Easter Weekend Fun

April 13, 2009

Whew! What a crazy week! It was filled with ups and downs, tons of work and tons of fun! In between all of the craziness, we started turning a bedroom into an office. But the best part of the week by far was the PARTIES!!!!

Friday night Mont & Marilyn joined Kim, Bubba and I for a great dinner at Moore's Cowpoke BBQ. We had a yummy feast of baby back ribs, halibut, pulled pork and all of the fixin's.

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we went to Roxane's house for a crazy night of games. Kevin and Julie met us there along with their adorable kids. We played a few hands of cards, then reverted to kids again and played "Sneaks" (a safer version of spoons).

If that wasn't crazy enough, we then turned to "Rock Band". I'm pretty sure that there is nothing in the world more silly than watching mature? adults playing drums, guitar, and singing to old '80's songs. It was a riot!

Saturday we had the annual Olsen Family Easter Party complete with the much anticipated egg decorating contest. This year the participants of the contest outdid themselves! There was everything from Rapunzel Egg and Canoeing Egg to Penguin and Bronco Fan Eggs. Kim peeled and carved his entries! There were lots of stickers, foam, and colors for the little ones (and me) to use. At the end of the evening we all voted and prizes were awarded for the best eggs in several categories.

The annual egg hunt for the youngest members of the family was just a little different this year due to the fact that a storm suddenly appeared right at the time the hunt was to begin. No one wanted to give up on the hunt, so the eggs were just dumped into piles on the lawn, the kids were bundled up tight, and then sent out into the pouring rain to grab as many as they could before they started to float away. Kalel got about five eggs and then refused to even try to get any more. He just grabbed his mom and said, "I cold, mom. I cold." Everyone then carried their dripping sacks of eggs into the house to find fun surprises inside.

A great time was had by all!!!

(I need to mention all of the hard work Mickel and her family put in to make this party such a success! We really appreciate it!)

Easter morning at our house is always an occasion for lots of laughter, and this year was no exception. Kalel found that several special eggs were hidden all around the room just for him - each egg represented a type of ball, football, baseball, soccer ball, etc. Inside of his eggs he found his favorite treat, fruit snacks! But the funnest part was watching Shandra and Tasha. They have let us know that no matter how old they are, they still expect to have the Easter Bunny hide eggs for them. They are extremely good seekers! No matter how smart the Easter Bunny is in finding hiding places, they girls almost always can find them! They required help on only one hidden egg taped to the under side of a cabinet. Tasha even wore bunny ears to help celebrate the occasion!

The Duerden family always gets together for dinner on Easter. Through out the year mom saves coins and on Easter she creates a treasure hunt for all of the children. The prize booty is then divided among all of the participants. Because there is a such a wide gap in the ages of the kids, this year we assigned an older kid to be in charge of a toddler or baby and they had to carry their charge throughout each stage of the hunt! It was a great way to include everyone! Poor Jaxon, being the youngest of the older kids, had to really struggle carrying Kalel, but he did a terrific job.

After the hunt, the weather was so nice that we moved outside and Jeff taught Tristan and Corbin to hit a ball with a bat. Kalel begged to be outside, but he was afraid of the dogs, Bilboa and Mickey, so he wanted to be held the entire time. JoCee was kind enough to take on that duty. It was a fun, fun evening.

Unfortunately, Kim's brother-in-law got sick that evening and had to be admitted to the hospital. We pray for his quick recovery.