Easter Celebration

Around 6am, the kids woke up to see if the Easter Bunny made it through the storms...he did!  Blake got some books, Lego and Club Penguin goodies, and a pirate game.  Taylor got a book, some Squirmies (little weird animal toys?!?), and some ballerina stuff!  They both got a small chocolate bunny too! The Easter Bunny even left a couple of bones for Sophie to chew on...how thoughtful! 

Then....we grabbed the baskets and went outside to search for the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden for them.  We told them each to find six eggs...that way Blake wouldn't find them all!  lol!

Then we headed in to get ready for church.  We were trying to get ready in time to have a pancake breakfast at church around 9am, we were late, but still had plenty of time for pancakes and donuts.  I was excited because Billy had been working on a really great music set for the worship band to play.  I really look forward to the music!  And this Sunday, my cousin, Cheryl was coming to the service too!!  What I didn't expect, was my friend Jennifer to show up with her family too...what a wonderful surprise!!  Her daughter, Sabrina, has been friends with Blake since kindergarten.  Sabrina goes to church with us most Sundays, but to have her whole family there was so awesome! 

The service was great!  I must admit, the last few days, leading up to Easter have been super-stressful at our house.  I have taken on way too many activities, can't keep up with the housework, and struggle to get things ready for the holiday...but when I'm there at church, surrounded by loving people, listening to a message that always seems to speak directly to my heart...nothing else really matters.  God loves us!  He "knows" we are not perfect and he "knows" that we need HIS help!  I'm going to "let go" of the negativity and focus on what really matters! How blessed we are to have a God that would give up his only son...just for us!  As you can tell, the service was awesome and followed by an Egg hunt for the kids. 

After the egg hunt, we headed to the house.  Aunt Susie and my cousin, Cheryl (whom I don't get to see enough) came back to the house too.  It was great to get to visit, snack, and spend time together.  I had bought a huge ham and all the fixins' for a traditional Easter dinner, but never got to it!!  We had some finger foods and dessert and we decided to forget the work of starting dinner...crazy, but I think we just started a new tradition...NO big dinner plans, just easy snacks!  Can't wait to NOT plan a dinner next year!  My sister had to work late, so she didn't make it over this evening, so the kids and I are going to take goodies to her house tomorrow, along with the "special" eggs they colored her and we'll celebrate again!  We should celebrate Easter more often, anyways!  Happy Easter!