Easter Festivities

I wrote this Easter post last week and it somehow deleted itself.

All of my text...gone. So frustrating!

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This year, our Easter festivities started a couple of weeks prior to Easter Sunday so that I could take Claire's photo in her adorable Easter dress, we could all visit the Easter bunny, and I could stage a photo-op with Khloe and some bunny ears. I decided to do Claire's Easter portrait at Red Butte Gardens because I had a free admission ticket and I figured it would provide the perfect, flowery backdrop. That morning did not go too well. The grounds were brown with sticks everywhere, there were hardly any flowers, and Claire was a huge handful. I managed to find a couple of small areas that worked, but none as well as the spot I found right before we left. The winning photo (right) ended up being in front of the entrance and not even in the gardens. It was extremely windy and Claire's hair was a bit all over the place, but it still made for an adorable photo. I have to give a big 'thank you' to my Mom for helping me with the photo shoot. I really could not have done it without her. Thanks Mom!

Next up was Khloe. Our poor little thing was such a trooper. I made her lay on the floor for probably 10 minutes without moving until I got the perfect shot. Initially, I was having trouble with the bunny ears. I used them on Claire last year so they didn't exactly fit Khloe's tiny head. Since they kept falling down, I grabbed a chip clip and pinched her skin behind the ears to prevent them from sliding off. It worked great and little "Khlo" didn't even mind having her skin pinched with a clip. :)

Next was the Easter Bunny visit. We waited in line forever and it was torture. I watched as every Mom would sit their child down, the child would start screaming and the 15 minute process of trying to calm the child would begin....and the crying still wouldn't stop. Once we got to the front of the line, I plopped Claire on the bunny's lap, she of course starting screaming and I told the camera operator to roll with it. There was no turning back. She screamed until she was red in the face and I knew there was nothing I could do to get a smile. But, I didn't care. In these moments, the screaming pictures are just as adorable as the ones with perfect smiles. I loved it!

When Easter Sunday finally arrived, I was definitely not ready. Usually I am completely on the ball with this stuff, but we didn't even decorate eggs! Since I'm writing this post so many days after Easter I can tell you that I finally colored eggs a week after Easter and then 2 weeks after that I sat Claire down and let her put stickers on them...which didn't even stick! Not very exciting to say the least. Anyhow, after church and Claire's nap, everyone opened their Easter basket. Claire enjoyed her new books, Khloe sniffed away and found her yummy bones, and Erik was delighted to find a new shirt I had bought him from Banana Republic. J/K :)

Then it was off for a quick egg hunt outside. Claire had a few practice rounds during a family trip to St. George a few weeks prior so she knew exactly what to do. The M&M's were a big hit and she probably could have continued for hours. Lucky for her, another hunt was in the very near future.

Once Claire had fully stuffed her face with M&M's, we rushed inside and hurried over to Erik's parent's house for a lovely Easter dinner. There was one big problem though. We walked in the door and I had completely forgot to put Claire back in her Easter dress. She was the only little one not in her outfit. Of course I wasn't going to let her be the odd ball wearing "normal clothes" and let her look strange in all the pictures, so I rushed home and grabbed her dress. Crisis adverted. :) Once we finished dinner, we headed outside for another egg hunt and some bubble popping. Claire had a blast!

Claire and her cousins looked so cute in their Easter outfits and I am SO glad I skipped eating my meal so that she could have her dress on in all of the pictures (totally OCD, I know). Celebrating special days with family is always fun and this was no exception. It was particularly enjoyable for me because my parents were able to join in on the fun. They will be leaving in a couple of months for another mission and we will all miss them dearly. Before I end, I also need to thank Erik for taking this darling picture of me and Claire in our Easter dresses. Getting Erik to take pictures is a challenge most of the time and not only did he utter no complaints about having to do it, he even managed to produce great results. Thanks Erik! A great picture is like a little piece of heaven to me. :)