Easter and Christmas usually battle it out for favorite holiday status. On the sentimental, gifty, warmhearted side I choose Christmas, but in the life changing, reason for being I have to go with Easter. Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. It wasn’t enough for him to die on the cross, but to raise from the dead was to conquer death and all its power. His death and resurrection secured a place for us in heaven that requires no payment from us but acceptance that it is true. That an omniscient, omnipotent God should choose to do such a thing for me, so that I may freely receive it is an act never matched in other religions. No other gods die. No other gods raise from the dead. And no other gods take such a personal, intimate relationship with their creation. There is no greater story than that, and I love that each year we get to celebrate the story of redemption.

Teaching my children that Easter is more than hunting eggs, and Easter baskets is very important to us. We don’t tell them the Easter bunny is real. They know that I go to the store and buy the candy, that I pack their Easter baskets, and that we are the ones that hide the Easter baskets. That’s just how we choose to celebrate Easter. I’ve been on the fence about Santa at times, but never the Easter bunny.

I woke the kids up early this morning and as they rubbed sleepies out of their eyes I told them they needed to go find their Easter baskets. They went downstairs and started to hunt. They found them pretty quickly and immediately begged for some candy. I acquiesced since it was Easter. Then we had breakfast, got dressed and headed out for church. But not before a brief photoshoot with the neighbor cousins!

Getting my kids and the neighbor cousins to all sit still and smile was next to impossible, but we got some cute shots anyway!

This picture cracks me up!

We went to church, had a very nice service, and then headed to my in-laws for an afternoon of eating, egg hunting, and playing. It was the first get together where most of the kids were old enough that we felt comfortable sending them all outside for most of the day. They only came in for food and bathroom breaks! I love that they spent the whole day with their cousins building amazing memories. They played games, had a picnic, blew bubbles. They didn’t need us to entertain them for plan games for them. They did it all on their own!! We’ve waited years for this and it was wonderful!

Of course they loved the egg hunt!

If we thought getting a handful of kids to all sit still and smile this morning was going to be tough, just wait until they were all together! I think I snapped between 20-30 pics and surprisingly I got a few that they were at least all facing forward!

Wow, I love all these guys. They are each so different and amazing in their own ways and we are so thankful to call them family!