Easter Sunday and Worthington (April 5)

After a fun (as fun as can be with a sick Mama and Kendrick) weekend in Humboldt, Easter Sunday morning was a bit of a whirlwind.

We started our day sleeping in a bit because we were so exhausted from our big weekend. It was a rough morning, to be honest. Kendrick was pretty miserable (turned out he had a nasty ear infection, which we found out the next morning), and I was really tempted to miss the Easter service, except then Mark reminded me that I had nursery duty...and he was scheduled to be an usher. We had planned to attend the Easter breakfast at church that our youth group puts on each year, but with how exhausted and worn down we were all feeling, we didn't think it was best to force interactions all morning...especially with our track record of eating anywhere but home with two squirmy boys. I took Cashel to the store to pick up some medicine for Kendrick and some doughnuts for breakfast (since I hadn't planned breakfast, and thought a sprinkly doughnut seemed more festive than a bowl of cereal).

This would be after the boys discovered their Easter baskets and Cashel downed approximately 22 jelly beans. We're stellar parents and all...

Sadly, Kendrick looked about like this for about 80% of the day :( The poor kiddo just wasn't feeling himself.

I was certainly on the rebound from my nasty (NASTY) cold, but I have to say that I was VERY thankful that there were only two kiddos in our church nursery that morning so that 1) I could just snuggle a very snuggly Kendrick the whole time, and 2) So that I didn't feel as bad having Cashel in with me, since Mark also was scheduled to usher, which left Cashel unattended during that time of the service.

After the service, I set up the tripod and snapped a few quick shots of our family together in the back yard before we loaded into the car and made our way down to Worthington for the day to celebrate with Mark's Dad, Pam and her folks and Jessi and Tyler.

Both boys actually napped on the way down, which was shocking! It took them a bit to wake up, and even then, neither were doing so great with the whole eating thing. I ended up hardly getting a hot bite, which was unfortunate, because it was all SO DELICIOUS!

I mean...Grandma Vi's ham sauce, people!! And twice-baked potatoes! Two of my favorites. But really, the parts I did get to eat were just phenomenal :) YUM :)

After lunch, we did a fun little Easter egg hunt (a big thanks to Tyler for hiding the eggs...and then in fairness to Cashel who re-hid them under a tree after he found them all).

It may have been a smallish group this year, but we sure enjoyed our time together. Granted, we were so wiped out that Kendrick and I stayed home sick the next day, but we had such a nice day in Worthington :)

A huge thanks to Dad and Pam for opening up their home and providing all the delicious food!

Easter Morning (April 20)

Our past two Easters, we have been away from home. Two years ago, we were in Washington State on a tour of the Olympic Peninsula and Whidbey Island with Mark's brother Daniel and his family (and with an 8-week-old Cashel in tow), and we didn't really do much to celebrate, since we were sort of in the middle of nowhere at the time.

Last year, we were on vacation once again, but this time in Hawaii with a 15 month old Cashel, and we spent the morning at the Panae'wa Zoo in Hilo.

This year, I was excited to be home to have a bit more time to reflect on this special season. Although with two little boys in the house (one of whom is still keeping me up at all hours of the night), it was difficult to be able to sit down and truly reflect on the cross, on the in between, and on the resurrection. I was SO looking forward to Sunday morning, when after the crazy of it all (more on that shortly), we could worship in our own church on Easter Sunday with our fellow believers.

I was a little groggy that morning, with Kendrick having kept me up much of the night. Mark got up with Cashel around 7am and managed to successfully keep him entertained away from the Easter baskets until after I was finished feeding Kendrick. But then, he was ready to dig in!

After opening up their Easter baskets, we had a little breakfast and got dressed, and I tried (unsuccessfully) to get a picture of the two of them looking at the camera and smiling. (I sure missed my DSLR!)

And then, the boys got into a fist fight...or at least it looks like it from this picture sequence :) And here Kendrick threw the first punch! haha

My handsome boys :)

Here we are all ready for the Easter service at church :)

We enjoyed a lovely service, including arguably my favorite Easter song, "Up From the Grave He Arose". Easter may be a time to celebrate with family, to dress in pastels and chase around the Easter bunny, but to those of us who celebrate the Resurrection, it is so much greater than that! It reminds us that we serve a LIVING God: Not even the chains of death can hold Him back! HALLELUJAH!! :)

Stay tuned for a post all about our crazy but fun afternoon when we hosted Easter dinner for 20 and a small, informal baby shower that afternoon!