind of crazy and extremely busy. I decided (last minute, of course) to put together Easter baskets for work. As an activity this month we went yesterday to go see Monsters vs. Aliens in 3D (if you haven't seen it yet, you really should. It's the cutest show and kids LOVE it! We should know....I forgot when I scheduled the activity it was spring break here. The theater was PACKED with kids, but they all really seemed to like the show). But, I thought it would be nice for the adults I work with to get a little Easter treat as we always are getting things for our kids or others, but nothing usually for ourselves. I ordered the majority of the baskets from Oriental Trade, but they didn't come until Wednesday, which meant I had to hurry and throw everything together. On top of that, I decided to put together Easter baskets for siblings/friends/grandparents/parents, so it was kind of hectic. As I sit here reflecting and thinking of all I still need to get done today, I realize how ironic it is. Easter is just like Christmas in a way, extremely commercialized. And of course, I'm totally buying into it! So, before I start my day of fighting with traffic and running a million errands, I'd like to start my Easter off right and remember what it's really about. At our house we celebrate Easter on Saturday with the baskets and then on Sunday really focus in on what Easter is about. I am so very thankful for the true meaning of Easter and for my Savior. Recently our ward was split and we were released from our calling as Sunbeam teachers. Although the calling was hard (it's hard to entertain 4-5 year olds for an hour or so) I actually was almost crying our last day in class. I had grown to love our kids so much, they had so much life in them. They enjoyed everything we did in class and were so great about participating. Our Easter lesson was supposed to be the Sunday before General Conference as tomorrow is our Stake Conference. I was so excited to talk about Jesus and Heavenly Father and the sacrifice they made for us. We were going to do an Easter egg hunt and in each egg was a topic we would discuss about Easter. Their little minds were so great about soaking things up in class. I told Alan several times that it didn't seem like we would even talk about the actual topic we were supposed to because some of it was hard for little minds to absorb. But, as we were taking around a goodbye gift to all our kids (I had already purchased all of the Easter stuff for class and didn't want it to go to waste) we had several parents tell us their kids were so excited to talk about what they had learned in class and show their parents the crafts they made. It made me feel so good to know that the kids WERE paying attention and enjoyed coming to our class. It also made me feel good to know that we were just a small stepping stone to help them learn the teachings of the gospel. I am so grateful for my knowledge of the gospel and for my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I'm grateful we were able to listen to General Conference last weekend and for the wonderful prophet. I'm so grateful for this Easter season and for what it truly means for me and my family and for the sacrifice Jesus made so that I can live again. I truly love the Savior and the gospel and know that Christ knows and loves me too. Happy Easter everyone and I hope we can remember what this weekend is truly about.