Easter

We had a wonderful Easter holiday this year!  When Brian got home from work on Friday evening, the three of us celebrated his birthday with cake & presents.  His birthday was actually on Wednesday, but there was not enough time to bake a cake that night.  So, Hailey & I spent Friday afternoon making his favorite cake, Texas Sheet Cake, and then picking up his gifts at the store.  We got him a wheelbarrow and a powered garden cultivator.  We are always having to borrow our neighbors' wheelbarrow, so now we don't have to wait until they are finished with theirs!  Before bed, I read Hailey a book called, "The Story of Easter".  She listened very contently and asked questions while I was reading.  One question that caught me a little off-guard was, "Why would Jesus want to go to Heaven?"  My immediate thought was, "Why wouldn't you want to go to Heaven?", but I had to realize that she doesn't know about all of that yet and it would seem a little confusing.  The next morning when she woke up, the first thing she told Brian & I was that she saw Jesus in her eyes, so the book must have made some sort of impression on her.

On Saturday, my sister & her family came over to dye Easter eggs.  We had the girls try tasting the vinegar, because they had asked what it was.  There were no sour faces, but they both agreed they did not like it!  On Saturday evening, I spent three hours decorating an Easter cake for Sunday's get-together.  No, I'm not attempting to make cake decorating a hobby.  It's just a part of my creative side coming out.

On Sunday morning, we got ready for church and then watched as Hailey found her Easter basket and hidden eggs that the Easter bunny had left for her.  She had so much fun hunting for them and hardly needing any prompting from Brian & I!  We took a quick family picture and then headed off to church.  After church, we came home to grab the cake and change our clothes before going over to my parents' house for an Easter celebration.  We took some pictures of all the girls in their Easter dresses.  This was Natalie & Emily's first Easter and thankfully Steph was able to get out of the hospital in time to be able to enjoy the holiday with them!  The Easter bunny also hid some eggs at my parents' house, so Hailey & Laura had a lot of fun finding them.  That bunny was obviously trying to be a little sneaky as some of the eggs were a bit too high to reach, so Poppy had to help out with those. ;-)  My parents had also invited my brother-in-law's family over for the celebration, so they came over after their church service was over and we all had an Easter meal together!  The food was delicious!  After spending a few hours socializing, we headed home.

Hailey & Michaela (next door neighbor friend) play in the sandbox on a sunny Spring Saturday.

Drawing pictures on the eggs before dying them.

Rolling the eggs in the dye.

All finished and drying!

Finished cakes!

Cleaning out her basket to start the egg hunt.

Family picture before church.  Not sure why this is so blurry!

Hailey peeks around the corner to see if she can find her basket while Brian & Stephanie make their way downstairs.

Dividing up the eggs evenly.  Somehow I think Hailey is hoping Laura won't notice she's trying to hoard most of the eggs!

Cousins...Laura, Natalie (in yellow), Emily (in pink), and Hailey

 Sweet babies

Hailey & Laura were slightly apprehensive and really unsure of what they were supposed to be doing with a baby!

I love this picture of Emily (and Hailey's face!).