Easter Sunday ~ Part 1

We had a lovely, quiet Easter.  We often host family for the holidays.  Which I love to do, but it was nice to have a quiet holiday for a change.  I know if this were our norm I would be sad as I do like a big family holiday, but an occasional respite from our usual fanfare makes us enjoy our large family gatherings all the more.

Dan greeted the kids in the morning with, "He is Risen!"'

He is risen, indeed!
 
As usual, the kids were SO excited to come downstairs.
As usual, we tortured them by making them wait at the top until cameras were at the ready.
Couldn't resist a photo of them anxious to make their descent and start running for plastic eggs that the bunny left behind.



Ready to go!



The kids are getting so fast it's hard to capture any photos, but I did manage to get one of Kitti who still takes things at a bit of a slower pace.  The Easter Bunny hides their baskets too, which they discovered....



Matthew was really excited to receive a cover for his ipod....



The Bug is like her Mama, and immediately dove into the chocolate.  Who needs anything else?



Andrew is interested in older Mickey movies and he was excited to receive this one.  I remember seeing it as a child, so it was fun to sit down and watch it that afternoon as a family.

 



We sat down to enjoy breakfast before church.  Tulips are quintessential spring to me.  I loved the sight of them on the table.

 

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it was so cute.  It was easy to replicate and fun.



I left a couple of treats on the table for the kids as well.



I stumbled on some sweet Easter coloring placemats that the kids enjoyed. 



My handsome man.

Dan and I get up early and are dressed before the children are up on Easter morning.  It's our only hope for getting to church on time. 



Dan surprised us with corsages for Kaitlin and I.  Very sweet.  He did a great job coordinating with my dress ~ I was impressed!



Kitti's princess egg.



Breakfast on Easter has to be both fast and easy.   I picked up this maple cinnamon roll treat from a local bakery that would be a special treat.  I walked in intending to order something else and they were sampling this and it was sooooo good.  Sadly, ours was quite dry.



I love to take photos of everyone in their "Sunday Best" on Easter.  Kaitlin requested a photo with her doll's parasol as we were getting started.



Sweet little girliness.



So blessed.



I love the Kitti is always game for some photos.



She comes up with these little poses herself.  She is such a character.

Andrew was always young for his years (which was sweet and fun as I'm not in a rush for my kids to grow up) and so having her on his heels is a bit of a shock.   This little one is just sprinting out of the gates.



For some reason she wishes that she had blue eyes and she is always pretending or telling me that she's "shy."  The girl is anything but shy.  I'm not sure where this is coming from.

 

I love her joy.  That was one of the things her pre-school teacher commented on about her.  The child has joy spilling from her heart.   What a gift.



So often, Dan and I will look at each other and say, "We have great kids."  (And we know many, many other great kids as well!)  But we just mutually feel so fortunate to have been given these 3 specific children who are so special in their own unique ways.  Their differences make life so much fun.



Dan and I rarely snap a photo of just us by ourselves.  But I think the children (and grandchildren) will really enjoy having these photos some day, so I try to do it from time to time.  I confess I feel self conscious doing it. But I think years from now it'll be fun for the kids to have these and probably poke fun at my hair and fashion.



After we finished photos, we headed off to church for one of my favorite services of the year.

He is risen!!