Easter Week Goings-On and the Forcast for this Week

My antibiotics have worked their magic. (When I get to the next life I want to have a few words with the guy who discovered penicillin. I want to thank him personally. Seriously.) And so I am back in the game.
Last week was a busy one in preparation for the Easter holiday. There wasn't a lot of time to convalesce - because the show must go on when you have kids. I had previously made plans to observe Easter week by doing something everyday to commemorate that day from Jesus' last week. I was excited about it - so we went ahead with everything even though I was kind of dead weight for most of the week.
A summary:

Sunday - We had my family over for a lesson about Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Here, with a few of the cousins, I was barely audible from all the coughing. It's also nice to note that I was probably contagious with strep. Sorry guys. 

Monday - We did an Easter Egg scavenger hunt that led us ultimately up to the Oquirrh Mtn. Temple. This was the cleansing of the temple installment.

Tuesday - This is our busy day/evening so we just read through the references in the scriptures about teaching on the Mt. of Olives, Judas Iscariot's betrayal...

Wednesday - We surprised the kids and checked them out of school early and drove to the BYU MOA to see the Carl Bloch exhibit of altar pieces and sketches. It was not easy to get tickets, but I am so glad we were able to go. It was beautiful. The kids were a little disappointed that we didn't kidnap them to go on vacation to Disneyland or something...but it was still cool. They had fun. Especially browsing the bookstore/food court after.

Thursday - (Day 1 on antibiotics) We had Passover. The menu: matzo ball soup, bitter herbs (radishes, romaine), hard boiled eggs, sweet herbs (parsley, cucumbers), charoset (chopped apple and nut mixture meant to signify the mortar the Israelites used to build the pyramids of Egypt), marinated lamb, chicken, unleavened bread, berries in coconut cream with macaroons.

Ready with a vacant place for Elijah.

Grilling the pascal lamb and some chicken. I marinated the lamb for several hours, and I have to say Mike did a great job with it on the grill. I am not historically a fan of lamb, but this rib rack wasn't too shabby. (Which was good, since lamb is pretty expensive.)

Mmmm. Dessert was my favorite: berries in whipped coconut cream with homemade macaroons.



Friday - (Day 2 antibiotics) Good Friday. We invited Mike's parents over to dye Easter eggs - and talked about the symbolism of the egg / tomb.

Saturday - (Day 3 antibiotics) We got all my siblings together with their kids at my parents' house for an Easter egg hunt free-for-all. It was as exciting as ever. When Jack scored that last egg by riding down the zip line, knocking it to the ground...A capstone moment on a great morning. We love family.

Sunday - (Day 4 antibiotics) Talked about the resurrection, got Easter baskets, new clothes for church, Easter dinner at Meltons. It was a great day.

And by Sunday, I felt about 100% better - which was fitting, given the day. Easter is about rebirth & life beating out death. And that means something extra to me after the last week and a half.

Anyway, that was our week. If you need some ideas for Easter next year, hit me up - I kept my notes and recipes.

This coming weekend is our 3rd Annual NPA 5k. So, I'll be out of the office - so to speak - until that is wrapped up this next Saturday. We've already had some challenges pulling it off this year...but we're hoping for the best.  At least the weather looks to finally be clearing for our big event (we've had almost constant rain/snow for a long time now). Knock on wood.