Easter 2014

I hope and pray you all had a blessed and beautiful Easter. We sure did here in our cozy country home. Here are some pictures of our Easter celebrations...

Saturday we hosted a small Easter gathering with my mother, my sister Margie and her husband Chris, Steve's sister Sally, her husband Greg and son Tyler, and a couple of our dear friends. It was our first holiday without my dear father, and without my brother-in-law Greg's father, who passed away suddenly one week after my father passed. I asked Greg to pray the blessing before we ate, and we remembered our sweet fathers in our hearts.

Before our guests arrived, we set our festive Easter table...

with a new Easter tablecloth and four sweet arrangements in colored mason jars filled with fresh flowers and tied with raffia ribbon. After dinner, I invited each family to choose one to take home. : )

Our menu was yummy, and easy as well. We prepared most of the things Friday evening.

We took a few pictures before our guests arrived...Flynn sat perfectly still for her picture with her Peyton...

and had some fun taking pictures with Mommy. : )

My favorite. Ever.

And a super sweet one with Grandma and Aunt Margie. : )

After our guests left, the kids changed into their new Easter jammies...

and set out some carrots strawberries for the Easter Bunny. Because everyone else sets out carrots...and because a certain Mommy forgot to buy carrots.

And then we posed for the traditional night before Easter empty basket picture. : )

Easter morning we awoke bright and early, put on our finest, and headed to Mass...because as much fun as that bunny is, our Risen Lord comes first. : )

My Flynn loved her Easter dress...

and her big pink Easter hair bow.

After we returned from Mass, we changed back into our jammies...because that is how we do it around here...and hunted for baskets... Madison's was filled with beauty products, coffee, and perfume...

Peyton's was filled with true crime books, lotion, and retro television DVDs...

Rhett's was full of video games, movies, and books...

and Flynn's was filled with all things pink, some princess figurines, and her favorite...a "REAL" Handy Dandy Notebook from Blue's Clues.

 After the baskets were found and dumped and reorganized, we had a light breakfast at our Easter table...

we enjoyed some yummy cinnamon rolls...thanks for the help, little Pillsbury Dough Boy...and a big bowl of  delicious fresh fruit...

which I added to counteract the excessive amount of brightly colored festive chocolate!

 After breakfast, we settled in to enjoy a day of playing with new toys, watching new- to- us old shows...(my kids love The Munsters!) and sleeping off a sugar induced coma...me!

Hope your Easter was filled with family, fun, and lots and lots of chocolate, my friends!