SO, this day was the whole reason for going on spring break. i wanted to take my kids to the {easter pageant.} in my formative years we would attend every easter. it is and always has been one of my favorite memories as a child. my mom and i would spend a couple days over at my grandma's relaxing and living stress-free from my dad's moods. we would go to movies, shop at the mall, eat lots of food, read a ton of books and watch A LOT of rental tapes. most of these memories mainly contain my mother and grandma. i don't have to many memories of my brothers being there but i'm sure there were years where they were. we would arrive super early to the temple for good seats and then get food from the arby's next to the temple. i remember so many years of laying on a blanket in the cool arizona spring grass, staring up at the sky and day dreaming of the life i'm somewhat living now.
when the pageant would start, it was like magic to me. i loved seeing Jesus with the little children and wished that i could be the one to give him a real life hug. and i cried desperately when he hung on the cross, so confused at how people could be so very vicious and cruel. it renewed my love for Christ and gave me hope to be healed with his help.
i look back at this now with quite a bit of amazement that i was so in tune with the spirit at such a very young age. especially since the only form of religious teaching i got was from church. and even then, at that very young age i was able to understand between the difference of man giving there opinion of the gospel and what the gospel truly meant for me. i must clarify that my mom did try to live her best to what she believed was right. we did pray sometimes as a family but that truly was the extent of teachings in the home. i believe that God gave me this gift of a true testimony from the time i was a little girl because he knew of the horrible things that would happen to me in my young life. He knew i needed his comfort when i would pray to be comforted. He gave me the exceptional strength of spirit who talked to me when decisions needed to be made. i still have that sincere strength. it has blessed me beyond my own understanding when i have listened and i've learned hard lessons when i haven't.
over the years, i would talk of my love for the easter pageant and how i wanted to take my kids to it. so when we finally moved close enough, i told the family that was what we would do for spring break. (not knowing that my husband would have to leave again, forcing me to once again do a family trip alone.)
so what do you do with kids during the day while waiting to go to a pageant? well go swimming at grandma's of course. oh, and spend the afternoon playing with mustaches. because it's just fun. plus i'm a sucker for kids in mustaches.
oh.my.gosh. so much fun.
finally after waiting for what seemed forever to my children, we were able to go to the temple. my sweet girls wanted to dress there best for the easter pageant which made me full of gratitude that there really ARE times my kids are thoughtful. (or maybe it's just they wanted to dress up to be pretty. whatever, i'll take the former.) we were able to get incredible seats (third row, middle. perfect.) and we ate our packed dinners. i think my kids were just super excited to eat pringles. we played on the nook, read books and finally when it was dark we watched the pageant. my girls sat quietly the whole time and even wesley did good. except for some wiggles and asking questions, he did remarkable for a four year old. i once again, wished i was able to be there when Christ lived and once again i was grateful i wasn't because i could never recover from literally seeing Him be crucified. it's hard enough for me to think about. the lump in my throat and the tears in my eyes only confirmed that.
she looked so adorable.
(i thought i got a picture of both my girls but for some reason i can't find it. bummer.)
