Easter

Happy Easter everyone! Because I was on call at work, I had to stay in town, but it turned out great because I didn't have to actually go in and we got to spend some good time with family. Sickness has gone around the Powers/Bailey/Clark family though and Amy and Hannah were sick and Olivia woke up sick on Saturday morning. She was acting like she had strep so I took her to the doctor right away (as to avoid the entire weekend at home with a sick kid or an equally unfun trip to urgent care later on..). Her blood count showed a big infection but no strep. So she won herself some Amoxicillin. Later in the day and two doses later, she was back to her old self.

Saturday night, we all went to the 5:00 kid friendly service at church. We assumed (wrongly) that this service wouldn't be as busy or full as the other services (dead wrong) and we arrived at an early time, 4:40. (NOT actually as early as everyone else). The sanctuary was FULL. Now, I'm not sure of the total seating capacity for the worship center, but it is stadium like seating AND they set up chairs in the aisles as well. So, we decided to sit in the eating area where they had tables set up already. As we walked from table to table, I'd look back to my family and say, "Does this look good?" And as I looked back down to the once empty table, it was then full before my very eyes. These were cutthroat church tactics! So, we quickly grabbed a chair and protected what was ours and waited for worship to start. A few minutes into our waiting, a church guy came to the microphone and let us know that this particular seating area was for the upcoming dinner, not for overflow seating for worship. But he then asked for a show of hands to see who was here for worship and who was there for eating. Seeing we were all there for worship, he said, "worship comes first" and in a few seconds, we had live feed from the sanctuary. This is why I love our church. As annoying as the large crowd may be, this church never loses sight of what is first and foremost important...God, worship, togetherness. The kids were supposed to sing on stage, so they improvised and all the kids in the eating area turned worship center got up on the smaller stage and did their thing. We even got the added bonus of early Easter eating as we listened to the pastor. It was a great Easter worship, and despite the gargantuan nature of this church we call home, we love it very much, and will continue to call it home.

Sunday morning, we headed over to Grandma Jan & Grandpa Darrell's house for an easter egg hunt and dinner. The girls had a blast looking for eggs, cleverly hidden by Shawn, and they came out with a ton of loot. But best of all, they had a lot of fun, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Our Easter dinner was fabulous, with roast beast (as we call it), ham, mashed taters with mashed cauliflower (actually very good), beans, homemade rolls, salad, fruit, etc....all made dairy free and low fat to please all (except those not on a diet or lactose intolerant), but there were none of us in need at all. I love my family, because we all adapt still, to each other's needs, and at the same time, have a blast doing it. After lunch we all took naps in front of The Wizard of Oz....all of us except for the girls who were hopped up on acid, I mean candy. I am very thankful for my family, and even more thankful for the gift of Easter, that all our sins are taken away by our Lord. As Pastor Mike says, "It changes EVERYTHING." And it really does.


Sophie's pre-Easter kid manicure



Egg hunting photo op

At church

Bam & Darrell's

Cheesy kindergartener

A team

In the dryer vent? Really?

Easter dresses

Early morning glory...

Happy Easter everyone!