A Happy Holy-day

I hope you and your family had a very Happy Easter. We certainly did...


well, most of us, anyway. Jack had some sad moments that just happened to coincide with the photography session, of course. But after his tummy got full, his heart was happy.


Maddie was as sweet as sugar, and Luke was as wild as ever. It seems our efforts at a decent picture of all three of them failed. Oh, well. All you can do is try.

Luke even gave it a try. But he seemed to have a little problem with his aim.



Our Easter Sunday was pretty low-key, but after some reflection on our weekend, I think it was really what holidays should be. I was part of a discussion with a friend who was saying she tried to make Easter a really big deal in her family...as big a deal as Christmas. I totally see her logic, but in some ways, I wish Christmas was more like Easter.

In our home, there was no mention of the Easter Bunny. We didn't make it an issue, but the kids never brought it up. However, we fought the Santa Claus battle this year and lost, with Jack at least. At Christmas, it seems we are constantly having to try to bring the focus off of presents and parties and back to Jesus. But at Easter, the focus of our celebration is on Christ and all the eggs and baskets seem to just be a fun, but small, part of the whole thing.

At Easter, I seem to be able to take time out during Holy Week to read in the gospels, reflect on Christ's sacrifice, and rejoice at His resurrection. While we celebrate Christmas for a whole month, I find it very hard in all the hustle and bustle to find time to sit, reflect, and rejoice over the true purpose of it all. When Easter rolls around, we may have spent a little on Easter clothes (well, Nana may have) and a few goodies for the baskets, but it is nothing compared the time and money we invest in Christmas. And we don't even buy many gifts compared to most people.

I guess this Easter was just a sweet day with our family and a week of talking and celebrating what Christ has done for us. It was focused on Christ, it was relaxing and fun, and it was topped off by a worship service at the Lovelady Center that evening. (And I was excited we made Resurrection Rolls! I am usually terrible at cute and meaningful holiday traditions, and technically we did it on Monday, but still!) It just couldn't have been a better day. Well, it would have been nice to have all of our family there, but we did get to play with Matthew and Emily on Good Friday and will see Grandma and Grandpa this weekend.



Friday afternoon was spent in great egg hunt fun.


Jack and Maddie were just a tiny bit competitive.

Luke, however, preferred to take a more relaxed approach.

And, eventually, he just decided to brush up on his badminton skills.


After the thrill of the hunt was over, it was time to enjoy the spoils of victory. MONEY!

And where was I during all this egg-hunting hoopla? Where else? Sitting lazily on the porch. I did feel a little guilty, but everybody else seemed to have things covered.

I pray that we will have many more holidays just as wonderful, meaningul, and fun as this one was.