Fowler Family: Easter Saturday

Our Easter Saturday was great. The weather cooperated, the egg hunts were filled with candy, we spent time with family and enjoyed the fun spring day.
Our weekend started bright and early on Saturday morning. Our ward hosted a Sunrise Easter Devotional that started at 6:30am. We arrived, ate a yummy breakfast and listened to a short message from the bishop as the sun came up. I was a bit hesitant about the early time, because I didn't want the kids cranky for the rest of the day, but I'm so glad we went. It was the perfect way to start our Easter celebration.
We came home, and guess what? The Easter Bunny had visited our house! The kids were very excited to see what was in their baskets.

Gavin's basket was quite empty - some candy and money. He asked the Easter Bunny for some money to buy a book for his Nook and also some to put toward Jamboree.
Enoch had a book, The Complete Encyclopedia Brown series, some candy and a metal detector. He immediately opened his detector and started looking for things. The wood floor kept beeping and he couldn't figure it out until he realized there are screws in the floor.

Kate also received a book, The Big Red Book of Beginner Books by Dr. Suess, (we have the blue and green books in this series and the kids love them), some candy and a game/puzzle called Castle Logix. She has had a lot of fun with it and everyone else has too.
Coal had some of her favorite doggie treats in her basket along with a bunny chew toy and a teething bone.

On to the next party. The Easter party at Uncle Bud's ranch is a time-honored tradition. It has happened for at least 40 years (Greg can't ever remember not going to it), rain, shine, snow, wind - doesn't matter, it still takes place. The weather was so nice this year - sunny and dry. We've been there some years in snow or mud, and while still fun, it is so much more enjoyable when the weather is nice.
We roasted hot dogs, visited with family and played around the ranch. Enoch loves exploring all the buildings (Uncle Bud has about ten old pioneer houses he has collected and put around the ranch) and playing on the hay and wood piles (we escaped with no slivers this year - amazing!).

Aside from exploring, they also have other fun activities - coloring eggs and horseback riding. Kate was more excited to ride the horses than hunt for eggs. Gavin isn't so much into horses, but Greg, Enoch and Kate love riding Sunny.

The egg hunt at the ranch is crazy - hundreds of eggs to find. There is no limit, but everyone is so kind afterward to make sure the distribution is about equal. Kate and Enoch had a great time and found a bunch of eggs. Gavin is too old to hunt, but he did wait until the hunt was over and then found a few random eggs left.

We had a wonderful time at the ranch and are so glad we have this tradition every year. However, our day wasn't over yet - on to the next party.

We went home and showered (we smelled like smoke), cleaned up a bit and got ready for the Randall party. Dave, Michelle and Marcus came a few minutes early and Michelle and I went shopping for fabric. Michelle is making the baby a car seat cover and it was fun to pick out some fabric. When we got home, everyone was there and ready to start the party.

We ate pizza for dinner, although the kids were more than ready to start the Easter egg hunt. Aunt Valerie entertained the kids in the front yard while the men hid the eggs in the back. They did a great job - some easy, some hard.

Every year, my mom puts money in the eggs and those are the ones that the kids want to find. We decided to keep this traditions going even though Grandma and Grandpa weren't here. This year there was a ten dollar egg that Uncle Jarom hid. Gavin was convinced he was going to find it. Poor Gavin - he only found two dollars, the least amount of any grandchild. Who found the ten dollar bill? Enoch! He was so excited, but really Enoch could care less about money, so it was a bit ironic that he found it.