A Wonderful Weekend!

Yesterday was a busy day. We woke up early to clean our home together before going to volunteer at the "Boys and Girls Club" for the Disney's "Give a Day, Get a Day" program. We formed groups of 6, so we were with 2 other young couples and we were responsible for cleaning out the storage room with all the sports equipment in the gym. We have never seen so many basketballs in our lives. They have almost anything you could think of- tennis, scoops, scooters, baseball, basketball, footballs, jump ropes, bowling, golf, volleyballs, handballs... It did not look too bad, but by the time we were through with it, it did look better. We pulled everything out of the closet and swept and vacuumed the closet out and then organized everything and put it back in more organized as we labeled boxes. It really was fun.

Taylor thought we would not be able to make it to the Festival of Colors or Holi, as it is also referred to, but our volunteer thing ended at 10:30 instead of noon, so he went and took is test and got an 84%!!! (Way to go Taylor!) And then we headed to Spanish Fork for the Festival of Colors! It was so much fun. Here is a little history of it... I find it fascinating. I love learning about other cultures.

Celebrated all over India since ancient times, Holi's precise form and purpose display great variety. Originally, Holi was an agricultural festival celebrating the arrival of spring. This aspect still plays a significant part in the festival in the form of the colored powders: Holi is a time when man and nature alike throw off the gloom of winter and rejoice in the colors and liveliness of spring. Holi also commemorates various events in Hindu mythology, but for most Hindus it provides a temporary opportunity for Hindus to disregard social norms, indulge in merrymaking and generally "let loose."The legend commemorated by the festival of Holi involves an evil king named Hiranyakashipu. He forbade his son Prahlad from worshipping Vishnu, but Radhu continued to do offer prayers to the god. Getting angry with his son, Hiranyakashipu challenged Prahlad to sit on a pyre with his wicked aunt Holika who was believed to be immune to fire. (In an alternate version, Holika put herself and Prahlad on the fire on orders from her brother.) Prahlad accepted the challenge and prayed to Vishnu to keep him safe. When the fire started, everyone watched in amazement as Holika was burnt to death, while Prahlad survived without a scar to show for it. The burning of Holika is celebrated as Holi. According to some accounts, Holika begged Prahlad for forgiveness before her demise, and he decreed that she would be remembered every year at Holi.

We parked at the first parking we saw because it was free. They had a shuttle bus, but we did not think it was far so we decided to walk. It ended up being a 35 minute walk, but it was enjoyable. It was fun watching all the excitement of everyone going, and the look of the people leaving and walking back to their cars. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking!

When we got back we obviously had to shower and then watched a little 24, before going to the Easter Party at Taylor's parents. That was also so much fun. They always organize and plan it so perfect. It was fun watching the kids decorate their sticker, Easter scenes and play bingo and color eggs. Taylor and I colored some too. Dan, Taylor, and I hid the eggs outside. Dan is quite the egg hider! Taylor and I just placed them in plain sight. Oh those kids are so cute! The adults also had an egg hunt. We each had a specific color to hunt for and each had 3. Each egg had money in it. Tony and Jeanne are always so generous. And each couple also had their own basket full of treats.

We both went to bed early. I had a headache and fell asleep as Taylor worked on his lesson for today. He's going over it again right now and our Home Teachers will be coming soon, then we have to go over the Primary lesson we will teaching today. It has been a great weekend!