Easter

This year the girls got to try a lot of ‘fun’ Easter activities!

We got busy dying and decorating Easter eggs. We tackled that before my mom left, and I have to say that the 3 adults to 2 kids ratio worked out nicely!

Lisa was old enough to help with the dying this year. Kind of. So when Samantha got up from her nap, we got busy decorating the colorful eggs. We had trouble getting the stickers to stick, but the girls still had a blast coloring their eggs.

Saturday, our apartment complex had a small Easter egg hunt. They found several eggs right outside our door!

Later that day, we joined the Carneys for their large neighborhood egg hunt. We arrived right after they had started, and all the (hundreds of) eggs were gone! The kids didn’t seem to mind too much, and after hiking around for a little bit, the dads hid a few pieces of candy that were handed out, as well as tucking in a couple of ones for the kids to find in a few eggs we had brought with us. Like most places we bring them, the kids had the most fun just running around with each other! I hope it’ll always be that way!

For the first time this year, the girls and I made Resurrection Rolls. They did a great job of listening as I read the Easter story, then had a blast dipping each marshmallow (representing Jesus) into the melted butter and cinnamon sugar mix (representing the burial oils and spices). We then wrapped ‘Jesus’ in a crescent roll (burial clothes) and placed it in the oven (tomb). As it’s baking, the marshmallow melts, making it ‘disappear’. So after reading about Jesus rising from the grave, both girls got a kick out of checking out their ‘tombs’. They were pretty amazed that ‘Jesus’ wasn’t in there anymore!

It was pretty simple, but a lot of these events around Easter have been a great way to talk with the girls about death, and especially about the how and why of Jesus’ death. They’re just beginning to understand many of these concepts, and my prayer is that they’ll understand that death is not something to be feared. Jesus came to save us from death. That they’re learning how to deal with Evy’s death around the same time they’re learning about Easter has really been a blessing.

Easter morning, the girls woke up to their Easter baskets and princess dresses.

I had actually picked out a cute spring dress for both girls about a month before Easter. A few days later, I went shopping with Lisa, and she happened to see these tulle ‘princess’ dresses and fell in love with them. She came as close as she ever has to begging me for one! I told her we couldn’t get one then, but maybe for Easter… So back to the store went the cute ones mom picked out. I figured they’re only this little once, right? I know it won’t be long at all before they’ll be out of this princess phase, and I want them to enjoy it as much as they can!

Twirling before church:

A family photo:

Several of our close friends met at the Peterson’s for Easter dinner. Because it was raining, their sweet girls planned an Easter egg hunt upstairs for all the younger children. At this point, Lisa and Sam knew what’s what, and had a great time hunting down more eggs!

That was our Easter in a nutshell. We felt a huge amount of love from all our family and friends who’ve helped support us during this tender and emotional time. Thanks all!