Easter

I love Easter. I kinda forget that every year, but what a great day to remember and celebrate our Lord's resurrection from the grave. Writing that makes me think about the hymn that goes: "Up from the grave he arose; with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; he arose a victor from the dark domain, and he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!" Just imagine that with a pipe organ playing in the back.... oh, Easter day. :) I found this B.C. cartoon that I thought was really cool... that's a fragment of what we experience as Christians!

In addition, it is also a great time to be with family again. On Friday, we headed to the Wayne County area to spend quality time with both our families. We had supper with Jeremy's parents and then watched Slumdog Millionaire on Friday night. I highly recommend this movie. Don't except a lighthearted, pick-me-up movie, but at the same time it is not a complete downer - just a lot to digest. Saturday morning, my brother (Ben) and Jeremy worked on our Accord. It needed a few things done and thought the DIY way might be the better choice financially. Plus, it never hurts to have some quality time with family as a part of the package. While they did the car repairs, Cale (Ben's son) and I hung out. We went for a 3 mile stroller ride looking for lawn mowers along the way - they seem to be Cale's passion right now! We saw a few of those, plus a leaf blower, some puppies, and even some squirrels. It was a good workout for me, plus I think Cale was enjoying the ride - eating corn pops and being outside. In the afternoon, Jeremy went on a long, hilly bike ride with his uncle, while I made paper bag bunnies with my neice, Sophie. In the evening, we had a Mexican fiesta to celebrate my brother (Nate) and sister-in-law's (Steph) birthdays that were a few weeks before. It was delicious. During play times, the babies came out, the bears were scattered, the boys wrestled, and the hit of the party.... the rented gray bunny named Gideon! My mom started renting a bunny about 4 years ago on Easter and the kids love it! You can see Cale and Paxon with Gideon in the pic above right. Before bed, we had a little egg hunt in the basement - a small space with so many kids; next year, we will have to head outside. See them all heading down to hunt to the left. We headed to bed and awoke to Easter breakfast at Salem Mennonite Church. This was followed by Easter lunch (and birthday cake for me!), a little PIG outside, and some catching up inside. (That's Sophie - my neice - and I blowing out my two candles in the picture.) Mid-afternoon we headed to the Bricker Easter time. We missed the main meal, but ate some desserts (again) and leftovers. We watched some of the Masters on TV while hanging out. We headed back home around 6ish. It was good to be home to our quiet house....

I am enjoying my last day of "freedom" from work. I am really not looking forward to returning to school and teaching all about work, power, and simple machines - sounds riveting, doesn't it? Nevertheless, it will be here tomorrow and by next week it will feel like I was never gone. For my last day, I went to my BodyPump class at the gym and watched the movie, The Women, which was surprisingly pretty good. I didn't realize that it was a remake of a 1930s film. I also rented Seven Pounds which we might watch tonight. I started a new book (Yesterday's Embers by Deborah Raney) last night also; I'm trying to eek out all the relaxing I can. Jeremy returned to work today. He made Rice Krispie Treats for the afternoon latchkey time; apparently, it was bring your favorite treat day.... as though we all didn't have enough treats this weekend!