celebrating easter...

"But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive."  

1 Corinthians 15:20-22

holidays are filled with traditions at our house, and therefore, each year our celebration is very similar to last.  i love traditions, so i love it!  of course, the kids get bigger so there are still lots of pictures.  this year was our year to celebrate with the blanchettes.  so here is our easter sunday in pictures and a few captions to give some juicy details :)...

treats the easter bunny left, including empty baskets to search for eggs all over the house.

jack discovered PEEPS this easter and now LOVES them!!

my beautiful olivia all dressed up and ready for church.

jack would only do silly and with his sister.   oh that boy!!

pictures after church in the rose garden.  nana with her grands.

miss o

us.

my love.

off to nana and gramps for more easter fun!  squinkies were olivia favorite easter treat this year.

jack grabbing eggs filled with candy and coins.  there were ONLY 100 eggs for two kids.  

we ended our easter celebration at the addison cafe with the blanchette family.  it has become a tradition and such a nice way to end this special day.

easter sunday...

was packed full of church, family, food, easter baskets, and egg hunts OH and a few pictures to capture and remember all the fun we had!! here is our easter sunday...

easter baskets before church...

celebrating our risen KING, SAVIOR, and LORD at church with our family plus nana...

our little family

olivia, nana, and jack. we LOVE that we get to see nana at church on sunday mornings now.

then it was off to b and pop's house to celebrate with the bowlins and fifers. lots of fried chicken, easter baskets, sweet cousin pictures, and an easter egg hunt in the backyard. a really great afternoon...

uncle christman and jack. pop is back there too!

after the egg hunt picture. you can't tell but they had full baskets.

sweet cousins dressed up in their easter best.

the fun wasn't over yet! we loaded up and drove out to allen to celebrate that evening with the blanchettes. we had more yummy food. more family! more easter basket surprises! and one more egg hunt!

olivia and gram lois.

gram millie and olivia.

olivia with her third basket full of easter eggs for the day. she was LOVING it!!

jack and nana counting and checking out all his eggs.

what a wonderful day filled with so many reasons to be thankful. most of all i am humbled and grateful to know Jesus Christ personally. i am so grateful He desired to have a relationship with me so He lived a perfect and sinless life on earth, died on a cross, was buried, and rose again so that i might have life abundantly and eternally with Him. HE is what today is really all about and the reason we celebrate. to HIM be the glory and honor for all that He has done and for all the blessings He pours out to us. hope you and your family had a special day celebrating today. happy easter!!

easter sunday...

was a great day! we started our morning at church. it was a great morning to remember the incredible sacrifice of christ dying on the cross, but how that was not the end of the story-- that jesus rose from the dead and was ALIVE!! the kids looked adorable in their easter outfits...

this picture does not do justice to how stinkin' cute jack looked in his suit. he was not into pictures at all!!
just love this pic of olivia and mark and it is the best pic of o's dress.
our little family

but the very best part was getting to teach and tell the amazing story of easter to my own kids and to a group of precious 4 year old girls at big purple church (that is our kids church). i stand amazed of the incredible god that i rest my faith in and how much he loves me!

then we had lunch with b and headed out to allen for some time with nana and gramps. since sunday mornings are a little crazy at our house getting ready and going to church we decided to do our easter baskets in the afternoon at nana and gramps' house.

olivia loved her hello kitty diary and multi-colored pen. i was most excited about new favorite children's bible, the Jesus Storybook Bible.

jack had a very toy story themed easter. he was sooooo excited to have woody and buzz. no inspirational gifts for jack. :) maybe next year buddy!!

he was also very interested in his elmo easter book...

then we headed to dinner at a very special restaurant for our family. 5 years ago on easter we announced that we were pregnant with our first baby. my mom loves that memory and now likes to go back there every year. it was a FABULOUS meal and we only had a few moments with the kids that made me think twice about bringing them to such a nice restaurant. :)

it was a great day to celebrate the fun traditions of easter like easter baskets, but also to celebrate that JESUS is alive!!!

easter at the lake...

it is becoming a fun tradition with the bowlins and fifers that we head down to the lake for some easter fun before going back for church on easter sunday. this year a little stomach bug got abby and sarah, but we still had lots of fun while relaxing for a few days.

we made some easter crafts...

b and pop gave the kids some super fun gifts. the girls got banks that count the coins and jack got a really neat wooden noah's ark toy...

played the wii...
dyed eggs...
and went all over the place in the golf cart on a scavenger hunt gathering fun stuff...
mark took lots of boat rides with the kids. they tell me they went really fast! :)
we just hung out together...
spent lots of time playing outside...
and we ended the weekend with an easter egg hunt...