He is Risen Indeed!

so, i know you probably want to see pictures of our new home, but i can't find my downloading cord. i'll probably have to buy a new one. easter was so special, and since i'm doing this more for us to remember our own lives than for anybody else, here's a post about easter!
it was wonderful, other than me stressing everybody out because i worked hard and, as already mentioned, lost alot of sleep over wanting easter to be perfect. what's the big deal, you may say, just put some eggs in a basket! for me it starts on palm sunday, and we celebrate Good Friday as well. So there was alot of food and church and, yes, even outfits. above: this was all charlie got to eat. he does that to me less often, thankfully, now that he has 4 good sized teeth.


he's sitting up so well! not quite crawling, but he does manage to get to where he wants to be.

I made hot cross buns this year for the first time, but they weren't all that great. there's always next year. it's a good friday tradition, apparently. we actually never made it to church on good friday because both the kids were sick, and we'd just been so stressed and busy we decided to stay home. We watched the Passion of the Christ, which I hadn't seen since i was in africa. then we took communion together.
Sunday morning Mom, Bob, Charlie and I went to a sunrise service, which is a tradition I really love. Then we came home and opened easter baskets. Patrick had to be at church early for choir, and it was just crazy. the whole day passed in a giant blur until 5 pm or so when our company left.



charlie just trying to stay out of the way!


we were in various stages of getting ready for church. hence the pyjamas and wet hair. sorry!

oh, the infamous chocolate. hannah knows what easter means, she'll tell you if you ask because we've been talking about it for weeks. but she also knows the cultural tradition of chocolate. and i have to say, she liked it. this was actually her first chocolate experience. i was so busy, she ended up eating just chocolate for breakfast. dont' think she minded!


i'm still apalled at myself, but this is the only picture of the much agonized over easter outfits. patrick was already gone, and we were rushing out the door like crazy people, and my mom stopped to take a picture of hannah. i got on her because we were so late, i said oh, we'll do it all when we come back. well, thanks mom, because we at least got one! of course it looks better without the sweater, and the deer in the headlights smile. but i remember what she really looked like. when i was a little girl i always had a hat and gloves, and this was hannah's first time.


we had friends over, so hannah had somebody to do and easter egg hunt with. i was in the kitchen during this part, but i think they had fun. and yes, some eggs had more chocolate in them. she was wired, that's for sure.

i never could have pulled it off without my mom. having a nursing baby seriously impedes my productivity! and he was really sick that week. my mom did almost everything, and i am so grateful. we didn't eat until 2.30 or something, but it was wonderful. Thank you mom! we had rosemary glazed lamb, scalloped potatoes, green beans with almonds, rolls, and coconut cake. and i know this is stupid, but as an aspiring informal party planner, i was tickled that when i went on allrecipes.com i saw that the menu they had featured for easter was EXACTLY the same one i came up with on my own!

somebody might read this and infer that i enjoy easter because of the decorating and celebrating and eating and matching outfits. i do like celebrations, and traditions, but in case you are reading this and don't know me, i have to make sure that we reiterate the purpose of Easter: remembering the life and sacrificial death of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, meditating on our sinful, lost state, and exulting in the most amazing miracle of all time, the Resurrection of Jesus. Those are more than words, and Easter is more than a fun holiday. It is the only thing

that gives my life eternal meaning. Not only does it mean that I do not have to pay for my own sins and can spend eternity with God, it means that here on earth I can victory over my own sin, through the power of the Risen Lord. the older i get, the worse off I feel: I don't know if I'm actually digressing, or just maturing enough to see how lost I am on my own. either way, I desperately need Jesus every day. and because of Easter, I can claim Him as my own Lord and Saviour and rise above the darkness, loneliness, emptiness, and everything that this world uses to bring us down to it's level. Because of Easter, I am a new person. I know that old things can pass away and new things can come. Not just for Jesus, but for me and you too. If you dont' know for sure that you are experiencing new life in Christ, I encourage you to search it out today!

thanks again to Mom for her incredible help, and to her, bob, patrick and hannah for putting up with me. i hope you remember the good times and not, well, my witchiness :-)