Easter Sunday 2013

Lexi's first Easter turned out to be a fantastic day!  The weather was sunny and warm, without a cloud in sight (a rare March day here in the Pacific Northwest), and we loved every second of it!   What a beautiful day to celebrate our Lord and risen Savior.
Easter is kind of a big deal in our home.  Why is that, you ask??  Well, it's the day we celebrate that Jesus Christ, after dying on the cross to save us from our sins, and after spending 3 days buried in a tomb, AROSE from the dead!  Yup, that's right!  He is NOT dead, and even today Jesus is alive, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, preparing for the day he returns to take his children home to live a glorious eternity with him.  Now, isn't THAT certainly something worth celebrating!!
For the past week we've been reading a story book about Jesus and Easter for our bedtime story.

  Levi started to really enjoy the story, and he  began to ask me each night "Where did Gesus go?" referring to the story of Jesus, of course.  We would then practice telling the story of Easter in our very own, 2 year old toddler version.  It went a little something like this:

Me: Levi, who did Jesus die for?

Levi: MEEEE!!

Me: How many days was Jesus in the tomb?

Levi: One, Two, Th-Ree DAYS!!

Me: Is Jesus alive?

Levi: *throws fist up in the air* Jesus is A-Wive!!

If you simply can't handle the suspense, and you think you absoultely MUST see him tell the story himself, here's a short clip of Levi telling the Easter story.

For Easter morning, our church LIFE group (bible study group) had an Easter Brunch potluck.  It's always a blessing to spend time with such wonderful friends.  We had some good eats, and Levi got to participate in a small egg hunt in the back yard, which was of course super fun for all the little kids.

Levi and Lexi wasted no time digging in and playing with the toys and their friends.

Lexi and Jane hanging out.

Kinsleigh and Tirzah

Time to find some candy-filled Easter eggs!  The kids are lined up and ready to go!

Jace, Avery, Kadence, and Jane. Baskets in hand, ready to hunt.

This was Levi's first time participating in an Easter egg hunt.  He went straight to the dog run, he thought loading up his bucket with some rocks sounded like a great idea!

With a little help, and after watching what the big kids were doing, he finally figured out what to do.  He jumped right in and started hunting.

Jane knew exactly what to do.  She was ready to go and wasted no time filling up her basket.

Tirzah and Ainsley getting some help from Ms. Fawn and Mr. Dustin.

Jace, Avery, and Kadence didn't need help.  They knew what to do and were on a mission to find those eggs!

Levi still gun-ho and on the hunt.

AND THEN...interest in putting plastic eggs in a basket was over.  With everyone else distracted, the tricycle was free to play with, and apparently looked like way more fun.

Now he's back at it, helping Ainsley fill up her basket.

Jane and Tirzah, the other 2 year olds at the party, getting some help with their eggs.  They were at the perfect age to enjoy this simple game.

Ainsley and Jane showing off their treasures.

Throwing his candy-filled eggs into the air...because that's just what Levi does. =)  And I still don't think he really knew what this Easter egg hunt was all about quite yet.

Tirzah figured out what to do with the candy. =)

Mr. Daniel showing Levi the precious treats hidden within the eggs.

Ah-Ha!! Now he gets it!

Ainsley showing off her basket of loot.

While the big kids were egg hunting, the babies got a play date.  Here's Lexi with one of her BFFs, Kinsleigh.

"Seriously, lady, no more pictures! We're trying to play here!"

The three toddlers, Levi, Tirzah, and Jane, all ended up in the dog run playing with the rocks and dog toys.  It was really sweet to see them all naturally drawn to each other and playing.  Two year olds are so fun!

Me and my babies at the Easter Brunch.   We were hoping that Moises would be able to join us, however he was on post-op day 4 from a tonsillectomy and was still in too much pain to tag along.  We missed him and are super sad he missed out on Easter this year.  But most importantly, we are praying he recovers and is feeling better soon!

After brunch we headed home for nap time and then church.  The church service was great as always, but this year it was even more special because my cousin Tim and his girlfriend Holly drove down from Seattle to be in service with me.  Since Moises wasn't able to be there, it sure was nice to still be able to sit next to family on Easter.
I of course put them to work, asking them to help me capture some pictures of the kids.  Here's the pictures we ended up with.  Hope everyone had a great Easter, I know we sure did!