Much better spent at home!

Last Easter we spent in the hospital when Elena's port was infected. Our sweet family did their best to make it a nice Easter for us in spite of everything, with gifts, several Easter baskets for Elena, and Chili's for dinner (hey, if you can't eat ham at home on Easter, Chili's is the next best thing!), but it just wasn't the same. We were only a few weeks out from Elena's diagnosis and were still reeling. Elena was not doing well - she had sunk into a deep sickness/steroid induced malaise and would just lay motionless in her hospital and bed stare off into space, wouldn't talk or smile or anything. It was not a pleasant time.

We were thrilled to be able to spend Easter week at home this year, with happy, mostly feeling good kids! Elena did keep us on our toes several times during the week, with pain and fevers threatening, but we made it! :) We stayed out of the hospital! In spite of feeling pretty rotten as chemo side-effects caught up with her, Elena was able to have a lot of fun on Easter.

I took a "Religion in the Home" class when I was at BYU (one of the best classes I took - I can't recommend it highly enough for anyone attending BYU) that taught about other Judeo-Christian faiths (Jews, Orthodox Christians, devout Catholics, etc.) and what they do to live their religion in their homes and daily lives. Then we used the concepts and ideas we learned about to discuss how Latter-Day Saints could live our religion more in our homes (something I think the Latter-Day Saints often struggle with and can really take a lesson from our Judeo-Christian brothers and sisters! But, back to the subject at hand... :)). Since that class, we have tried to incorporate various traditions, celebrations, and devotionals into the week before Easter - Holy Week - in order to make our Easter more meaningful. We didn't really get to do any of that last year, being in the hospital, and I was so excited to have a chance to work on it more this year with older kids than we'd ever done it with before. :) Although we didn't get to do everything we had planned - being in the hospital for part of it (finishing round 4), Eric walking in BYU graduation, etc. mixed things up a bit- it was still a wonderful week. We had a Jerusalem Dinner one night to help us get a feel for the time when the Savior lived, had nightly devotionals about the Savior's teachings/what He did during the last week of his mortal ministry (thank Heavens for "The Friend" magazine - Palm Sunday found us somewhat unprepared in the hospital and they had a great two page spread about Easter Week, with pictures and simplified stories!), we mixed things up by having "lights out" during the last few nights leading up to Easter to remind us that Jesus is the "Light of the World", we dyed eggs, and woke up on Easter morning to flowers, beautiful sunshine, and gifts from the Easter Bunny to remind us of the Greatest Gift of all.

It was so fun watching our girls get excited about their Easter baskets and having fun on Easter egg hunts. There is nothing like that magic in their eyes! And we were so blessed to be able to go to church as a family! Those times have still been few and far between - it was so wonderful to spend Easter Sunday together.

Elena discovering the Easter baskets

The Easter Bunny wasn't sure what to do for Lily - she got a book and a fruit leather and some raisins. When she pulled out the fruit leather, she had the funniest look on her face like, "Seriously, guys??!"

Elena was excited about her new headband - yay for having hair! :)

In spite of my good intentions, these were the best pictures we got of our cuties all dressed up for Easter. :)

I am so grateful for the Savior's atoning sacrifice and His Resurrection. Every good thing I have in life is because of those events. Because He died and lives again, I can have hope. Happy Easter!