Hearts Full of Joy

easter

"bunny buns" from the "friend" magazine for saturday dinner.

the "i found my easter basket" dance, saturday afternoon.

easter dress

easter morning ensemble ....i had so much fun making the dresses and tie. i used this pattern from mod kid for the dresses. it only goes up to size 7, so i adjusted the pattern for big sister. photography by tashi

 

baby kittens, 1 week old, photography by mia

easter tulip

our easter weekend was full of fun: firehouse annual pancake breakfast & egg hunt, stake preparedness fair, egg coloring, easter basket hunt in our yard, missionaries for turkey dinner on sunday,....and well.....lots of chocolate!

it's a miracle

as far as i'm aware, spring has occured regularly every year of my lifetime, and yet every year i am swept away by the wonder of it. this photo was taken in early march. the large snow fort was complete before the snow started melting. we kept putting off pruning our fruit trees, because the snow was too deep to tromp out into.

mid-march the snow started to recede, and to my utter amazement, crocus and daffodils were pushing their way up through the snow. perhaps i shouldn't have been surprised, but in the deep of winter, my imagination could not stretch far enough to imagine that anything in our yard had survived and would be alive in the spring. dramatic thoughts, i know, but it was a dramatic winter.

 

crocus - on of the most beautiful sights after an intense winter.

daffodils

and by the end of the month....

it truly is a yearly miracle. we have lived places - phoenix, tokyo - with less dramatic winters, which is nice, but then the miracle of spring is lessened...still appreciated and enjoyed, but not as dramatic. i can't get enough of spring here. i keep finding myself outside throughout the day, wandering around the  yard, watching things grow, marveling that they are alive, and breathing in the miracle of spring.

easter morn

we have blessed with a gloriously beautiful easter weekend. i love the hope, rebirth and new life that easter brings, both spiritually and in nature. easter is at once the most significant, and most overlooked day of the year.

"easter is that most sacred of days when the hearts of devout christians turn to the savior with humble gratitude."    .....richard g. scott

our daffodils in the early easter morning light

 

discovery of the easter baskets

 

a chocolate bunny just for me!

 

breakfast: chocolate cinnamon sweet rolls with cream cheese frosting, all made from scratch

hyacinths salvaged from the Temple gardens last spring with daffodils in our front garden.

still snowing

another snow day, school canceled. everyone was sent home from church in a rush yesterday, because the hills were becoming impassable. we have had so many snow days that they no longer need to be made up, we are into what they call "act of God" territory. we have only completed one or two full weeks of school since christmas vacation. these cozy days with everyone at home have become the new norm.

shiki

 

i love this fabric collection by kumiko sudo for "in the beginning" fabrics. shiki is "four seasons" in japanese. a good reminder that winter won't be eternal. i can't wait to start sewing cute summer dresses and pj's for my little girls (especially mia) from this fabric.

 

a kimono dress like this one by emaleighscupboard on etsy would be so fun in this fabric.

endless winter

we have had perpetual snow since december. it has melted twice, i believe, only to snow again the next day. we have had snow falling for 4 days at a time without stopping. not typical weather for these parts. in some ways it has been cozy and peaceful, but what has affected me the most is the complete lack of sunshine. the sun has only come out about 5 times since christmas. i'm very aware of this because i need the sun to take photos for my shop. so things pile up, awaiting photos, and then i scramble, hoping to get as many things photographed as i can before the cloud cover comes again. but i feel so energized whent eh sun does show itself that i fell as if i could accomplish anything! it's almost time to prune our fruit trees, and to be honest, i'm having difficulty believing that our trees, or anything else in our yard, could still be alive after this winter. quite dramatic feelings, but there it is.

icing

school was canceled and we were iced in without internet (gasp!) on wednesday. we have yet to complete a full week of school since christmas - snow days, stomach flu, four day holiday weekends, ice storms. i feel like my kids are school drop-outs. but we've enjoyed playing family games, especially two that we have recently discovered: ticket to ride and ligretto. i'm wanting to make the most of the time that we have left with lexi. and now we are heading into two months of musical rehearsals....so i'm glad we've had this relaxed time together, even though i'm still craving some sunlight.

 

 

notice the rows of icicles on the railing.

in a fog

i discovered during many rainy seasons in tokyo that i can handle about 3 days of overcast weather reasonably well, and then i start to go a little crazy/get extremely cranky. new discovery is that 4 days of fog may evoke even a stronger reaction from me. i am feeling an emotional/mental/physical foggy effect. i do like my sunlight, and am feeling the mid-january blahs. almost everyone in the family had stomach flu last week, which served to intensify that blah feeling. we are all doing much better now.....but no sunlight is in the forecast for at least the next week......

life on the mississippi

the flora along the river has been so lovely that i stuck my camera in the car last week so that i could stop and snap some photos when i got the chance.

across from davids chamber:

behind the red brick store:

where warsaw st meets highway 96:

spring in nauvoo 3

our crabapples are blooming

our maples have leaves
our tulips are lovely.... the temple's tulips are breathtaking...

our new baby redbud isn't doing a thing (yes, those are dandylions in the background, our lawn needs some attention).....

the temple's redbuds are stunning. this is what our redbud hopes to grow up to be someday....

 

redbuds at the temple on our househunting trip one year ago (on a sunny day, which i am still waiting for this year).