This Easter was really quite special. As our faith deepens Easter has a renewed meaning to us. As a family it is so important that Maddy understands why we celebrate these holidays and for her to understand that it's not all about bunnies and candy. In an attempt to share the Easter story with her, I purchased a set of Resurrection Eggs. It is a set of 12 plastic colored eggs, in a plastic egg carton. Each egg contains a symbol in sequential order of the story leading up to the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus. I couldn't believe how much of it she took in and enjoyed. By Easter Sunday she was a pro and could tell you something about each symbol and it's meaning in our faith.
To kick off the weekend, I decided to host a get together for the Mom's group and their children. Friday morning we had brunch ..... we enjoyed tons of great food, fruit and cupcakes. The kids played outside on Maddy's new bouncy, bounce. We told the story of Easter with the resurrection eggs and just enjoyed some time together. By 1pm or so everyone had gone home and Maddy was passed out asleep by 1:30. Friday night my Mom came up for the Good Friday services at Loudonville. We love this service so much and think it truly captures the mood of the evening. We sang songs like Jesus Messiah, Once Again and so many others that brings you to tears. Each person is given a 3x5 card to write down their sins, guilts and fears that they want to hand over to God. Each pew is led to the front to hammer their sins to the cross. Its an amazingly beautiful sight at the end when the cross is covered just from sins of Loudonville. On Easter Sunday the cross is wiped clean and draped in white silk cloth.
On Saturday we were invited out to dinner and to a hockey game with the Williams family. (Nate, Jen & Juliana- friends from Church). We shared a pizza and then went over to the Times Union Center for a family faith night and hockey game. The River Rats beat the Senators, the girls got to meet Dora and jump on a bouncy slide. Amazingly, Juliana and Maddy made it almost all the way through the hockey game. They seemed to love it and really got into all of the chanting and the wave. We had such a nice time and it was such a blessing to spend some time with friends.
We were up early on Easter Sunday..... services were amazing and well attended. After service we went to Oneonta to celebrate. Tony (Bill's Dad) and Liz hosted it at Tony's house. Bill's family from Saugerties came, my Mom and Merritt, Kelly, Tyler and Carter. It was a great crowd and everyone pitched in for food. We ate Turkey, Ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, Lasagna and veggies. We were all too stuffed for dessert but we had everything from apple pie to chocolate cake and cookies. It was a fun filled weekend and very busy but great to spend it with friends and family.
