Easter Weekend

We went to visit the in-laws this weekend in Tennessee. It was storming like crazy with tornado warnings and the whole scary deal on Friday night so we opted to leave on Saturday AM. Well, we were told (and double confirmed via the weather channel) that the weather there would be really warm and nice on Saturday and Sunday. I am notorious for not packing the right things for myself and my child, so I was determined we would be good this time. Who needs tennis shoes (or closed toe shoes for that matter) when it's going to be warm & sunny? Well, note to self: always bring warm shoes just in case! It was C-O-L-D at the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday with my Father-in-law's church. Normally, we would've skipped it & made up some story for the little one about why we couldn't go, but he's the pastor, so we felt like we should go and have "fun" freezing though we were!

It turned out to not be so bad, we had fun despite the weather. It just would've been a little more enjoyable if we had the right attire. I'm sure a lot of the people there were considering calling Family Services on me for having my kid in sandals, I wanted to put a sign on her that said "Don't blame my Mommy, we're from out of town!"

She got LOTS of eggs because all the smart, not-so-brave parents stayed home with their kids. Oh well, more candy for us :)

Here she is with her Grana & Grampa after the egg hunt.

Easter Morning started pretty early, with our little Princess, who is terrified of the Easter Bunny & every other dressed up character wanting to see what the "Girl Easter Bunny" brought her...she says she's only scared of the boy one "Um, ok sweetie, the one that brought your basket is a girl"
She's not drunk, just trying to be nice & fake smile so I'll let her get into this basket!

She got lots of goodies, mostly related to her new mail obsession. Cards, letters, envelopes, stickers, stamps, etc. She LOVES to send and receive mail.
And she promptly got right into painting and stamping cards for people. Oh, and yes, That paint under her nails was really pretty for church, you can imagine!

So, off we go to get ready for church, and she looked just beautiful in her new clothes!

We had a really nice service at their church, and back at Grana & Grampa's came lots more egg hunting and pictures with the family followed by lunch on their deck because it was a BEAUTIFUL Easter Sunday.

And of course, no day is complete without changing clothes a few times! She did a little dance in her new "ballet outfit" and Tinkerbell shoes, and then we had to leave and come back home. It was a very fun, but tiring weekend!
I always feel like when you have children that the meaning of holidays gets lost in the fun & craziness of the traditions. I know she's too young, but I hope that in the coming years we can reflect on the true meaning behind the 'New Life' that hunting eggs represents & make sure that she knows it's not about candy or a bunny, but the sacrifice that Jesus made for us so long ago.

Happy Easter!