Easter, Part 2

Easter Weekend, Cont.

Saturday morning, we headed over to my parents' house for breakfast with our friends.  

Will & Elvia raided the rest of us as pirates

Later, Captain Will became a chef and along with his sous chef, Ellie, prepared a delicious meal

 Cookie and Lovie turned the hot tub to bathtub warm and the kids had a blast swimming

 It seems Ellie has gills too.

She is just as fearless as her big brother and loves the water too!

 I can't wait to get working with her - I have no doubt she'll be swimming like a fish this summer!

 Some friends from central TX brought their kiddos over to swim and play with the bunnies.

 My husband works his tail off.  He works really hard and bears the weight of the world on his shoulders, I think.  While I handle a lot of our medical day to day stuff, he handles a lot of the paperwork, dealing with insurance companies, handling savings accounts for future prosthetics for Will, making financial decisions now with their medical future in mind, and of course, working long hours to provide for our needs now and potential future needs and to pay all of our medical expenses.  

He works really, really hard.

So I love when I see him play hard.

He played hard Saturday.

In the morning, he participated in a cross-fit challenge competition and he placed in the top 5!

Then, I got this picture of his car:

 Those are his big boy toys.

We headed to the lake and put the kids down for naps there.

The girls & I got some sun while R entertained us on his paddleboard - a gift from my parents for his birthday.

 Claire gave it a try too!

 When Will woke up, he joined me for a ride.

 He also hitched a ride with Daddy & brought along his net, just in case he saw any fish.

Then r headed for a bike ride on a sunny afternoon around the lake.  

I was thankful he found time to play this weekend - I love how when he does spend time being a grown up kid, he smiles easily, he laughs louder, and he begins to relax at last. 

 Later that evening, our friends from NC left and some local friends came to join us on the dock for dinner.  I noticed a rainbow reflection in the water and looked up just in time to catch this:

 It didn't last long but what a perfect reminder of God's faithfulness on Easter weekend.

The kids at dinner on the dock

 Sunday morning, we had our first ever Easter morning at church as a family of 4 - just us.  It was bright and early but really lovely to do as a little family.

We attended the family service so Will could sit with us.  I loved having him in my arms during the Easter morning church service.  And I loved seeing children throughout the service in the arms of their parents or standing on their chairs to see.  Sweet children.

Later, we came home to hunt for eggs.  Will was very good about keeping his eyes closed.

Ellie and Cookie hunting for her eggs

A boy on the hunt

Ellie enjoyed discovering the goodies in her basket

As did Will

He did great at finding the eggs and helped his sister find some too

You know how some families manage to get these perfectly posed holiday pictures with various family members?

We are not one of those families.

The person closest to age two had had it.

This was the best we got.  Good thing I managed to get Easter pictures of the kids a few days ago - when they were well rested and had eaten.

Finally, we headed to Cookie & Lovie's for Easter lunch.

Ellie & Great Mimi helped prepare lunch in Ellie's kitchen.

(This wooden kitchen was once mine!  I love that my kids play in it so happily now.)

Every year, my mom does Resurrection eggs.  We go around the table reading the Easter story Bible passages beginning with Palm Sunday and ending with the Resurrection of Christ.

As we read each passage, the kids take turns opening up numbered eggs and finding a symbol to represent the passage.

Will managed to sneak in a bite of a wafer from the egg symbolizing the Last Supper.  I'm betting that wafer had been in there for 20 years.  

Will with the sword of Peter.  He loves swords and begged Lovie to let him borrow this one for one his little pirates.  She said no.

I love doing these eggs every year and was glad my mom had them ready to go.  Such a meaningful way to incorporate the reason for Easter into the meal.

Will was such a gentleman and insisted on serving us our desserts.

When we were kids, we made this for Easter every year.

What a fun surprise to see my mom carrying on the tradition!

A great Easter weekend  - filled with lifelong friends, laughter (lots of laughter), yummy food, family, playtime, and celebrating our risen Lord and the effect of His resurrection on our lives.