Heaven, Hell, and the Easter Bunny

Tonight I was trying to get Annabelle to go to sleep. I reminded her that the Easter Bunny was watching her and would probably really like it if she would fall asleep without whining or crying. She glared at me, stuck out her tongue, and then immediately clapped her hands over her mouth and shook her head, saying, “I’ll never do that again.”
She knew the Easter Bunny was watching.
The babies are completely off schedule after our week of partying in Utah.  Our trip was a mixture of heaven and hell.
Let’s see, a brief glimpse of the hellish moments:
Annabelle gets a fever; Henry vomits on my mom; Henry’s poopy diaper leaks all over my parent’s white carpet; the kids don’t sleep for five nights in a row; Henry develops strange bumps on his feet and I take him to my brother’s medical clinic; Henry scratches his ear until it bleeds and we take him to my brother’s at 9pm at night; Henry finds a little patch of snow to sit in and walk through wearing his slippers followed by sitting in a sandbox getting covered in mud, snow, and sand… 
The heavenly moments:
Sitting in the sunshine with my sister, talking while the kids play; sitting in the sunshine with my family watching Bandit, Janessa’s tiny puppy, romp in the grass with the kids; watching my brother lift Annabelle up in the middle of a basketball game so she can make a slamdunk; going to pick up Annabelle at my brother’s where she was very happily eating popcorn and watching Pinocchio; seeing the snowy mountains glow under the moonlight; watching my nephews (fourteen and ten years old!) don capes and tie one on Annabelle (they even helped her tie a tiny cape on her stuffed guinea pig) and run around the house; watching the kids run by screaming with laughter after the big party; seeing Annabelle do her Hannah Montana dance at the big party; seeing my oldest brother who I haven’t seen in four years!…
It was quite a trip! I spent months planning my parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary and it was a huge success.