Easter Baskets and Family

I really love holidays, especially when we get to see lots of family! This year we spent Easter with the Perrault side since my brother came home from Colorado. Although, sadly, his reason for coming home was to help my youngest sister move out to Colorado. I will definitely miss seeing her even if it wasn't as often as I would have liked! At least we have a trip to Colorado planned for the spring so we'll see them soon.

Easter morning I was awake before the kids and was able to get in a quick run. Once we were all up and showered, Luke and I sent the kids on a hunt for their Easter baskets! I'd written out little clues that took them to a few places around the house, and Noelle especially loved it! When she found the baskets in my closet she kept saying "thank you, mommy!" They each got some socks (Frozen for Noelle and Thomas the train for Jonah), a ball (Frozen for Noelle and Star Wars for Jonah), bubbles, and Reeses eggs (mostly for me!)

We headed to church and soon after we arrived Noelle hurt her knee/leg playing around in the lobby and decided she would rather sit with us than go to nursery. She did surprisingly well, as long as we kept her fueled with snacks and a pen and paper!

After church we headed home so Jonah could nap (he'd already been cranky most of the weekend and we did not want to skimp on sleep for him!), and then went to my parents once he woke up. My mom had an egg hunt set up for them, and after the three that I had taken them to in the past two weeks, they knew exactly what to do. Noelle ran around the yard picking up as many as she could, and Jonah had help from everyone else pointing out eggs for him. The eggs were full of dimes, nickels, and Reeses cups- pretty much the best thing ever. Jonah agreed and kept stuffing his mouth with chocolate. Definitely a boy after my own heart!

My mom had also hidden Easter baskets for them with more candy, stickers, and tickets for the carousel. Noelle surprisingly ate ham at dinner and Jonah wanted more deviled eggs. Throughout the day, I kept getting excited thinking about my sister's son being a part of everything next year! She bought the suspenders and bow-tie for Jonah and her little guy for next year, as well as a matching headband for Noelle. Cannot wait for matching cousin pictures!

I have absolutely come to love Easter more as God has drawn me closer to Him and given me a greater understanding of His sacrifice for me. There is no greater reason to rejoice than in Jesus' work on the cross. On Friday as we were driving somewhere, I asked Noelle if she knew why we celebrate Easter. To my surprise, she said Jesus! And then she sang me a little song she learned at school, "This is the cross where Jesus died, this is the hill where Mary cried." I pray my little's hearts come to know the impact of this and love Jesus with their lives!