Happy Easter!

We had a really busy, but really great Easter weekend! Matt had a major project due for one of his classes, and also taught Sunday school Easter morning. I had a great time with the kids leading up to Easter weekend, and we had a really fun time going to our church's annual Easter egg hunt together as a family on Saturday! Easter is such a special time to celebrate in the life of a believer, Jesus's sacrifice on the cross and vanquishing of sin and death, that we really load up on the excitement around here!

At Home:

I didn't feel brave enough yet to let Kenna loose with real dye, so we stickered some plastic eggs instead. And since Sundays are so wild and crazy in our family at this stage of life, we opened our baskets Monday morning (the day after) so we could take our time and take fun pictures!

The Color Wonder markers were a favorite with Kenna, and definitely the Hello Kitty stamps and chocolate bunny!
Finn of course, looked on with approval. Sweet brother.
My two little bunnies!

With Friends:

And we filled up a few with candy to take to our friends the Bryants' annual Easter egg hunt (here are last year's pictures). Kenna had a great time with the "candy eggs" and after she picked up the first one and discovered chocolate in it, I wasn't sure she was going to pick up any more!
Sarah's mom dresses up like the Easter bunny and I wasn't sure how Kenna would react this year... but she LOVED it. I had a hard time prying her away so that other kids could take pictures! I was so bummed that I forgot my camera, but a good friend took some photos and emailed them to me later:

At Church:

Even the threat of chilly rain (and some falling on the drive out there!) was not enough to deter us from Bayleaf's awesome Easter egg hunt.
It was so cute to see Kenna and Beckley old enough to really get into it this year... they were putting eggs in each other's baskets and Kenna helped him pick them all up when his bucket fell over. So sweet.

Our big girl took one look at the giant slide, took her shoes right off, and climbed all the way to the top by herself. I both love her brave independence and at the same time am incredulous that my baby girl could possibly be that grown up.
My little blue Easter egg snuggled up with Mommy all morning while Daddy took Kenna to all the bouncy houses. He is growing like a weed too- from the angle I was holding him, I coouldn't tell that his little newborn hat barely covers half his head anymore!

With Family:

We had our traditional delicious lunch at Matt's parents' house after chuch. Ansley helped Nana B. pick out everything for the kids' Easter buckets... they opened them in a total blur of chocolate bunnies, bubbles, play dough, and crayons. All the fun stuff!
Granddaddy had left a strip of his yard unmowed so that it would be long enough to hunt eggs in. It worked out perfectly and the weather was just gorgeous! The kids could not have had more fun finding all the eggs and inspecting their treasure (Granddaddy and Nana helped spot a few):
I wanted a cute sibling shot of my two cuties all dressed up for Easter, but it just might not be possible at these wiggly little ages. Kenna was wearing a dress my mom made and smocked for me when I was her age. Finn's was an outfit I bought when we first found out we were pregnant with Kenna- I bought a boy outfit and a girl outfit (see them here on my crafty blog!) and this was the boy one!
Granddaddy and Nana B:
The Edwards:
Us:
A sweet one of just Matt and I that Leanne took for us:
And guess who was left holding the giant chickie when it was all said and done!

Easter is one of my favorite holidays, and certainly not because of the eggs and chicks and bunnies. We serve a risen and living Savior and King! Without his death there would be no atonement for our sin, and without his resurrection, no promise for an eternal life restored to our heavenly Father.

For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. ¹¹ In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
-Romans 6:9-11

I hope everyone reading had a wonderful and worshipful Easter with their families as well!

Easter Weekend: Sunday

Sunday
On Sunday morning we headed off to the early service expecting to work nursery, but instead we were able to go to service to hear Pastor Marty's great sermon out of the Luke account of the resurrection, and then had a great lesson in Sunday school as well. Both lessons taught one of my favorite verses: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " (Luke 24:6-7). Our Sunday school teachers brought photos they had taken of the empty tomb in Israel, and it was so amazing to see it, exactly as described in God's word.

After church we headed to Sandy and Leanne's for lunch, delicious homemade cheesecake, and an egg hunt in their backyard. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or the grandparents!
There were lots of eggs to go around and lots of fun hiding places to find them in!
There was even almost some impromptu gardening when Nana B brought out a fun shovel toy set!
I thought I had forgotten my camera at home, only to find it in the bottom of the diaper bag the next day... luckily Granddaddy took lots of good ones and we got a family picture (this was just minutes before Kenna ate an orange jelly bean and covered herself in bright orange drool!):
After that, a few of us ended up out of the dress-up clothes and into some play clothes...
...which was way more fun anyway!
We had such a fun and busy day (and crashed out so hard when we got home!) that Kenna didn't get to open her Easter basket here at the house. So, today I put her dress back on and re-created the moment so that we'd have pictures of it! As my Mom would say, a hundred years from now, no one will ever know the difference!

Her favorite thing was the thing I was most excited to give her... bubbles in little peep-shaped containers, found at the dollar tree! The bunny was found among Nana Dean's things last winter (it doesn't look like it, but it does have ears!)
Our little book-loving girl:
Our sweet precious girl. What a gift to get to teach her about God as she grows, and to hopefully get to be instrumental in her coming to believe in Christ as her Savior. Happy Easter!