I've Got A Story...

Happy Easter!

Jonathan and I had a nice quiet Easter day at home watching Conference. Wasn't Conference wonderful? We recorded it so we can watch it again and again. I loved how much they talked about the family and how important it is to build strong families. But more on that in another post on another day...

I put together the flowers and the Easter basket for us. :)

We are excited to read Standing for Something by President Hinckley together. And we've been watching Life recently and are loving it! So Planet Earth was a good choice. Besides - who created all of these things? I think it was appropriate. The one thing you really get out of these kinds of shows is that there is no way all of these creatures just appeared or evolved out of nothing. There was definitely a mastermind.

Aren't the little chicks adorable? They are fluffy and even cheep. Like *cheep cheep*! I love them.

Of course we had to dye eggs. We always have fun with it...even when we leave it to the last minute and do it at 11:30 on Saturday night.

After the last session of Conference, it was about time for our Easter feast! It was always tradition at the Schroath house to have a big Easter dinner...and since I'm a Schroath...I have to carry on the tradition. Or I would miss it.

Jonathan set the table for me. He did a nice job.

Mmm mmm. Traditional Schroath family Easter dinner involves ham, sour cream potatoes, rolls, salad, and, of course, grape juice with sprite.*

Thanks to my Aunt Karen for the recipe and my mom for teaching me how to make these amazing rolls. If you have never partaken of these rolls, I pity you. Remind me to invite you over for dinner so you can have some.

Last year I made parfaits/trifles for dessert. I decided it was a good tradition to start. They are a perfect companion to dinner.

*Sprite story: Besides putting Sprite in the grape juice, Jonathan suggested that we put it in the jello for the parfaits as well. On Saturday night, I started to make the jello, only to decide halfway through that I wanted to put the fruit in the jello. I had just put the sprite in the freezer so it could get cold, thinking I would take it out in a few minutes when I needed it. Instead, I decided to go to the store and get some fruit and run some other errands. Four hours later...I was back to making jello. I opened the fridge to pull out the Sprite and *oh yeah* it's not there. It's in the freezer. But it wasn't completely solid, so Jonathan thought we should just open it. We stood across from each other in the kitchen, Jonathan holding the bottle over the sink. After we were both ready, he slowly turned the cap just in case it fizzed over. But *POP*! The bottle of Sprite EXPLODED all over everything! It was all over everything in the kitchen, all of the ceiling, out into the dining room, down the hall, etc. And poor Jonathan was covered from head to toe. Chunks of slushy Sprite were stuck in his hair, dripping down his face. I was laughing so hard...he didn't think it was so funny. I am kicking myself for not taking a picture. We will forever refer to this as The Great Sprite Explosion of 2010.

Matt & Kelly, Taylor, and Jessica joined us for dinner. It's always nice to have company.

Easter is always welcome. I love having another day to really focus on and remember the Savior, and hear testimony from his Prophets. I am so grateful that I have the gospel in my life - that I know of the Atonement, and the plan of Salvation, and know what I need to do to return to my Heavenly Father. Now I just need to find more ways to share that joy and knowledge with others - even while living in Orem, Utah.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Hopefully spring is on its way and it will stop snowing and freezing here soon...

Tonight, I came home from school to my surprise!

Remember the photo my dad printed for us? Jonathan made this his project. He painted the frame and got the custom matte made for it. He got the call today that the matte was done, so he picked it up and put it all together before he went to class so that I could see it when I got home. Here's what I saw when I walked in the door:

Wow! It turned out so nice. I should give Jonathan more projects!

I wasted no time hanging it on the wall (while watching American Idol...obviously).

It makes me happy.

What is making you happy today?