I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! We enjoyed ours immensely!
Fortunately, Hubster had the day off on Good Friday. That afternoon, we celebrated Easter with his family so that his sister who lives out of state and her family could be with us. We enjoyed a good meal and then headed outside for the annual Easter egg hunt for the kids.
I must say that the weather this weekend was just gorgeous. It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine and not have to be all bundled up. After this winter, I was just thanking the Lord all weekend for such glorious weather.
The kids love the egg hunt. It's been tradition at Nana and Grandpa's house since they were very little. All the grandkids are growing up though, and so the egg hunt's years are numbered I'm afraid to say.
Our Saturday began with Easter baskets at home. Yes, on Saturday. This has become our tradition over the years. It really began because honestly, we were usually so busy on Easter Sunday that we didn't really have time for baskets. It has worked out well though because now our Easter is more focused on Jesus instead of the Easter Bunny.
We never made a huge deal about the Easter Bunny when the kids were little (most of that kind of stuff entered their lives via school.) One of the first years we did baskets on Saturday, they were so excited about the Easter Bunny coming to our house. but we told them he wouldn't come unless they took a bath. So they all got in the tub and while Hubster was giving baths, I hid the baskets. For a couple years after that they thought that the Easter Bunny only came while they were in the tub. Worked out great for us! Ha!
Now they know it's just Mom and Dad hiding the baskets and so they huddle in one bedroom while we hide them and then come out and search. We don't have many great hiding spots in our house, so the search is very short. But it's tradition.
(I'm such a bad blogger. For the rest of the weekend the camera was pretty much forgotten about.)
The remainder of Saturday was spent getting the house ready for our guests for Easter dinner the next day. My sweet Hubster even went out and bought some flowers to plant outside by the door to welcome everyone.
Easter Sunday started early for us. At our church, the youth plan the early service (formerly known as the Sunrise Service). Since two of our kiddos were involved in that this year, they had to be at church especially early. Hubster drove over with the kids while I came a little later to do a few last minute things at home.
The kids and our Youth Director did a great job. It always feels so right to start out the day joyously celebrating that Jesus is risen.
That service is followed by Easter Breakfast....scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, muffins, fruit, juice, and this year, a French Toast casserole....YUM!
Next came our main service. The choir sang in this service and my parents, long-time choir members, recruited our middle guy to sing in the choir for Easter. How sweet it was to see his face buried in his music trying his hardest to follow along. I also had to privilege to be part of the worship team this morning. It's always wonderful to be able to lead people to worship Jesus, but it was even more so on the day when we celebrate the Resurrection.
After church, we headed home for lunch. (Don't know how we had any room for lunch, but we managed. Ha!) What a fun time we had around the table. We always do. Mom, Sal, and I had all contributed to the meal and everything was delicious. Here's our menu in case you missed it.
We finally relaxed after lunch by all sitting around and watching Frozen. Yes, all eleven of us! Those of us who had seen it a time or two or more sang along. Fun times!
Shortly after that the party broke up. Hubster and I cleaned up, put the kids to bed, and collapsed in front of the TV to watch the Amazing Race.
Our weekend was full. But these are the times when I look back and realize how full our life is....kids, family, church, home, friends.....and even more important things like love, hope, and the Giver of it all.
I hope your Easter weekend was blessed as well!
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Before I go, I want to tell you about a great giveaway that Sal is having over at Drinking From My Saucer. She's talking about Spring and mason jars today and has a set of green Heritage Ball jars to give away. So if your house is still needing a little Spring in it, head on over and you could win a set of those beautiful green jars!
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