This Lent was a difficult but very good Lent for me. I sacrificed 3 of the things I like most in this world: coffee, wine, and sleep. I did not sacrifice perfectly, but I trusted in God's mercy when I blew it, and tried to carry on with increased discipline and zeal. I was proud of our kiddos for the sacrifices they made too...Dominic bravely gave up soda, Joseph and Michael gave up dessert, and they all gave up electronics.
Easter day was delightful this year. It began with our traditional in-door egg hunt of all the eggs we had decorated. That was followed by Mass at the Cathedral, which feels extra special because the bishop celebrates the Mass at Easter. Our oldest son Joseph was an altar server too, which sure made me proud :) After Mass, we came home to get the Easter meal ready. Some of our dearest friends came to feast with us: Glen and Lisa with their 5 girls and 1 boy, and my friend Jennifer with her son, Alex (unfortunately Derek and Sarah couldn't come because Sarah was sick). The food was marvelous, the fellowship even better. We are blessed with such holy and awesome friends that it makes being away from family bearable. After the meal, we usually go have an outdoor egg hunt at a nearby lake, but this year it was cold and SNOWING all day! So, we just had a quick egg hunt in the back yard instead. The rest of the day was spent gorging on Easter candy, coffee, and beer (just Paul and I on the latter two), and playing excessive amounts of video games (just the kids on that last one). :)
I hope that each of you had a wonderful (it truly is a wonder how much God loves us!) Easter celebration too!
The rest of our Easter story can be summed up in photos...
This is our tasty and teachable "Crown of Thorns" bread that we make every Good Friday.
As the kids place "thorns" into the crown, they recall particular sins that truly hurt Jesus and they say how sorry they are. Then as they remove the thorns to eat them, they recall all the sacrifices of love that they made for Jesus during Lent to help relieve Jesus' suffering and console His heart. We had the bread with some tomato soup, to remind us of the blood that Jesus shed during his passion.
I was so pleased that my oldest 2 boys still wanted to participate in the egg decorating.
I did bribe them slightly by offering 3 chocolate prizes for:
1) the most religious theme 2) the most creative/unique 3) the most artistic/well-done
Nathanael showing off his Jesus egg
All of the eggs turned out beautiful except one:
The farthest egg has a picture of "the Eye of Sauron",
which was decorated by Joseph who is enamored with "Lord of the Rings."
Certainly not a very Easter-ish theme, but I do give him credit for creativity. :}
I had fun making these Bird Nest cookies again this year,
a reminder of Springtime and the New Life we have in Christ.
This picture looks almost perfect, but the funny part is that I took over 10 pictures of the boys and not one of them turned out without someone blinking or looking goofy. So, like the perfectionist that I am, I spent an hour Photo-shopping the best face of each boy into one good picture!
Here's an example of one of the goofy ones :)
I took many pictures of Glen and Lisa's family,
and the funny part is that every single one of them turned out perfectly (unlike ours).
Their kids are all smiling sweetly and looking at the camera in every shot.
I didn't have to do any Photo-shopping at all!
I guess that's proof that there's a difference between boys and girls :)
Paul is now going with the trendy shaved-head look,
and I am trying like crazy to grow my hair out again.
It is finally long enough for me to curl it and to put it in a teeny-tiny ponytail again!
I don't think I will ever cut my hair short again,
and poor Paul doesn't think he'll ever be able to grow his long again :}
Me with two of my best girlfriends: Lisa and Jennifer
The Catholic couples :)
We have great hopes of arranging Catholic marriages of their 5 daughters with our 5 sons...
that is unless they all chose the religious life! :)
This year the big boys (Joseph, Michael, and their buddy Alex) decided they were "too big" for hunting for eggs, so they became the egg hiders.
Notice the snow in the photo?
Only in Montana do we have Easter egg hunting in the snow!
Michael took his egg hiding job seriously and wanted to make it a challenge :)
My friend Jennifer is so great with little kids and she helped Isaiah have a blast at his first egg hunt!
Michael also offered to help Isaiah find eggs,
hoping that Isaiah might share some candy perhaps?
Here is Michael helping a damsel in distress who couldn't quite reach the eggs at the top of our swingset. What a gentleman.
Nathanael showing off his loot.
Resurrection rolls are one of our favorite Easter traditions.
Each step in the process beautifully (and deliciously) explains the Easter story.
You can Google how to make these or click on this link.
ALLELUIA!!!
He has risen and we are saved from our sins!!!
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