An Egg-cellent Weekend

We have been busy with Easter activities. So be prepared for a long post and lots of pictures!

Thursday and Friday, Preston and Kaitlyn had their egg hunts at their respective schools. The eggs Preston had to find were numbered 1-12 and he had to find them in order. For Kaitlyn, there were math problems on each egg. Her class went from 12-1 while making sure the math problem on each egg equaled the number they were looking for. It was a lot of fun for the kids.


Then, we had the big Easter Eggstravaganza at church. The kids had sooo much fun. Our Children's Pastor did such a great job of organizing it. Unfortunately, Craig had to work so it was just the 3 of us (but Craig is on vacation all week now so it worked out okay).

Kaitlyn and Preston rode the train several times.




Then, they checked out the fire truck and Preston wanted to climb inside.

And there were bounce houses.

At 11:15 am, the massive egg hunt began. They were divided by ages for the preschoolers and grades for the older kids. There's Kaitlyn with the pink basket, bending down to get an egg.

Here's Preston in his signature hat collecting eggs. Notice the giant Sonic Slushie in the background.

Of course, an Egg Hunt wouldn't be complete without seeing the Easter Bunny. By the way, this is a HUGE step for Kaitlyn. She used to be absolutely petrified of characters. We've talked to her a lot about it just being people in costumes and at church, it's always someone she knows. We also told her we won't go to Disney World until she overcomes this fear. I think she is starting to understand now.

Our friends, the Morgans, bought us yummy sno cones, the kids got balloon animals, they each won a raffle prize, and it was finally time to head home.

Then, it was time to dye eggs. It's been several years since we've done this, but we thought the kids would really enjoy it. They loved seeing the eggs turn different colors.

Preston was so excited about the whole thing!

Don't they look cute and innocent?

Stickers make the final touch.

The Easter Bunny came to visit too! Here is Kaitlyn's basket (I bought these plastic baskets 2 years ago and just decorated them with ribbons and stickers. I love that they are used over and over again!). She got Tangled, stickers, a paint book, the traditional Peeps, Cadbury Eggs, and chocolate bunny. Grandma helped the Easter Bunny pick out a Nintendo DS too!!!

Preston got a new game for his Leapster, stickers, paint book, the traditional Easter candy and a Panda Pillow Pet (Grandma helped the Easter Bunny with that too).

Here they are with the kids. They were very happy with all their gifts.

Now they are ready for church!

After a great church service for all, it was time to come back home where the other grandparents were coming over for lunch. Of course, Granna had to bring some more goodies for the kids and provided eggs for an egg hunt at home.

We are blessed with a big backyard, so it was easy to spread out all the eggs.

For lunch, we had grilled steaks, sausage, corn on the cob, twice baked potatoes, deviled eggs, rolls, and white chocolate chip cheesecake. I'm still full!!!

As much as we all enjoyed the eggs, prizes, and goodies, we still made sure to take time and remember the real reason for the holiday. I received a box of Resurrection Eggs years ago and decided to put them to use this year. We like to countdown to holidays, usually with prizes, but we decided to use the Resurrection Eggs. Each egg contains a symbol that pertains to the Easter story. So every night, we opened one egg, read the Scripture verse and the story in the book that is provided. Some nights were hard for the kids to be still and listen, but towards the last few days, they were really catching on and could tell us what happened to Jesus.

One egg had a "crown of thorns". The kids didn't like that the soldiers put it on Jesus' head and made him bleed. Our favorite egg was the very last one. It was empty to symbolize the empty tomb. The kids fully understand that Jesus came back to life after dying for our sins and now lives in Heaven.

I would say we had a very busy, but very blessed Easter. We took the time to truly remember that Jesus is alive and can live in our hearts every day.