Our Easter

...was so much fun!

We started Saturday night at my Grandma's house...four new baby calves have been born in the past week and we just had to go see them!  Here's two of them...

Our friends Brittnee and Ryder came with us...it was Ryder's first time seeing cows up close and personal and he loved them!  He "moooed" almost the whole time we were there.  He even tried to backwards Army crawl under the barbed-wire fence to get to them!  Love that kid. :)

We colored Easter eggs at my parents house before we headed home, and I think Taylor may now hold the record for the fastest Easter egg coloring ever.  Seriously...she couldn't stand to let them stay in the color for longer than 10 seconds!  I'm sure we went through a dozen eggs in less than 5 minutes.  They were still beautiful, though and she was so proud. :)

Sunday morning I was up early getting things ready for our family Easter celebration that took place at our house.  I was in the kitchen when I heard Taylor's bedroom door open; then the sound of her little feet; a still-drowsy "Good morning, mom"; then the front door open; and then the saddest cry I've ever heard!  I looked around the corner and saw her standing there with the door open and tears streaming down her face.  I said "honey, what's the matter?!?"  Her reply (while sobbing), "the Easter Bunny didn't leave me an Easter basket!"  Apparently she thought it would be left on the front porch and when she didn't see it there, well...it just broke her little heart.  Luckily for her, the Easter Bunny hadn't forgotten her after all!  In fact, she was a bit spoiled by him if you ask me. :)

After Easter baskets were found, candy was eaten, breakfast was made and cleaned up, brownies were in the oven, baked beans were simmering in the crockpot, ham was prepared and pork roasts were marinating, I finally made it into the shower 25 minutes before we were supposed to be leaving for church.  Did I mention Taylor wasn't dressed yet, either?  Ugh!  It was a mad dash, but we actually made it out of the house in 30 minutes, were plenty early for church and we all looked rather fabulous if I do say so myself. :)

Church was wonderful.  Christmas Eve mass is always my favorite, but Easter Sunday is a close second.  The songs of worship are so uplifting; everyone's looking their best; and the hope, renewed spirits and the love for our Lord is overwhelming...it's such a special day!♥

After church we headed over to the hall for the Easter egg hunt!  We lucked out and the little kids (3 and under) were inside this year so we didn't have to tramp through the grass and dirt in the pouring down rain.  Taylor was one of the oldest in her group and found a lot of eggs, so she shared some with a few of the smaller kids who were less than thrilled at the one or two eggs that they had found themselves.  Such a sweet girl. :)

After church,  my family came over and, before we celebrated with a delicious ham dinner and all the fixins, the kids went out and had another egg hunt!  Matt always does a good job of hiding the eggs and even the big kids have a hard time finding some of them!

♥ Peter, Abbie, Jake, Caitlyn, Holly and Taylor ♥

After our oh-so yummy dinner Matt made his Grandpa's famous family recipe hot fudge!  Ice cream sundaes were on the menu for dessert, complete with brownies, oreos, nuts and...

birthday cupcakes for Jake!  He turned 12 on the 21st so we celebrated his birthday, too.

Did you know that side stripes are coming back for boys' hair?  So cool. :)

Happy Birthday, bud!  We love you!♥

 And here's just a cute pic of Cheri and Abbie...and Peter picking his nose in the background.  Love it. :)

Hope you had a very Happy Easter, as well!

Wishing many blessings to you as we head into Spring and Summer...

...the sunshine is coming, right?! :)