The day actually started the night before.

Brooklyn and Jillian came to our house to color eggs with the girls – minus Jamie and Curt – on Easter Eve. Once again…a tradition that started a LONG time ago! I remember sitting in my Harvest Grandma’s little kitchen (which actually seemed REALLY big as a little girl) coloring Easter eggs with her. I have a picture of the two of us somewhere and would love to find it.  The girls try to make each egg different from the others by using crayons, rubber bands and great imaginations. The artistic abilities come out in full force. Sometimes, the artistry is so good that it’s hard for me to even throw those eggs away after they’ve been sitting out for days (and beginning to smell). By the time all five dozen eggs were colored, we had multi colored, polka-dotted, a bumble bee, a Mocking Jay (Hunger Games), a cross, and many, many more.

Notice how someone must have decided they needed to be color coordinated 🙂

Easter morning means church. And, if we’re lucky, the Easter Bunny has stopped by the house to hide Easter Eggs and baskets throughout the yard while we’re away. I remember one year, after the girls finally found their baskets, the chocolate bunnies had melted into a chocolate puddle. There were just a few tears shed. Easter hymns are some of my favorite to sing. The church was more full than usual on Easter morning.  I’m sure if anyone was driving past the church with their windows down they surely heard the beautiful music coming from inside the walls. Maybe being in the very front of the church explains why it sounded so much better than usual. Having the entire family in church meant taking up a full pew – thus leaving only the front of the church available (a good problem to have). The Easter Bunny did a great job with hiding the eggs this year! He even left them in color coordinated spots (which Jamie noticed right away).

Before we could begin the mad dash for eggs and baskets, we had to get a picture of everyone all dressed up (unfortunately, Jim had already taken off his Church clothes).

Callie designed the perfect Mocking Jay on one of her eggs. Jamie was the lucky “finder” of her egg (which was the way Cal was hoping it would happen).

Waiting and waiting for the charcoals to get hot enough to cook Easter dinner.

After dinner, we headed outside, dug some worms and went fishing at a local farm pond. A few small fish later, the afternoon turned to evening and a bonfire. Mark, Candi and the girls joined us for an evening of roasted hotdogs and s’mores in the backyard.  We’ve all been anxious for the first campfire of the season. The evening was PERFECT!

As you can tell, it was a BIG day for everyone, but especially the little girls.

It was a GOOD day!