easter

Easter was a little chaotic this year because I decided last minute to fly to California to be there for my mom's surgery on Monday morning.  We found out on Saturday that Mom would be having surgery on Monday morning and although they assured us that Dad could drive her to the surgery, I was not convinced that he would be able to help her after surgery and take care of her needs.  I started looking for flights on Saturday night and on Sunday morning, I texted Jerry and Bev to see if they would be able to help with the kids since Kevin would be at work.   I hated asking because they had just returned home from a long RV trip, but they so graciously said that they would do anything we needed so that I could go on the trip. They were already coming over for Easter dinner, so Bev just planned on staying over for a few days to help.

Despite the somewhat hectic change in plans, the Easter Bunny still made a stop at our house and spoiled the kids rotten. 

I had to get a picture of the kids all gathered in Brooke's room in anticipation of going downstairs to find their baskets. Although my kids know that this has nothing to do with the real reason we celebrate Easter, they still get excited for their baskets, egg hunts, etc. 

After a quick breakfast, we readied ourselves for church and took a cousin picture.  Brooke and Colby are used to always getting cousin pictures with the Peacocks, so it was fun to continue the tradition with the Griffiths girls. 

My friend Joanna was sweet enough to wait around after church so that we could get a picture of the whole family. 

After church, I was busy trying to pack and get things organized and ready to leave for a few days, but Kimberly hid some fun treats around the house (gum, Mentos, Tic Tacs, etc.) and made a scavenger hunt for the kids to follow.  My kids LOVED this fun addition to our usual traditions, so I'm sure they'll want to do something similar next year as well. 

Once the food preparations were under way, we moved outside for the egg hunt. Kimberly and I hid quite a few eggs, but they found them all pretty quickly.  It was cute to listen to my nieces look out for each other and pass eggs to "make sure everyone else had enough", even though they were the youngest ones.

Brooke found the Golden Egg, which had a few dollars inside. 

I can't remember what we had for dinner, but based on pictures, it looks like some sort of steak or beef tenderloin, baked potatoes, salad, fruit, garlic bread, and a pie for dessert. 

It was really special to have Kimberly's family with us for a holiday, and although I felt a little scattered and lacking as a hostess, everyone was super helpful and it was still a beautiful day as a family.  And I'm especially thankful for Jesus, His atonement, death, and subsequent resurrection.