easter with the looslis

as we were all in the kitchen cleaning up from the good friday dinner party, there was a knock at the door. i was surprised to see my sister standing on my doorstep! i had completely lost track of time and didn’t realize it was nearly midnight! saren and her family had driven from utah all day and were scheduled to arrive after the party. it was great to be able to introduce my sister to my friends! saren snuck her husband and five kids inside and we all had a slumber party in my bedroom. yep – all eight of us. my room is not that big, so this made for a pretty epic sleepover.

the next morning we hopped in the van and headed south to big sur. it was such a gorgeous day and the views along the coast as we drove were breathtaking!

i had been wanting to get to big sur since i moved to the bay area, and it was so fun to discover with the looslis. we first went to mcway waterfall – a sight i was especially pining to see. isn’t it spectacular?!

then we walked inland and found a little hike through the redwood groves. the kids were crazy excited – i don’t thing there are better hiking partners than these five brave kiddos. they will all climb any tree, cross any stream, scramble up any waterfall…

we climbed up that waterfall via a redwood root and then found this awesome natural bridge made by a fallen giant tree.

we decided then we needed some beach time, so we found a path that led to the coast (we had to cross a full-on river first, which was a fun unanticipated adventure!). saren ran ahead to realize that, as it turns out, the easter bunny had found the same path. eggs were discovered along the way in the wildflowers.

jared and isaac got in the ocean. it was freezing – chilly temps with a biting wind – but that didn’t stop them. i don’t think they felt their legs for a few hours.

the easter egg hunt continued on the beach! and an extra treasure – a washed-up starfish – was found as well. saren, eliza and i snuggled close in the sand.

on our way home we stopped at a cliff overlook for a dinner picnic of crusty bread and cheese. the views were so stunning that it was worth all of our teeth chattering and goosebumps surfacing in the breeze.

the next morning i woke up early to make banana coconut muffins to the tune of motab easter tunes, and saren scrambled up our extra ham, eggs and asparagus from the dinner party. it was a perfect easter breakfast!

we all attended church together at my singles’ ward – and the kids were quite the spectacle! the easter program was super outstanding.

after church, i took the looslis up into the palo alto foothills for a picnic. we had an easter egg hunt for eggs that had symbols of the easter story inside. we read scriptures from the new testament together and thought about jesus’s sacrifice for us. after, we all stood on top of that hill with that beautiful view and belted out “he is risen” together. the kids know every word and sang as loud as they could – it was so awesome.

he is risen! he is risen!
tell it out with joyful voice!
he has burst his three day prision,
let the whole wide world rejoice!
death is conquered, man is free,
christ has won the victory!

 

we had a fancy (and super delicious) easter dinner at jared’s sister kathryn’s house in the east bay. what an easter! the looslis make everything quite exciting!

when crossing the dumbarton bridge on the way home from dinner, i noticed the man in the toll booth had some good soul tunes playing. i said, “it’s a party in there!” and he said, “yes, it’s a holy ghost party!” i said, “oh yeah? i love the holy ghost. good day for a holy ghost party – happy easter!” he replied, “you too! praise the lord!” and i declared, “jesus is alive!”

“that’s what i like to hear! amen, sister!” i grinned all the way home.

i do know that christ in reality rose from the tomb that easter morning 1,979 years ago – and that’s the gladdest news there is.