Hiking, ham, and hiding eggs

 Good Friday was a good day for our family to test out some new hiking boots and an upgraded child carrier at Devil's Backbone.

 

 

 On Saturday, Dan and Christie came to visit from Boulder. Together, we set out on another hike--this time at Horsetooth Mountain.

 

 When we got home, we put some ham in the oven (an hour or two past schedule), while the girls basked in attention from their aunt and uncle. Mika hardly ever left the arms of Uncle Dan . . .

 . . . and Aunt Christie accommodated Ramona's many "dress up" demands.

After a late dinner, she even read Ramona a bedtime story. We love having Dan and Christie close by!

Easter Sunday mostly involved various church responsibilities. For our sacrament meeting I was in charge of organizing and leading a group of 9-11 year-old girls in a short musical number. When it was time for the girls to line up in front to sing, Ramona grabbed a folder and went right up with them, then held her music in front of her just like the older girls. I didn't make any attempt to stop her, assuming it would have been even more of a disruption to try--but wondered if I had made the right decision when the front lights went out during the performance and I realized Ramona's little hands had found the light switch by the podium. Thankfully, the rest of the girls continued with their "Easter Hosanna" despite the flickering lights, and sounded lovely.

At home, Ramona hid several Cadbury eggs from Daddy, only to "find" them for him a few minutes later.

Then she found some chalk eggs for herself, and spent much of the remaining afternoon playing with empty plastic Easter eggs. My original intention was to carry out the customary tradition of filling them with candy and hiding them in the backyard, but I hadn't gotten around to it. Ramona was so eager to hide them herself (and she had already eaten a substantial portion of candy at church), I gave up and let her play her own way. Of course, this involved her tripping, spilling an entire bowl of eggs, and bursting into tears--but hopefully she had a happy Easter, overall.

My favorite part may have been hearing Ramona's little voice singing: "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the most high God!" periodically throughout the day. Just like "big" girls.