Easter in Pictures

We spent a most relaxing Easter weekend at my parent's house this year. There weren't many unusual activities, and we even scaled back on the food preparation and inhalation, but it was a refreshing time nonetheless. Here's a (detailed and long) glimpse-

I made a valiant attempt at capturing the girls in their pretty Easter dresses, but they were both too busy and annoyed by the bright spring sunshine. Instead, I give you a very realistic series of shots-

We had a very normal Easter morning: eating a "special" breakfast at church, attending the Easter service complete with trumpets and choir, simple post-church hors d'oeuvres, and Easter dinner consisting of ham, potatoes, salad, and rolls. Of course we did not neglect to celebrate the glorious truth of the holiday. We spent time on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon reading the Easter story together and in meaningful conversation. The next picture is Hope happily eating her Easter dinner wearing a basket from a few years back.

By default, the main event of the weekend (at least for the kiddos) was the Easter Egg Hunt. My mom does not let this tradition die, but this year we filled many of the eggs with nuts and dried fruit in place of candy and we even hid a few dollar bills around the yard as well to make it healthier and a more interesting for the grown-ups. This was the first year in my memory that the weather was at all cooperative for outside fun. We spent a lot of time hanging out outside, not just for the egg hunt, but swinging, walking, eating, and just running around!

This was Hope's first egg hunt, and perhaps her first time having candy. She really went at it with gusto too!

Eva of course had been anticipating the event all week, so she was all business when it came time to play hide and seek with the goodies.

After the lawn, trees, fences, wood piles, and rocks had been scoured for treasure, the girls sat down to admire their loot.
Hope gravitated to the Hershey's Special Dark chocolates, and I eventually had to cut her off. Her response to "Hope, do you like chocolate?" was an emphatic, "UH HUH!"
Back inside we enjoyed a dessert that had intrigued me earlier in the week- Ladyfinger Lemon Tart. It was pretty good, but it didn't earn a spot in the starting lineup at our house. I did think it was pretty nice looking though-
You can imagine, a good part of the weekend was spent indulging our imagination concerning the baby boy in my sister's tummy. There were discussions about names of course, but we never did get around to looking through a tub of hand-me-down baby boy clothes. Next time. We did however, take a picture of two sisters, gradually becoming great with child. Considering I am barely out of my first trimester, I'd say I'm becoming "great with child" a little less than gradually, but I'm not surprised considering my track record for ending up at 9 months really GREAT with child. Anyhow, I think this picture will be so fun to look back on in 40 years (when we're both, GREAT with no child, but looking well-aged and matronly). :)
And last but not least, Hope is so fun to take pictures of. She is somewhat photogenic, and she isn't disgusted by the camera as her older sister is. I thought these were precious.

Wordless Wednesday

Spring has sprung (tentatively, of course)

We spent a good part of this week experiencing snow and sleet, but it was last week that I took this picture. The earliest tulips have sent up a flare, giving the all-important signal that spring will arrive (though we're not sure when...). Although I feel "beaten" by the circumstances of the last few months, one always feels hope when new life springs from the ground!

What a difference a day makes (or two)!

Well, on Thursday and Friday we were up in the frozen tundra of Crookston, MN. Not kidding, they were dumped on with snow the day before, to the tune of at least 12 inches. When we arrived late on Wednesday night, the temperature in the van read -13 degrees. The wind really howls up there, so the drifts left behind (think sand dunes) were 5-6 feet tall in places. The kids went sledding in the (flat) front yard, and had a blast! It is always fun to see big snow and extreme temps, even if it makes you wonder why anyone ever settled here to start with.

Katelyn tramps across the snow.

Evan prepares to descend a small mountain.
Evan embraces the thrill that 5 feet can give.Eva was actually on a diving board, folks. (it's always imagination, with this one!) But seriously, check out how she's eye level with the roof of the van!

We went to Crookston to visit Eric's mom, who recently had her knees replaced, but she made me promise not to post any pictures of her sweet scars and swollen knees. But, we had a really good time with her. Eric's mom, Eric, and his Aunt Bev might have set a record for total hours of Scrabble playing in two days!

Weather in Minnesota is unpredictable, to say the least, and today we enjoyed a high temp. of 65 degrees. I had to insist that Eva wear socks and shoes outside, though she is quite warm blooded and would have survived just fine. Ella and I sat calmly on the back steps soaking up precious sunshine while Eva ran up and down the sidewalk shouting, "It's spring, it's spring!" Later, she decided to help the sun along with it's work by shot-putting large cakes of ice into the air and jumping like a wild woman. The slushy ice rained down on her without dampening her spirit one bit! Our large collection of plastic lawn toys (thanks Grandma S!) are still securely iced to the frozen grass, but it won't be long before we're back in business.

Pure exuberance. I felt it too... just not the jumping up and down part!