Happy Easter (a little late)

Since I love Easter (and my girls are so adorable in their Easter dresses) it seemed I shouldn't skip this post.

My husband and I put a fair amount of thought into what to put in their Easter baskets that would make them happy, but keep costs down and "stuff" to a minimum. (Unpacking all our belongings is a harsh lesson in stuff.) We did okay. For sure though, the biggest hit was their new umbrellas (which double as parasols, so they can be used rain or shine). Here they are marching around on our back porch.

For reasons I can't explain, I'm not so comfortable with the Easter bunny, but completely support Santa Claus. In Primary (Sunday School for kids) the leaders were asking why Easter was a special day. "The Easter Bunny comes!" yelled a 7-year old. Kiddo looked at me with excitement, and asked if the Easter bunny was coming to our house. She already had her Easter basket, so I was grateful I could just say "shh, let's listen." I'm sure by next year, she'll know who the Easter bunny is, so I've really just postponed the conversation, or given myself a year to embrace the Easter bunny too. (Perhaps while I'm at it, I'll embrace the Valentine's Cow, a favorite of one of my college roommates.)

We also did a requisite Easter egg hunt, which was held after church, after dinner. In typical 2 year old fashion, after finding one egg Babs was content. And Kiddo was carefully keeping the rules she had learned in preschool, only one egg of each color, so we had to convince her that ALL the small eggs were for her.

And, the closest thing we have to a posed shot. They are beautiful. I try to remember this every day.

Another great thing about this Easter was that my cousin and his fiancee came over for dinner. It was lots of fun, and they were wonderful with the kids. It is nice to live (sort of) close to family finally.

Of course the best thing about Easter was the opportunity to remind the girls (and ourselves) again and again about the importance of Christ's sacrifice, and especially the doctrine of resurrection, which is the purpose of the day. I'm glad that part of the day can be celebrated every day.