the Easter photo

The Easter Bunny made a generous drop of chocolate, jelly beans and this stuff:
Luke: Elmo phone

Max: Super Hero Squad figures, Kung Fu Panda
Mom: Running Visor, Running Skirt, iTunes gift card

Dad: Pink dress shirt, purple tie

However, the best part of sharing Easter with the kids was teaching Max about the Resurrection of our Savior. We were reminded of a special moment we had with Max last year when we pulled out the photo given me by my old boss of the actual tomb where Jesus is believed to have been laid.

Last year we were rearranging the office into what would soon be Luke's new bedroom. Max was rarely ever in that room and we kept this photo on the bookshelf. He was helping us (as far as 2 year olds can help) and he pulled that photo off the bookshelf and said "Dad, Jesus in there." Ryan looked at me and said "Did you teach him that?" I replied that I had not. We were just stunned. We later learned that in his nursery class they had been speaking of the resurrection. We were so touched, and still quite shocked that he could make the connection between coloring pages from nursery and a real life photo of the tomb.

This year I brought the photo down in March and kept it out for a month as we tried to teach Max more about the Resurrection (a very abstract concept for a 3 year old). From the first moment he saw the photo he again exclaimed "Mom, Jesus is in there!" After several talks, a video, and Family Night, he now tells us that "Jesus went in there with his 'owiees'" and that "He is alive."
Dying the eggs was great fun, the egg hunt was exciting, and finding the boys new church clothes for Easter is always joyful. But nothing compared to getting to teach our son about the Savior's love and sacrifice for us. And then to top it all off, we were able to spend the weekend watching Conference and feeling inspired to be better parents to our kids.