Easter

David had to work on Easter day (bummer) so we stayed in Columbus to be close to him.  We started out the morning going to mass all together before David went to work.  It was quite impressive that we managed to get up, check out Easter baskets, get ready, and make it to church by 7:15 - much earlier than the 8:45am mass that we usually attend.  I wish I had been able to get a family picture at church as we all looked so nice.  But David had to rush off to work immediately after the service was over.  After mass I let the kids watch an Easter movie and have a little candy while I cooked for a friend's Easter potluck.

Found their Easter baskets waiting for them in the morning.  Eliana was super excited about the Easter bunny coming while she was sleeping.

Joy!

Reading his new book.

Love this! William was feeding his toy chick some of his Easter candy.

Can you tell their favorite part of Easter?

For lunch we went over to my friend Morgan's house.  She is from out of state, so for many holidays, she hosts big dinners for all of her friends whose families are also out of town.  We have joined them for other holidays such as Thanksgiving a couple of years ago.  She and Anthony hosted a beautiful meal followed by an Easter egg hunt for the kids AND a beer hunt for the dads!  Besides the eggs, Anthony hid multiple bottles of beer outside, and all of the dads were given an empty six pack carton to hunt for their "Easter Beer."  The best part was that David was done with work by 1pm, so he was able to join in just in time for the egg and beer hunt.

Eliana was so sweet - she was one of the oldest kids at Morgan's house, so I told her to be sure during the egg hunt that all the little kids had a chance to get eggs too.  After she had about 6 eggs in her basket, she stopped collecting eggs for herself and instead gave the eggs she found to William.  He only managed to find two eggs before he was distracted by the many fun toys in the yard.  I love that she listened to me and that she loves her little brother so much.

We had a great time, and Eliana and her friend Sam were inseparable most of the day.  After the egg hunt, I took William home for a nap while David and Eliana stayed a little longer.  We had quite a full day because that afternoon my brother, sister-in-law, and niece came over the celebrate Easter with us too.  I made roasted lamb for dinner (first time for me!) and we spent most of the evening outside since the weather was so beautiful.  Claire got to experience the sandbox for the first time, and while I think William put sand in her hair, she successfully did not eat any of it.

cousins!

 Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!