Easter Weekend 2014

April , 2014

It was finally my favorite holiday of the year- Easter! I just love everything Easter is about- Jesus is alive and with the spring brings a refreshed and renewed sense of being. Every Easter, we head to Guntersville to spend time with Daddy’s family. On Saturday, there was a big Easter egg hunt at the park. We pulled into the parking lot right when it started. Luckily, Kailyn’s age group was close so I scooped her up and ran over. Caleb’s was a little further away and by the time they got him over there, he found only 1 egg. I guess the baby section just wasn’t as crowded and there were hundreds of eggs left, so we dumped Kailyn’s into Caleb’s bucket and let her go again. He seemed bummed at first but I think he was excited to still get the prizes inside the eggs.

After the egg hunt, we went down to feed the geese and ducks by the lake. They love saltine crackers! The kids always think it is so funny to watch them scramble for the crackers. Then we let them throw some rocks into the water for a bit before heading back to the house for lunch and nap times.

Since we were also celebrating Josh, Grandaddy, and my Birthdays this weekend, I was released to go shopping downtown during nap time, which was really nice. And I actually bought something for myself- a cute pair of wedge sandals! I was also excited to find Grandmama’s Mother’s Day gift and the kids’ teacher gifts for the end of the year, which is coming up sooner than I want to talk about. When I got back to the house from shopping, we ordered pizza and enjoyed an ice cream cake. It was a fun night!

Once the kids were ready for bed and in their matching spring pajamas, it was time to set out our Easter baskets for the bunny and to make him a snack. To eliminate fighting (yes, they all fight but they love each other so much!), they each made their own plates for the bunny consisting to carrots and lettuce. We tried our best to get a picture of them together because they just looked simply adorable. I love how their coordinating pjs turned out!

Easter morning the kids were up bright and early- 6am if I remember correctly. Yes, it’s early and yes, that is normal at our house. The kids were so excited to see what the Easter bunny had left for them. Hmm…notice and spoiled kids here? They all got a present and basket from the Easter bunny and a basket from Grandmama and Grandaddy. Then we always make Addison a basket and they make one for our two. Wow! It is a lot of fun though. Now, when I was little, after I opened my basket I took it outside to hunt the eggs that the bunny had hidden for me. Well, the Gilmore’s do it a little different. We have to wait until after Church and go over to Daddy’s Grandmother’s house to hunt eggs. Luckily the kids had already gone to so many egg hunts, they were ok with waiting.

You know me- we had to get a few family photos before darting of to Church. You never know who might spill something on their clothes at lunch so we couldn’t wait until after all of that.

During Church, Kailyn got a little restless once the preacher started his sermon. It was so pretty outside so I decided to walk to the car and get the camera out in hopes for a good picture of her in her Easter dress. Well, she just wanted to play- can you blame her?!

After Church, we ate lunch at the local Mexican restaurant. When everyone was finishing up, Mom and I snuck off to get to Great Grandmother’s early to hide the eggs from the Easter bunny. You see, I had told Caleb that I sent our empty eggs home with her the night before and she would leave them out at her house for the bunny to fill up and hide. He totally bought it! There were so many eggs to hunt between ours, Great Grandmothers, and Grandmama & Grandaddy’s!! Caleb and Addison both had to dump their buckets twice to make room for new. Poor Kailyn tried to keep up and only filled hers once. She didn’t notice her lack of eggs though, she was so excited to go look inside them.

Before we went inside to look at their goodies hidden in the eggs, we took some family photos. The kids were not thrilled about this, as they just wanted to see what was in the eggs! I think they did good though and we got a few descent shots.

Finally, it was time to get into the treats! The Easter bunny did a great job of not getting anything chocolate that would melt and he even got a lot of toys instead of candy.

Oh! And I have to add these pictures too…we ended the afternoon trying to distract sleepy kids while we all finished visiting and packing up to head back for naptime. Kailyn enjoyed walking down to Great Grandmother’s boathouse to look at the lake. I like the picture of her and Grandaddy, it’s so sweet.

Now, all of the egg hunts, treats, and candy are awesome fun but let us remember what this day is truly about. Jesus loved us so very much that he sacrificed his life to save each and every one of us. His blood washes away our sins- no matter how tiny or huge they are! How awesome is that? This holiday is closest to my heart because of this. I love Christmas and the birth story of Jesus, but Easter is what our religion is all about. Jesus died and came back to life. Amazing. During his time on Earth he felt love, pain, hunger, etc. and he knows every reality of our struggles…all he wants us to do is pray and talk to him about them. I just think it is so awesome to serve a God who was once human just like me. Happy Easter!!!!