Easter 2009

We had a happy Easter full of family, as usual. And, that is truly a blessing in our book! Easter--along with every other holiday--lasts for weeks! And, we get loved on by every cousin and grandparent at some point along the way.

Our first Easter celebration was with Grandad and Grankay! It was a great way to kick off the holiday, with a delicious lunch, a fantastic egg hunt, and even MORE Easter treats after that!!

Here are the cousins before the word "GO!"

Carlie in action...

Abby Kate (and her new awkward smile) poses with her stash!

The sisters (notice Abby Kate's "smile" again) show their full baskets!

The next Easter event was Grandma's new idea for an Easter tradition. She wanted to take the girls to American Girl for brunch and what a fun time it was!!

Look at my big, beautiful girls ready for their fun!

Carlie, Sophie, and Kendyll with Kit, Elizabeth, and Nellie :)Getting all settled in at the table to eat, with each doll in their own little chair...

Each girl got one egg at the end of our brunch, and when they opened it, they found money to buy one American Girl outfit. Oh, the fun of shopping for that special outfit! Kendyll enjoyed browsing the store...However, Carlie just got stressed out by the pressure of this decision. :) She eventually made a choice, but man it was tough!

Here is Grandma with her girls (or at least most of them!)

It was a great treat for all of us, and will be a fun new Easter tradition, I'm sure.The Saturday night before Easter, we spent as a family. We read through all of our Easter story books, many of which talk about the meaning behind the holiday we celebrate. We also did our Resurrection Eggs, which are wonderful at telling the story of Jesus' sacrifice, and we read passages from the Bible that went along with the eggs. The sweetest part was watching them "play" with the eggs, telling the story of Jesus death & resurrection to their sisters. (except for Judas' name...Carlie can't remember that for the life of her. :) Precious times.

I guess it's age, or maybe having my own children now....but I can hardly get through the story of Jesus' gift to us on the cross, without losing my voice from tears. Even though I'll never fully comprehend the precious gift He gave, I feel like it becomes more and more amazing to me as I "grow up". I hope and pray my children truly come to understand, over time, the awesome sacrifice and tremendous love given to us through the cross .

Easter morning was busy, but fun, as the girls discovered their Easter surprises, and we got ready for a morning with friends and family at church.

The stash waiting for them downstairs.

And, the sleepy-eyed children following the "marshmallow bunny trail" to find their baskets.Abby Kate found the marshmallow trail, and would have been happy if there had been nothing else! A breakfast of champions... But she was also amazed to see her new Miss Pattycake movie and her very first chocolate bunny. (which should explain her nakedness!) Both the movie and the bunny have been well loved.

These huge stuffed animals were a bigger hit than even the Easter bunny expected!!

I love Carlie's sleepy-eyed bedhead face in the mornings. :)

And, after all of the chocolate, marshmallows, and Starbursts...it was time to clean up and get pretty!

Abby Kate was so excited about her dress, and I still don't know exactly why. Maybe it's the spring colors that made her giddy. Or, new white shoes? Whatever it was, she kept spinning and saying "Ahhhhh" after she got dressed. She kept saying "Ah Me!" (which means "look at me"!) and she asked all of us "See? See?" I think we have yet another princess in the making. :)
One of my favorite pictures of the whole day...
After church, we headed to see Pops and Grandma for a Hawaiian Easter lunch!! More cousin pictures were waiting for this bunch!

Sophie decided this was a good time to show her cousin-love for Carlie.

And, Abby Kate thought maybe some cousin-love would help Ty enjoy picture-taking a little more. Not so much.

Here are Pops and Grandma with all their grandkids. I love that they all coordinate and no one planned it!

After lunch was another great egg hunt...indoors this time, because of the not-so-beautiful Easter weather. Of course, Mom forgot the baskets and eggs for our girls. So, Abby Kate got to have a basket as big as her body instead. She seemed okay with that idea.

The cousins check out yet another great stash of candy. We will be eating it until next Easter I'm afraid!
And, of course, what would be Easter without a couple of family pictures that didn't turn out? (Actually, they're fine....I just look a bit old...and that's depressing. :)

Although we didn't get to see Gammy and Papa Ron for an actual Easter celebration, this last weekend, we spent some time at the ranch with them. And, we're counting it as an Easter celebration, since we did it in April, and we DID have an Easter pinata!! Saturday was my Mom's birthday, and we had a wonderful time relaxing, having a girly lunch with my sisters, mom, and grandmother, and a delicious dinner with the family. We also had some time to play in the rain, and do a few "ranchy" things too. OF COURSE...I have no pictures to show for it. My camera was dead when I arrived, and I never did charge it. So, I'm lacking a few of our celebratory pictures for this post...

But, I think Mom's gift this year, is one of my favorite gifts I've ever given. Ducks and a floating duck house. Have you ever given that to your mom before? Although the ducks are not there yet, they are coming soon! And, my girls are SO excited to have them join the ranch.

In honor of the birthday ducks, here is a picture of our little visitors this morning! We woke up to find three little ducks in our front yard, and they decided to stay a while. This was a VERY exciting event to our little family. :)

Happy (late) Easter, everyone. And, happy happy birthday, Gammy!