Week 13: Easter

Over the past few years, Easter has become one of my absolute favorite holidays.  This year was no exception.  Despite a huge snowstorm on Saturday morning, my parents made the drive over to Rhinelander and arrived shortly after lunch.  We finished up some of the details for Sunday and Olivia and Grandma got to work making our traditional lamb cake.  Livi got really into it and was gravely concerned about the lambs ears being cold, so they put extra frosting on that part.  Before we knew it, it was time for bed and the fabulous chaos that is Easter morning.

The Easter Bunny hid eggs around the house and brought baskets for the kids.  We also decided that this would be a good time to give Nolan his new bike since he outgrew his little one last year.  The kids enjoyed all their treats and presents and before long it was time to get in our Sunday best for church.  

I was in charge of the music for our church service, so I had to be there early to rehearse the choir and get everything set.  Mom sang along with the choir which was nice, and we had a very good trombone player join in on the hymns.  Eric was unfortunately under the weather with a bad cold, so he had to miss out.  The kids were very well behaved and it was a nice service, full of joy to celebrate our Risen Lord!  This year, I started talking to Nolan about Jesus' Easter story.  We've been holding off until now, because we were afraid that he would be really upset about the idea of Jesus dying.  He has matured so much lately that we thought it was time.  Here's Nolan's recounting of the Easter story:

"Jesus grew up and helped to take care of everybody.  And He died on the cross.  His friends put him in the tomb.  And then in three days, he came back to life.  The girls went to the tomb and they saw an angel instead of Jesus.  And he said, "Don't be afraid. Jesus is alive!"

After church, we headed back to our house for our annual Easter brunch.  This is a meal I look forward to every year - it is always such a treat!  And it was especially fun to host a gathering at our new house!  We had Roasted Lamb with Rosemary Pesto, Baked Ham with Orange Glaze, Cheesy Hashbrowns, Creamy Cheesecake Fruit Salad, Caesar Salad, Asparagus with Egg and Parmesan, and of course, Eggs in a Basket.  Five years ago, when we hosted our first Easter gathering Eric informed me that Eggs in a Basket would be a staple at every Easter in our family for the reasoning: "They're Eggs in a Basket. It's Easter." Over the years we've gotten better at making them, learning that using grated baked potato for the hashbrown nests works way better than the frozen hashbrowns in a bag.  We also enjoyed Mimosas, Bloody Caesars, and finished everything off with the delicious lemon poppyseed lamb cake, made just like my Great Grandma Louisa's from when my Mom was a kid.

I love being able to spend this special time with both sets of our parents.  So many holidays we are forced to pick one side of the family or the other or we have a lot of travel to try to make the rounds.  It can make things hectic and stressful, trying to make sure we see everybody.  I love that for this one holiday, we don't have to choose and get to be surrounded by our closest family.  It really makes it a special day.  We are thankful for the blessings of family and the faith that, because of our Risen Lord, we get to be with those we love forever.  Happy Easter!