Easter 2015

This Easter we decided to head to California. Grandma Hoppes recently moved out of her house and before she sells it we wanted to have (at least) one more big family party there. I have so many fond memories of their house and was very excited to get to show Mark everything.

We stopped in Sparks the night before to get a good night's sleep. We knew there would be lots of fun to be had at Grandma's.  We had $4 in cash and thought we might as well play the slots. We aren't very good, and really it's not that much fun. Good thing we always have fun together no matter what we are doing!

The next morning we headed through Lassen Nation Forest. It was gorgeous. I had never made that drive to Grandma's house and I'm so glad we did. We took our time and just enjoy it.

Isn't this an amazing yard?? I would love to have a yard and forest like this surrounding my house!

Cami's family and my parents came up that evening. It was fun to have the house full! 

We decorated Easter eggs and had a BBQ! Watching Parker was the best. He is getting so much older and watching him try to figure out the egg droppers was pretty funny.

In the morning we were anxious for the Easter bunny to come and then the rest of the family!

 Luckily the hunt ended right before the rain started coming down. We didn't let the rain stop the party though!

Once Kyle's crew got into town we headed out to the train tracks. Grandma's house is surrounded by a forest. Behind the forest are these awesome train tracks and a mill. We always loved playing on the trails. I love seeing the kids having as much fun as we did. Of course afterwards we had s'mores!

By the afternoon we had over 60 people at the house! Auntie Lynne and all of her kids and grandkids were able to join us. We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE having them with us. Their kids are so kind and play so well with everyone. This meant that we had a GIANT Easter egg hunt. These kids were in heaven!

Our favorite tradition when we were younger was doing a Day After Christmas Bonfire! We looked forward to it every year. We haven't done it since my Grandpa Hoppes died and decided we should probably do one this year.  Even in the rain we still had a blast. The men built a good size fire, we roasted hot dogs, marshmallows, and even made mud potatoes.

Mud Potatoes are my favorite! I use to love when my Dad would take me hunting for a good clay spot. Once you find the clay you work it and smooth it out. You then take a raw potato and put the clay around the potato.  Then you place it in the fire and let it cook. They always turn out yummy. It was fun to see my Dad teaching all of the kids how to make them. We ended up a little dirty, but totally worth it.

Did I mention that we also had a full on Easter meal while all of this was happening?? Ham, potatoes, veggies, salads, fruit, treats, etc. We were not lacking in food that day!

Everyone had to head back so it was just Mark and I Sunday night at the house. I'm so grateful that we were able to make this trip.  I love my family so much and sharing our traditions with Mark has been a lot of fun.

The weather that weekend wasn't the greatest, but luckily it stopped raining and snowing for us through the pass. The snow made for some pretty amazing views!