Happy Easter!

Well, today is the day....we are flying to Italy overnight! We have been laboring for so long we are hoping for a smooth delivery! Oddly enough, we are skipping Easter this year. We are leaving tonight and arriving in Naples on Sunday night at 10:30 p.m.

I remember when I was a kid I would have an occasional day that I was dreading like going to the dentist or something and once I learned about the International divide I always wanted to go there to skip that woefully anticipated day. Why couldn't this be the day of my mammogram instead of Easter that we are skipping? Hmmmm, better planning is needed in the future! Anyway, the only part we are skipping is the bunnies, and chicks, etc. But in lieu of that I am sending you the above cool "peep" and wishing you a happy day of Easter Egg hunting, hot crossed buns or whatever your family does to celebrate Easter. I want Lanette to know that we did skip all Easter candy this year but we will have one Cadbury Egg each in the Munich airport!

I am grateful that as members of the Church we celebrate Easter every Sunday. Even though we won't be attending church we will be remembering the true meaning of Easter tomorrow. There is a quote from Elder Holland I always like to send at Easter from his book entitled "On Earth As it Is In Heaven." I could not find our copy this week but the idea of the quote, much less eloquently stated by me, is that our Heavenly Father loves each of us so much that even though as He watched the pain of the atonement unfold~ And He could have intervened and stopped the suffering of His only Begotten Son for us at any time ~ He didn't.

I have often thought of that when I see suffering among our friends and family members and especially our children and grandchildren and wonder how He could do it? I know that if I had the power to prevent their sufferings I would be sorely tempted! But God in His infinite wisdom, knows the end from the beginning, and knows what is needed to be accomplished in this life, far better than we do.

(Not to be irreverent in any way, but that is why I know He is God, and I choose to be one of His "peeps"! )

Jim and I are looking forward to seeing the Life of the Savior portrayed in the artistry of Italy. And I know as we view it, it will bring us an even greater appreciation of His Gift for us all. So Happy Easter everyone! We love you and will try to do a little blogging if we can with some great pictures of the family and 'the old country' as Grampa Andrew would call it!