Easter Weekend

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! What a perfect reason to celebrate.

For Easter this year, we were excited that the boys were old enough to actually understand some of the popular holiday festivities. A few weeks prior to Easter, Mommy took out the plastic Easter eggs and a basket to practice egg hunting with Jaden and Cody. I knew we'd attend some kind of Easter egg hunt, and I didn't want them to be lost or confused. Well, as you can imagine, they picked up on the concept very quickly! I was particularly happy that they understood how to bring the eggs back to the basket that Mommy was holding, rather than to start running around like crazy amongst the eggs. Teaching our twins how to stay close by, particularly in public settings, is a concept that I'm sure we'll be continually reinforcing throughout life!

A variety of large churches in our community hosted Easter egg hunts on the Saturday before Easter. The one that we attended, I believe, is one of the largest. Daddy was busy at work that day, unfortunately, preparing for Sunday's Easter breakfast. So, we asked our dear friend Laurie from church to join us. With all the crowds that day, it was SUCH a blessing to have her help. We could actually enjoy the entire morning!

Before the egg hunt started, the boys tried their hand at a few games. First, we attempted the bean bag toss.

Then, Cody and Jaden tried out the plastic bowling game.

The boys didn't quite understand the concept of "taking two tosses and then you're done." Both of them kept running to retrieve the beanbags or the bowling ball to try the game again and again. Thankfully, Jaden and Cody are young enough that the patient kids behind them in line just laughed. And, the gracious game monitors gave both boys candy just for their efforts.

Here are Cody, Jaden, and Laurie, lined up next to the egg hunt field, ready to begin. If you are able to zoom in on this picture, you can see the hundreds of eggs strewn about this grassy field. There were SO many!

Jaden and Cody participated in the 0-3 egg hunt group. I was pleased with this division, as I didn't have to worry about them being run over by any over-zealous older kids. I knew that the boys could hold their own. :)

Despite the LARGE amounts of eggs on the field, the entire egg hunt lasted less than 2 minutes. The crowds on opposite ends of the field closed in on each other very quickly. I was particularly thankful for Laurie's extra set of hands during this portion of the morning!

Each of the boys probably got 8-10 eggs. As soon as the hunt was done, we found a spot to sit where the boys could open their eggs.

Laurie and I had to tear the tape off the eggs, but then the boys eagerly opened the eggs to find their candy. Surprisingly, they were much more interested in the act of finding the candy than they were in eating it! I think Cody even spit out a portion of his treat. :)

By that point, it was already near lunchtime, so we were ready to go home. The boys seemed to thoroughly enjoy their first community egg hunt experience. Thanks again, Laurie, for spending time with us!

Of course, the most important part of Easter was celebrating our Savior's resurrection on Sunday. Because of Daddy's busy morning with the youth Easter breakfast, the boys and I chose to attend late service. That way, he could actually sit with us for at least part of the service. 

Growing up, my family had often attended the EARLY sunrise service, so it felt a bit strange to be going to church so late. It was sure nice, however, to have so much time to get the boys all dressed up in their Easter finest. We had plenty of time to try out all kinds of picture poses...

As you can tell, Mommy wasn't very successful in getting smiles out of either boy. It took all of her energy just to get them to stay next to each other and sit still. After church, though, Daddy knew just what to do to get his little boys to giggle. Happy 2nd Easter to our handsome little guys!

On the day after Easter, we were very pleased to have Daddy with us all day long, since the church office was closed. We took advantage of the beautiful weather by enjoying our first-of-the-year outdoor picnic.

Daddy grilled some delicious burgers for us. We couldn't tell which aspect of the meal the boys liked better-- the yummy food or just being outside!

We hope that you, our family and friends, enjoyed a blessed Easter as well. May you continue to rejoice in Jesus' victory over death and in His great love for you throughout the year. Happy Easter!