Monday, April 25, 2011

Celebrating the Resurrection 2011

We had a very eventful Easter weekend. It was full, busy, but so enjoyable! We love Easter and get SO excited at the thought of focusing on the fact that our Lord Jesus conquered sin and death and is alive! Our boys learned to say "Happy Easter! Jesus is Alive!" We never want them to think of Easter outside of the fact that He lives! In all our busyness, we didn't take too many pictures and though these pictures don't fully convey all of our special weekend, they will give you a glimpse...
All week long we constantly shared the Easter story with our boys through Resurrection Eggs. These are a wonderful idea for getting the beautiful Easter story across to little minds. Our boys loved the resurrection eggs I was able to put together and JJ, especially, quickly caught on and could tell me the story as each egg was opened. This was our favorite part of the Easter festivities, as it showed our little boys' minds grasping the true Easter message. We pray that soon they would truly believe and trust in the Risen Christ.
Thursday evening, our church held a special Maundy Thursday service. This was a special time of reading Scripture focused on the cross, singing hymns, and taking part in the Lord's Supper. What made it even more special for our family was that our church encouraged all kids (and babies) to remain in the service. Of course, Josh had to be up leading the service, so it was quite interesting for me to sit with my three boys in a pew, trying to keep them under control :) They did very well...for the most part...we were really proud of them and what I really enjoyed was how they observed the Lord's Supper for the first time ever. During that part of the service, all three were extremely calm, just watching and asking me a couple whispered questions. What a blessing to take part in something like that as a family.
On Saturday, our boys had an Easter Egg Hunt at our church. Unfortunately, we had a very very very rainy Easter weekend (it literally rained all weekend long), so the egg hunt had to be done inside. Our boys enjoyed it, though. There were tons of eggs for the boys. JJ started off slowly, picking which eggs he wanted to pick up (the shiny ones, the big ones...), while Eli went straight into it and stuffed his basket quickly. Either way, our boys ended up with full baskets and waaaay too much candy! :)
Eli with his buddy Jadon
The 1-2 year olds. How cute are they!?
Part of JJ's big boy group, the 3-4 year olds.
My boys too distracted with their eggs to look up for a picture :)
Sweet Noah enjoying the hotdog lunch afterwards with Michaela
That evening, we decided to introduce our boys to egg-dying. This was actually my first experience, also, so Josh was the one coaching us all through it! As he said it was "nerve-racking but very enjoyable!" I loved it and hope to make this a tradition in our home from now on. :)


Proud boys showing off their colored eggs!
After some 20 minutes, a spilled cup of dye, hands submerged in dye, and a couple cracked eggs, this was the boys' finished work! What do you think?
Easter Sunday, or as we like to call it- Resurrection Day- we gave our boys a small easter basket. Some first time candy that they got were Pop Rocks. They were a bit hesitant at first, but quickly loved it. It was so cute to watch them experience the sizzling, popping sensation in their mouths! :)

Our boys got a set of golf clubs, which they quickly wanted to play with, though Eli immediately lifted his club up like a bat and began swinging. It's funny how JJ just looks at Eli sometimes with a "what-are-you-doing-expression" :)
...so daddy had to coach Eli.
Handsome brothers with their baskets
Little Noah also got a little something. He loved his teething book-- something made to be put in his mouth is just perfect for him right now! :)
And off to church to worship our Risen King with our wonderful church family! Here is a balcony shot of our service.
Tough-looking Eli :)
And smiley Noah
JJ does not like pictures, which makes for some interesting family pictures, as you can see below...
Maybe the best one?? Is it even possible to get a good, all eyes on the camera picture with 3 kids 3 and under?? :)
We thoroughly enjoyed our Easter celebration. What joy there is in celebrating the love, life and power in a crucified, yet living King! As the last line in our boys' favorite Easter song says, "Hallelujah, Christ Arose!"

1 comment:

ASwanson said...

Sounds like a great weekend. You certainly have a handsome bunch, and I love how much they seem to be learning and soaking up from just a few days. Happy Easter, Greenes. Jesus is ALIVE!