Easter!

My sister sent Avery an Easter dress to match her little girl Brynn. Brynn is 3. She is just 4 months older than Logan. I wish we could have actually been together for Easter. I had my sister email me a picture of Brynn in her dress so I could post the matching cousins on my blog! They are so cute! Avery loves wearing dresses. She holds the skirt like she is a princess. I think she knows she is pretty in a dress. The only thing I have discovered about cute dresses on babies is that it makes them slippery. It's so hard to hold them!

We had a nice Easter. Tony's family didn't really celebrate Easter with the Easter bunny. Mine did. So it is hard to get Tony excited about that aspect of the holiday. It makes it hard for me to be the only one to prepare and impart the excitement to Logan. I know Easter is more about the Savior and the Atonement and Resurrection, but I think you can teach the true meaning of Easter, and still enjoy the secular aspect of it. We do it at Christmas, why not be able to seperate it now as well? I have made it a point for the Easter Bunny to include some church related items in the Easter baskets to help us remember. This year I received this book in my basket. We also got The Testaments DVD. Logan got The Scripture Scouts and the picture version of The Book of Mormon. We listened to The Scripture Scouts when we were little and we loved them! I hope he does too. Of course there were also plastic eggs full of candy and some other little toys for Logan. All in all, I think he was happy with his Easter.

For dinner I made the usual ham. I made it in the crockpot again,and I am totally sold on this method. It is soooo easy, and the ham is sooo yummy. It is really tender, and just falls apart. I had a 4 or 5 pound half ham with no bone. I just plopped it in the crockpot and turned it on low for 8-10 hours. You don't need to add anything else to it. Really, you should all try it. You will love it this way.

I also made red potatoes with a lemon dill butter, roasted asparagus, and glazed carrots. It was a pretty simple meal, but so good. I was happy. I will share the recipes for the carrots and asparagus.

Glazed Carrots

1 bag baby carrots

2 Tbls. butter

2 Tbls. brown sugar

2 Tbls. orange juice

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the brown sugar, orange juice, salt, ginger, and cinnamon. Add the carrots; cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally.

Roasted Asparagus

1-2 ibs. asparagus, washed and ends trimmed

2 Tbls. olive oil

1-2 Tbls. soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Mix oil and soy sauce and pour onto baking sheet with edges. Roll asparagus in the oil mixture to coat. sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes.

* I actually have another recipe that is similar. Instead of soy sauce it uses balsamic vinegar. It also has 1 tsp. minced garlic. This one says to cook at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. I used the soy sauce for Easter dinner, but still included the garlic. It is sooo good, and I will always cook asparagus this way from now on.Yummy!

So, that was my yummy Easter dinner. Too bad Logan didn't eat any of it. He had a banana. Poor kid. he doesn't know what he is missing!

Here is a picture of Logan and Avery together Sunday afternoon. Avery was not in her dress anymore, and Logan wouldn't smile normal for the camera, so this is the best I could get of my two kids together on Easter.