The Easter Bunny Almost Missed Us!

The sale of our house in Indiana is currently pending. It is conditional upon inspection of the house and financing for the buyer.

Well, after a very thorough inspection a 21 item list of repairs was presented to us. Some big (like repairing a part of the roof), some expensive (like raising and leveling the front step and sidewalk and repairing cracks in the driveway) and some, well, stupid (like putting in the 4th screw on the electrical panel-lest it fall off the wall.)

We decided that it would be worth a quick trip down to see what Chris could do himself and make an informed decision about the other repairs after seeing for ourselves. Since Chris had Good Friday off work and the drive is just over 3 hours we were sure we could make the trip there and back and still be back for church on Sunday.

I contacted a couple of friends to make sure that the kids and I could invade while Chris was left free to work at the house and we set out Friday morning.

We made the drive with relative ease and arrived to an overgrown, patchy yard and an empty house. At first, there was a feeling of nostalgia but as we walked around and considered all the work the house and landscaping needed we decided that we couldn't sign the papers fast enough!!

Soon, the kids and I crashed at the Robinsons house and stayed the afternoon...and on into evening. They played with us, talked with us, and fed us. It was so fun to spend time together and catch up on all theirs news. (They have exciting new things in their future!)

The next morning we planned to do an Easter Egg hunt and brunch at some kind stranger's house. We didn't know them but the invitation was to the Robinsons and included anyone who wanted to come. Sadly, we arrived late and missed the egg hunt.

Since we were prepared with our own loaded eggs Chris ran over to neighboring field and hid our eggs for the kids to find. I wasn't sure what would be needed so I filled all the eggs we had before we left. It ended up being about 55 eggs. With their 20, Chris hid 75 eggs.

Despite the tall grass and large field we only lost 4.
Pretty good, all told!
And we got to visit with friends from our old church ward. It was a happy morning celebrating spring, friends and beautiful weather.
Afterwards, we dropped Chris off at the house to work and the kids and I invaded another friendly family, the Tates. They really were saintly and patient with us since the kids were all...mmm...yelp, gotta be honest. They were all ornery the whole afternoon. Luckily, they didn't kick us out for bad behavior!

I love having friends (who doesn't, right?) but it is especially wonderful to have friends with whom spending time is like wrapping up in a favorite blanket-easy, comfortable and enjoyable no matter when how long it has been since you wrapped up in it!

Chris finished a few repairs, found a contractor to do the rest we were willing to do and entertained the kids while I packed the van and cleaned the house. (We ended up agreeing to do 11 or 15 of the requested repairs.) We drove home, again with relative ease, and arrived home way past bedtime!

Sunday comes regularly and we were up an at 'em to get to church. We were only a little late because I couldn't bear to wake Sage from a sound, solid sleep when I knew she was so desperate to catch up on what she had missed on our trip.

(I was a little surprised at the wonderful experience I had but I will share that in my next post.)

After church, we headed home for naps, and the start of some of our Easter traditions. Chris and I haven't got it all figured out but we really want our children to know and love their Savior and know what He did that makes Him our Savior.
Last year Elise, my sister, and her kids made Resurrection Rolls. I had never heard of them and thought they were an excellent object lesson for little children. We added them to our Easter traditions this year.

While they were baking we read from the scriptures about Jesus' last few days and the miracle of His resurrection.
When we bit into them they were empty like the tomb!
(And they were so yummy that even when our children don't need them to visualize the empty tomb we will still be including them in our Easter celebrations!)