Easter Sunday

Bright (maybe still dark, actually) and early, Noah and Caelan headed to church to rehearse for worship team. An hour or so later, Buck and I joined them and got to see Gabby! She normally goes to church with Chase, but her schedule only allowed her to catch the early service with Caelan and Noah. Buck and I gave her quick hugs and then headed to our volunteer job in the nursery. I loved hearing the babies echo when we said, "He is risen!" "He is risen, indeed-hallelujah!" Two and under pronunciation of those big words is darling! It was nice to have Buck at church; usually, he has to take a vacation day to go attend the gathering. Sometimes a worldwide holiday will also afford him the opportunity, but he actually got scheduled for building checks on Easter (face palm emoji). Thankfully, another guy offered to cover that for him. Gabby also got scheduled for work, but she was done early enough to join us for supper!

The boys arrived for third service, looking dapper! After celebrating with our church family, our regular family reconvened at the house and made some snacky foods to tide us over until the big lunch at K's family's home. Naps happened, and I worked on what I thought was a genius plan for my terribly peeled eggs from the previous day's mega-boil.

Meet--Fancy Egg Casserole . . . ??? I tried to use my new cake decorating skills to put the yolks all pretty over the chopped whites. But, the bag kept clogging, so the frustration level wasn't really reduced as hoped. I put two whole, nice-looking eggs on top, so people would have a clue as to what the dish was--and that actually made it look like a monster. Laughing, Brennen asked, "Why did you only put on two?" So, I added another two, and then decided it wasn't "out of the house" cuisine--regular family only ;) So, I grabbed my grandma's doubled French-onion rice dish, and away we went!

I don't think we were prepared for the feast that awaited at the A's house! The candy table alone was impressive . . . the food was delicious . . . and then they brought out dessert! Good gravy, Marie, that was a lot of dessert! We took home plates full of treats for later. K's strawberry poke cake was amazing, btw! On the way to our various modes of transportation, I requested a group pic with my brother's family--we have to capture these moments when we can! Caelan said she clearly didn't get the message about wearing blue (M, K, and I tried to infuse a little pink for her :)

Another round of naps at home and soon Gabby and Chase were at our door! I hid Easter baskets in the traditional way for the original four (Gabby's in the same spot as the past five? years, because she doesn't like to search. Caelan was the last to locate her basket and it took hints from me and from Noah ((who saw *the bunny* do the distribution)) for her to accomplish the feat :)

All but Gabby and Chase were all stuffed from our late dinner and dessert feast, so our supper ETA was 8 p.m. Buck grilled yummy burgers and amazing vegetables. We broke out my monster egg casserole, some Snicker salad, mac and cheese (Brennen's request), and Hawaiian rolls--followed by apple pie. Whew!

Buck and I enjoyed having all the "kids" home for Easter. We're treasuring these gatherings as we know they will become more rare as the years go by :) But, we will all have each other for eternity thanks to what Jesus did for us on the Cross, 2,000 years ago! Our sins are forgiven, our souls are restored, He is risen! He is risen indeed 💕Happy Easter!