Easter Celebrations

I was so excited for Easter this year as this was my first Easter with a child and I really wanted to do all the fun Easter things you do with kids (even though Hannah is still do young to care or know what’s going on or eat candy and can’t even crawl to an egg, let alone hunt).  We had a wonderful Easter celebration.

The fun started Saturday morning with a neighborhood Easter Egg hunt.  There were hundreds of kids, thousands of eggs, and it lasted all of about 7 minutes.  Hannah managed to reach for a few eggs around her and we came home with a couple of Snickers and Reeses eggs.

Sunday, of course, was the main event.  Hannah got a new Easter outfit for church.

This is her latest thing – she leans her head far to one side to look at people, as if checking them out from all angles.

 (Hannah looking off at her Nana saying…”aren’t we done yet?”) 

 

After church we changed Hannah into her Easter “day” outfit (which were really jammies), gave her a quick nap and then the party began.  Jonathan’s parents were in town for the weekend and we also invited Jonathan’s sister Cherilyn and her family over for dinner.  My parents and sister were going to be a party of just 3 that day with nowhere else to go so they came and joined the party as well.  There were 18 of us gathered for dinner. 

Before dinner though, Hannah got to "find” her basket.  She got summer flip-flops, bubbles, a bible board book, a ball and some treats.  Grandpa Weiler tossed in some chocolate eggs, suckers, taffy, and KitKats at the last minute.  The first thing that went in Hannah’s mouth was a chocolate egg that I got to fish out as it was way to big for her mouth and babies aren’t supposed to have chocolate.  Oh Grandpa.

After Hannah got her basket the Burr’s (Cherilyn’s family) arrived.  We ate a delicious dinner of ham, potatoes, fruit, salad, rolls, and pastel rainbow jello (maybe next year I’ll dedicate a post just to the pastel rainbow jello seeing as I LOVE rainbow jello and figured out how to make it appropriate for Easter – however it needs some tweaking for next year as this year I added WAY to much water and it was very jiggly.  Still delicious and a big hit, but not blog worthy yet).  We sat at tables decorated with adorable bunnies, fake grass, cookie jars filled with Easter eggs, and jelly beans scattered around.  Unfortunately, I always forget to take pictures of the food spread and tables as I’m too focused on getting everything ready and everyone fed.

After dinner we visited for a little bit.  Lisa was awesome and did all the dishes while I put leftovers away.  Then, the Burr’s organized their traditional Easter egg hunt.  Everyone had a big “name egg” that was just for them and then they could collect 14 other eggs which were filled with candy.  No one really wanted those eggs though.  The real hunt was for the coveted “money egg” which had cash in it.  Rule was, once you picked up, kicked, or examined an egg it was yours to keep.  And when you had 14, you were done. 

Preparing for the hunt

Lisa took Hannah around and they gathered their eggs together.

After the egg hunt it was time for dessert.  I decided to make sugar cookies and have the kids decorate them.  I had about 4 dozen cookies and 6 colors of homemade frosting that I put in piping bags.  This activity turned out even better than I was hoping.  Everyone from the youngest to the oldest had fun.  It didn’t get super messy, tasted delicious, got everyone involved, and we got to see the decorating talents of all the Burr kids.

 That’s right – nothing like 2 cookies LOADED with frosting, smushed together to make a sandwich.

 
Jonathan’s parents were in town because Natalie, the oldest grandchild (pictured above sitting at the head of the table by the window) graduated from BYU this weekend.  So, after cookies it was time for presents.  Hannah enjoyed watching Natalie open up her new BOSCH mixer with her cousin.

Speaking of her cousins, the Burr’s are absolutely adorable with Hannah.  Maybe it’s because she’s still little and immobile so she doesn’t really get in their way, but they always have her sit right in the middle of things and play with her and give her toys and keep her entertained and happy.

We had a wonderful Easter as it was filled with family.  We’re so blessed to have family living nearby.  Happy Easter!