Easter 2011

Since I was just little little we have gone to St. George for Easter. That was our chance to get to warmer weather and reunite with my mom's family. This is the first year (in history) that I did not go to St. George. Kuso's cousin James got married on Saturday and since Easter comes every year and a wedding is once in a life time (usually), I decided that staying for the wedding was more important (but Kuso did say that Leila and I could go to St. George if we wanted because he knows that I love my family traditions.)

No pictures of the wedding, mostly because I hate carrying my camera around. We missed the ceremony, but were there for the reception. Good food. They had their reception at Millenial Falls in Draper. Beautiful place, but it's kind of small and awkard shaped for a polynesian wedding. Only a few people were able to enjoy the entertainment without crowding around. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the new Mr. and Mrs. James Aiono!

Leila was SPOILED this Easter. New dress. New clothes. New shoes. A basket from the Easter bunny with candy, chips, bubbles, hair bows, etc. A basket from Grandma Bunny with candy, bubbles, (the previously mentioned shoes and some clothes), etc. A basket from the Home Teacher bunny with toys and candy. Bubbles and a teddy bear from the Home Teacher bunny. A LARGE bag of candy from the Nursery Bunny. And a little cute bunny made out of a washcloth from her church friend, Hadlee (also had some M&M's with it.) Again, no pictures because I just suck at keeping my camera around.

Because we are usually out of town, it's sad to say that I have only been to church on Easter a handful of times when we decided to stay long enough to attend church. We usually just get up and head home when the rest of the family heads off to church. In class, our teacher had us separate our chairs (for privacy), gave us a piece of paper with a picture of Jesus on one side and lines on the other, and asked us to think about and write down our feelings about our Savior. While we did that, she played songs about Christ. Initally, I thought "wow, that is a great time filler" but there was seriously a special feeling in the room.

As I turned my thoughts to the Savior, the Spirit immediately filled my soul with warmth and comfort. This is one of the first times I have FOCUSED on how I feel toward Jesus Christ and His love and His atoning sacrifice. I took that sheet of paper to work to keep in my drawer, so when I am searching for things and come across it or if I just need a boost, it is right there to remind me of how loved I am and to keep myself focused on Christ-like qualities.

Leila is also turning "spiritual" (as much as a 19 month old can be.) She LOVES to pray. She folds her arms and says "pwayew?" (prayer?) Then waits while you say a quick prayer, then says 'Amen' at the right time. She always reminds us to pray at dinner. Kuso and I have gone through times where we are good to say family (couple) prayers and times where we just don't. (Sad, I know, but honest.) With him out of town so much, it's hard to keep the habit going. But I told him that we need to take advantage of Leila's interest in prayer now and make family prayer a priority. He agreed. So hopefully, we can do that each and every day he is home, and even when he is gone when timing is appropriate - we can maybe do it over the phone. (If I'm not driving or if he isn't surrounded by the guys watching basketball or whatever.)