The Accidental Easter

Easter really crept up on me this year.

I kept putting off plans

thinking I'd get to it

when I had time.

It's been a crazy week around here

and with David's deployment

being extended at the last minute

to include Easter,

I was left to fend for myself

as far as putting together

a celebratory weekend.

I decided to not plan,

and just do.

So today we just did

and we had so much fun!!

On a whim, I decided to take Bren

to an egg hunt at our local park.

I'm so glad I did!

I saw so many of my friends there.

Lot's of SOALO (officer's wives group) girls,

PTA girls, and moms I knew from the soccer team.

If you aren't a military wife

or if you have never moved to a new area,

you really haven't experienced the feeling of

being in a place where you don't know

any of the faces in the crowd.

David and I always get excited

about the first time we get to wave

at a familiar face after we've moved

to a new town.

It means so much to belong.

It settles the soul to know that

you are a part of a "group"

and that someone else in your

day to day world knows your name

and cares enough to smile

and wave when they see you.

It's seems like such a small thing,

but we've learned that it's

one of the things we miss most

when we move to a new town.

Being familiar to someone else is comforting.

Check out these SOALO kiddos!

Aren't they adorable?

They all had so much fun

opening their eggs and

checking for prize tickets.

My friend Karen's little boy Kai

(who is in the blue hat above,

but you can't see his sweet face)

won a killer Easter basket

with a big plastic sports car

and tons of candy in it!

It rocked!

After saying hello to the Easter bunny

and goodbye to all of our friends,

we headed home to

start boiling our eggs.

When we got home

a box was waiting for us

from Pro Flowers.

My mom had sent me

these gorgeous Easter flowers.

I love them!

It makes me all kinds of happy

to have fresh flowers on my coffee table.

Thanks Mom!

There was even a little bunny

inside for Bren.

Sweet!

Ok, enough with the cuddling....

on with the egg coloring!

Years ago, when we lived in Kings Bay

my friend Stacey would come over

every Easter and we'd dye eggs together.

We got pretty creative

one year and made little people

out of the eggs.

They had yarn hair, googly eyes,

and scrap fabric clothes

and were just as cute as can be.

For the life of me,

I cannot conjure up that level of creativity

anymore.

I don't know why.

Maybe it was because

we were young and our mommy brains

were just in their beginning stages

of degeneration.

Our hair showed no signs of

the kind of grey

that can only come from being in the same house

as our teenage offspring

and our youthful faces weren't yet wrinkled

from years of laughing at mostly ourselves.

Creativity runs rampant

in a mind not pulled in forty-eight different directions.

Minds that are pulled in forty-eight different directions

use sticker faces on their eggs!

I'm just saying.

Egg coloring is lost on the older three.
Madison came over and dyed one or two,
but it was mainly a Brencentric activity.
She had a blast and I enjoyed watching her
create her masterpieces.

Bren and I talked alot about the meaning of Easter.
We talked about the reason we celebrate Easter
and that it isn't just about chocolate and rabbits.




I told her that Easter morning is the day that
Jesus rose again from the grave.
The day he conquered death for us
so that we could live.
As we dyed eggs, I tried to explain to her what it meant
to have "new life" in a way that she would understand.
I told her that we are like the plain white egg.
But when we emerse ourselves in Jesus
who is the bright pink dye (her choice)
and let him completely surround us with his love,
He changes us into something new and beautiful.
I took our egg out of the pink dye
and we marveled at it's beauty.
I looked into her eyes
and marveled at the gift I have in her.


I thought about all of my kids and my husband
and what gifts they are to me.
I thought about my Savior
and his work on the cross
and about new life
and I marveled at
His amazing love.






After our eggs were all colored and decorated,
we moved on to our cupcakes.



The following is a photographical tour
straight up Sugar Rush hill!!

We've almost reached the summit!!

Can you see it in her eyes??

From our family to yours,

Happy Easter everyone!

He is Risen!!