Happy Easter!

"Because He lives - there is hope smiling brightly before us!"

Grateful for that message shared by our speaker in church.

Happy Easter!

I usually take a family picture before church on Easter sunday. But this year it just did not happen. Church at 1 pm is rough - I'll tell you....

But here are my beautiful girls.

The kids always have fun looking for their Easter baskets. Dad has a tradition of hiding them. Andrew and Megan searched forever! Once when Tammy was little, Mike hid hers inside the kitchen ceiling - some funky lighting setup. It took her forever to find it...Remember that Tam?

To overcome selfishness, boredom and just plain expecting Mom and Dad to always do the giving...I came up with the plan for my kids to fill each other's baskets this year.

We went shopping with a 10 dollar limit and Megan and Melissa planned each other's and Andrew and Katie filled each other's. It was totally fun to see them think of each other. Of course, Andrew spent the whole 10 on candy.

Megan and Melissa got creative with earrings and stickers. I had them write each other notes. (I noticed that Katie put her note from Andrew up on the bulletin board in her room.) They watched each other to see if they were pleased with what each had put together for the other one. It worked really well.

I added a few fun things from Mom and Dad. Silly Melissa wanted a coconut. She has been asking for one for the last couple of shopping trips to the grocery store. So we got her a coconut...

After church, everyone came over for Easter dinner. Table for 17!

Carol took more pictures than me so I will add more to this post when she gives them to me.

Happy Easter!