Easter Recap '09

We had a wonderful Easter.  The weekend started on Friday morning, when we held our second annual Easter decorating party with the kids in the neighborhood.  This year we had eight children and we had a blast.  Here's Caden with his eggs.  He was so careful to dip them and I was brave and took a hands-off approach with him.  We didn't have ONE broken egg!  Look how well he did!

As you can see from the picture below, Cody had a great time with his friends.  They had more fun splashing around (they're such boys!!) than actually decorating them.  
Here's a group picture.  You can see the table is very full.  We put the two littlest ones at a different spot all their own.  I think they were glad to have their own space!
After we decorated eggs, we read "The Legend of the Easter Egg" and went through the Resurrection Eggs together.  The kids who came last year were asking to do this again, which I thought was great.  After that, it was time to head to church for our Good Friday rehearsals and services.  They went beautifully.  We had a cross made especially for the weekend (pictured below).  When everyone arrived Friday evening, they were each given a small piece of paper and a nail.  They were invited during the service to write something they were going to bring to the cross...a sin, a burden, anything.  In the middle of the service, they all came forward and two men in Roman soldier uniforms nailed each slip of paper to the cross.  It was a very powerful moment in the service. We took communion, sang, and had a really special time of worship.  Our pastor ended the service by pointing to the cross (now full of paper and nails) and said, "The cross looks pretty full doesn't it?  But the good news is, there's always room for more."  
The next two days brought three more services of which we were blessed to be a part.  Cody sang with the kids and Jerry and I led the worship choir.  We had such a great time singing and praising God together.  It was a wonderful, joyous celebration.
When we got home, we all CRASHED and took naps.  And then we had an Easter egg hunt in our yard.  Each egg was filled with a little something for the boys to enjoy.  After that, we cooked out on the grill and enjoyed a quiet evening.  

I hope you all had a blessed Resurrection weekend.  He is risen, indeed!!!