I wrote a little on Instagram about how “prepare” was my “one word” a few years back (although I can’t, for the life of me, find that actual post, but HERE is a list of other “one words” through the years…which makes me realize I still need to do a post on my word for this year!)

But I digress…back to PREPARE. Isn’t it a beautiful thing to go into something feeling fully prepared? Ready to take it on? A meeting, a lesson, a conversation, you name it, it’s better when we prepare our hearts.

And let’s be honest, having “prepare” as my “one word” may have boosted me a little, but I still have a lot of work to do in that category. It’s the story of my life trying to get my act together (just trying to keep it real around here, and I think there are many who can commiserate, right?)

But this year, as I look back at pictures of the week before Easter, I realize we didn’t get it totally wrong :). (Maybe that’s a testament that taking too many pictures does have its virtues after all. Ha!)

This year our church congregation had the opportunity to put together Easter baskets for foster children.

We worked with this awesome organization called A New Leaf to figure out needs and requests.

Our Relief Society service committee chair put in so much work to get all the donations (sign-up genius and picking up a bunch of stuff herself from the Venmoes people sent in), and then we gathered at the church to put them all together.

These girls came to help and they were SO good!

I hope they got to think of those foster kids opening the baskets they helped make on Easter morning:)

Then a few days later we got to stuff our cars filled up to the brim with those 100+ baskets to take them to the drop off location:

Loved having the opportunity to talk with the women who run the foster care part of A New Leaf and see how they run things over there.

We left in tears thinking about the good those women do, and also about those kids who are in such transition at such a vulnerable time of life.

After a few years hiatus due to a remodel of the temple, the Easter pageant was on again.

We got the opportunity to take our neighbors along with us to watch it:

Dave was parking the car with all the masses as we enjoyed this lush sunset amidst all the beautiful flowers at the temple right now.

Yow!

I loved sitting in that gigantic crowd (I think 15,000 people were there that night), nestled in next to Lucy explaining the things she couldn’t see, and her explaining the things she felt right back.

Lucy had been excited to go to the Foundation for Blind Children for the Easter “egg beeping” hunt…until we got there.

This is so difficult for her.

We had a pretty tearful heart-to-heart and gradually opened up and let that goodness in.

I mean, who can resist mini horses:

And real bunnies hopping around:

And the opportunity to be exposed to “beeping” eggs so vision doesn’t have to be such a big hindrance.

Every time we leave that place my heart is so full of gratitude for it.

(Claire had two different “day dates” leading up to two different proms the next two weeks so she missed out on all this, and we missed her, but she was sure having her own fun I’ll tell you!)

We came home to paint eggs:

Along with the kids Grace was babysitting.

We got this new nifty little egg decorator and Lucy was pretty delighted that she could make an egg similar to her shirt:)

And then it was time for string and baskets and all that jazz…along with the Easter spirit filled with Jesus infiltrated through.

Happy Wednesday!

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