Easter Sunday

"Why do you look for the living among the dead. He [Jesus] is not here; He has risen!" ~ Luke 24: 5,6

That is the ultimate victory. No greater reason to celebrate than that.

Andy's Easter morning began a bit earlier than the rest of ours with the sunrise service. I stayed home and let the kids (and myself) sleep in a little bit. I did the sunrise service with Bella a few times, but with Graydon it is just a bit much.

He's quite the handful in church.

This Daddy's-boy makes a beeline for the front when he sees his favorite person - Daddy. When I try to keep him with me, I (as well as the rest of the church) get to hear just how powerful this little guy's lungs can be.

How grateful I am to have the nursery.

***

The kids and my morning began with the children's Sunday School program.

Bella's Easter bonnet - with all the frills upon it!
This whole creation was Bella's design. I had envisioned little flowers and eggs and maybe a butterfly springing up from Bella's hat for the Easter bonnet contest. She wanted a rainbow. Little pieces of colorful paper glued on. Those were her instructions. When she saw that I had a bunch of colorful fabric scraps to use. . . all the better!

She kept it on all morning and won the prize of "Most Colorful".I didn't even bother with creating a hat for Graydon knowing that he would never keep it on. I managed to get this quick photo of him just before he ripped the ears off of his head.

He won the prize for "Most Handsome."

I agree.

On second thought, maybe I could have made him a hat. He did seem to appreciate Bella's.This Easter was exactly how I always envision Easter to be.

A lovely spring day. Sunny and warm. Flowers blooming and birds singing. Evidence of new life all around.

We soaked it in after church. While Graydon napped that afternoon, Bella hunted for her basket.

It was hiding under the piano.Her gift: Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses - her ultimate favorite movie. The one she hopes to get every time we go to the library, but it's never there. (I guess a lot of other little girls like it as well.)

Now she has her very own and her reaction was exactly what I had envisioned: pure delight! She thanked us several times over the rest of the evening.Bella hid Graydon's basket in the play kitchen and then led him right to it after he woke up.He got some treats of his own. We enjoyed a simple Easter meal and topped off the evening with a trip out for ice cream.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter celebration!