Fun Easter Tradition

They didn't turn out super pretty. But here is the end result.

Sometimes it is hard for me to not get side tracked with Holiday's and why we have them. I received this recipe about 7 years ago in a FHE swap and I thought that I would share it with you albeit late but maybe for next year.

Easter Story Cookies
1 c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
pinch of salt
1 c. sugar
Zipper baggie, wooden spoon, tape, bible
Preheat oven to 300

Place pecans in sipper baggie and let children beat them with a wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested, He was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 23:27
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. of vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to drink.
Read John 19:28-30.
Add egg whites to vinegar. Explain that the eggs represent life. Jesus gave His life to give us life.
Read John10:10-11
Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into a bowl. Tell them that it represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' follower's and the bitterness of our own sins.
Read Luke 23:27
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 c sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Psalms 34:8 and John 3:16.
Beat the mixture on high for 12- 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon on cookie sheet covered in wax paper. Explain that each mound represents the rock tomb where Jesus' body was laid.
Read Matt 27:57-60
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door, and turn the oven off. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.
Read Matt 27:65-66
Go to bed!! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were int despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22
On Easter morning, open the oven door and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hallow!! On the first Easter Jesus' follower's were amazed to find that tomb open and empty.
Read Matt 28:1-9.

It's coloring time

We weren't going to dye eggs this year because the eggs our chickens give us are brown and I have a hard enough time getting through those eggs so I didn't want to buy any from the store to dye. I caved. I bought eggs yesterday I just couldn't go an Easter without doing this always fun activity. Of course the kids loved it. My girls who are way over the Easter Bunny (except for the fact they still get a basket) even enjoyed decorating the eggs. I only got a dozen eggs because what on earth do you do with more then that anyway?

Random stuff from the Weekend.

Nate wanted to show me that he could juggle. I believed him. But he wanted to juggle with my last 3 eggs. I told him no way. He had to settle for apples. He dropped them once although he claims that it was because the apples were slippery. At that moment I was very happy that I made him use the apples. Every once in a while I ask one of the girls to blow dry Ella's hair. I didn't expect Natalie to pull out her desk chair so they could play beauty shop.

Tyler had a sleepover with his friend Jackson. And they were pretending to be knights and sword fight. Nichole went out to take pictures and she was excited because she got to spy on the boys when they are always trying to spy on her.

Baseball Jamboree

Tyler just started baseball. Today they had opening ceremonies. And every team got to play a one inning game and get their pictures taken. Tyler plays for the Reds. He gets to hit from a pitching machine this year. And he has really taken to it. He loves baseball and always has. He has been hitting the ball since he was 18 months old. This is Tyler and his team mates.
Tyler waiting his turn in the dugout.

Tyler is up to bat. He is number 50.

GO Tyler GO!!!!

Nice throw

We were at the jamboree for almost 4 hours. Luckily for us there was a playground that kept the kids occupied most of the time. But the girls came over to watch while Tyler was playing.

Ella liked that she got to sit on the fence. She had so much fun running around. At one point she had a race with her shadow. She kept looking behind her making sure that her shadow was still behind her. She was so glad that she won.

New Moon coming soon

I got on my friends blog the other day and what did I see..... This awesome poster that some fan made for New Moon. I got all excited for November. Maybe if we are lucky they will open this movie early too. Whoo Hoo. Just want Mindy to know that I wish that I could go to Alaska to watch the movie with you.

It's hip to be square

Yesterday during conference Nate went to the church to learn how to quilt. It was supposed to be an elders quorum activity but not many men from the elders quorum showed up. This was Nate's first time quilting. He did all of it. He sewed the blocks, tied it, and sewed up the sides. I think he did quite well.

Ella's night out

Lately a strange thing has been happening at my house. Come some Friday nights the 3 older kids will be gone and it will just be Nate, Ella, and Me at home. Usually we just hang out with each other at home and just watch movies. But this last time we decided to take Ella to the movie. We went to see Monsters vs. Aliens. It was a cute show and Ella enjoyed having us all to herself. The only sad part was that Nate refused to be in a picture.

Cupcake anyone?

I pulled a great prank on the kids for April Fool's Day. If I would of done it to an adult they wouldn't be fooled. I told my kids that they were getting cupcakes and corn for dinner. Yummy. They were all excited and couldn't wait to eat their cupcakes.
Until they bit into them to find out that they were cupcakes after all just not the kids they expected. They just happened to be meatloaf cupcakes with potato frosting. Yummy.

Some more pictures from Temple Square (and my last post today I promise)

Young Women's General Confrence

The young women in my ward met me in Utah on Friday night. We spent the night at Nate's parents house. It was so fun. We played games and If laughed so hard that I got in trouble with Nate. Nate wasn't feeling very well and he thought that we were up too late (11:40, which I thought was still pretty early considering I had 9 girls under 17 there). We all got up pretty early got ready and headed over to my parent's house to have breakfast. My parents made us pancakes (with an option of nuts, jelly beans, and gummy bears to go inside), sausage, and eggs. It was yummy. Then we headed up to SLC. We got up there around 11:15 and our first stop was the visitor center. We only had a few minutes to walk around there.

Then we headed over to the tabernacle. They had a sound test where they ripped up paper and dropped straight pens and nails onto the floor. It was awesome to hear that because it was like I was standing right there.

If you look closely you can see a face carved into the woodwork. The tabernacle was so much smaller then I thought that it was. It looks so much bigger on tv.

This is the old assembly hall on temple square.

Then we went to the Art and History museum. That was fun to look around too. It had some cool stuff that came from the pioneers.

Everyone got to participate in the Nativity in the I am a Child of God exhibit.

Isn't this stained glass so beautiful. The detail was amazing

This is a cabin built like a cabin was back then. After we went to the art museum we went to eat lunch at The Gardens on the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Then we went to the Beehive house which is were Brigham Young lived and conducted business. After that we had to rush over to the conference center

Our last stop in our SLC trip was to go to YWGC. It was so amazing to be in the same room as a prophet. I really enjoyed all of the people that spoke and I got to learn a lot of new things. I am so glad that I got to go with the YW to SLC. I had a blast and got to know the girls so much better.