He is Risen!

This past Sunday we enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration with friends and family.  Early in the morning we attended worship service and then came home to share breakfast together before beginning the preparations for our big dinner with the whole family.  The kids got to check out their baskets after church because there wasn't enough time to see them before we left.  Sadly I didn't get a single picture of the boys in their cute outfits!  By the time we got home from church everyone was hungry, messy looking and tired!  I might have to put them back on this week just so I can snap a few pics!

James is the easy one to buy for right now.  He is at a really fun age where he gets super excited about everything and the things he likes only cost a few dollars.

Drew is a little trickier because most of the stuff he enjoys is pricey for an Easter basket!  But I did find a few fun hockey themed items including a poster for his room that isn't in the picture.

Ethan's basket was pretty sparse.  At ten months he doesn't have a clue about Easter baskets, but I did want to get him a few little things of course.  He got a sippy cup, a toothbrush and a Praise Baby DVD.

The firetruck was a big hit with James as I knew it would be.

My parents stopped over with another Easter basket for each of the boys.  We are on major candy overload here!

After breakfast the boys took naps and I got to work preparing everything for Easter dinner.  We had invited all the family and some other good friends.

We had eleven people at the dinner table.  What a blessing!  The big kids sat at a card table in the kitchen and the little kids ate in the playroom.

This was the scene in the playroom for the first half of the meal.  All the other kids were running around playing.  James has a singular focus.  He loves to eat!

It was truly such a wonderful evening.  We ate until we were stuffed and then enjoyed sweet fellowship.  The kids had a blast!  We did an egg hunt for them in the basement since it was freezing cold and raining outside.

There was a lot of bouncing around and being very silly!

In general it was lots of fun!  And, there is always a "clean up fairy" who quietly wisks away all the dishes and makes my house look put back together again.  I am blessed!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate our risen LORD than to spend it with these wonderful people.  The only thing that would have made it more complete would have been my sister and her family down in Georgia.  

Happy Easter!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  In his great mercy he has given us new life into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

~1 Peter 1:3