Tradition...tradition

(Cue the music from Fiddler on the Roof)

Since Eric and I started dating and later married we have made it a tradition to go home to Vernal for Easter weekend. Eric's family always has all these fun activities lined up and let's not forget a yummy spread of food to celebrate the holiday. Since my family didn't really have any traditions to celebrate Easter it has been really fun to experience a different side of spending an Easter weekend and to incorporate that into our little family.

So to start off, what would Easter be without the tradition of dying eggs. This was Mia's first time getting to participate and of course she loved it! Probably a little too much considering her hands were dyed all sorts of colors by the end as well as her tongue and lips from trying a few of the dyes. Yum. We also spend the few days before the actual Easter Sunday doing a little shopping, fishing, eating and Eric and I even got to go see a movie...which has been a rare thing for us since having Mia.

Can I get a shout out for the first romper of the season! Eric is always teasing my with my obsession with buying Mia rompers in the summers. I think I bought like 4-5 for her last year...don't judge :)

Eric's Grandma has a tradition of preparing Easter baskets for all of us to wake up to on Sunday morning. It's always a fun treat to start the day off. And of course Easter wouldn't be celebrated properly without attending church and taking the time to think of our Savior, Jesus Christ and all he went through to atone for our mistakes and that we could gain eternal happiness and live with Him and our loved ones again. I especially enjoyed going to church since I didn't have a primary class to teach and I was able to attend Sunday school and Relief Society for the first time in months. As much as I've come to enjoy my primary kids, I always forget how much I miss that weekly spiritual uplifting being with fellow women and gaining a deeper understanding about the gospel.

Are you laughing at Mia's morning hair (aka ponytail spikes) as much as I do every time I look at these pictures?

After church Eric hid the eggs for the kids to find as we prepared a yummy Easter dinner. Usually they have a tradition of going up the mountain for an Easter egg hunt, but since I'm not in much condition to hike and do a ton of walking they had pity on me and did it at home this year. Mia was interested in finding eggs for about 1 whole minute; then she found entertainment in cracking them and trying to eat them...shell and all...oh toddlers.

Oh how I love this man! Thanks honey for being a good sport about pictures...even when the sunny is burning your eyes :)

Following a delicious dinner we recovered  from all the food we ate by listening to Eric's Grandpa read a story about Jesus Christ's resurrection and atonement before going outside and playing a good game of broom hockey. Come to find out I make a pretty awful goalie...oh wait I actually already knew I would be, it was everyone else who very soon came to realize that. Regardless, it was still a lot of fun to get out and enjoy the nice weather and let our competitive sides come out a little.

Another exiting thing that happened over the weekend is Mia got her first bike from Grandpa and Grandma Caldwell for her birthday. She got her a balance bike (a bike without pedals or training wheels) to teach balance and help her to ride a bike faster. She's quite unsure at this point about it unless Eric is holding on to and helping her along, but hopefully by the end of the summer she'll have it down a little better.

It was a wonderful Easter weekend which we really enjoyed spending with Eric's family. I always feel so lucky to have married into it!

Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend as well!