An Easter Weekend

{1} Maundy Thursday.  Easter weekend starts on Thursday, right?  We hosted our church community group Maundy Thursday meal.  I spent all of Wednesday and Thursday cleaning, setting up, preparing, and it was so worth it.  We love having people in our home and sharing our evenings together.

{2} Menu.  I've really enjoyed our chalkboard wall! I mostly use it for scripture and menu planning, but it's a fun way to sprinkle a little bit of creativity into each week.  This week it's been home to our family dinner menu.  All of my favorites, including my mom's pot roast and my granny's deviled eggs:)

{3} Community.  We love our community group.  It is a constant source of fellowship, encouragement, and fun in our lives.  These people are simply the best.  The evening was spent hanging out, eating the most delicious potluck ever assembled, worshipping with a song, and sharing the ways in which we have been served and blessed in the past year. What a great way to get the Easter weekend started off!

{4} Dine. We are pretty casual around here when it comes to dining (I call dinner, "supper").  But, Easter is a special celebration, so we went so far as to set the dining room table for family dinner:)  I haven't done a lot of that since we moved in, and although I don't have a lot in the way of linens and place settings, I had fun getting creative.  I see more of this in the future...

{5} Easter Best.  I sure do love this little bunny!  Last year she was sick on Easter Sunday and I don't have a single pic of her!  We ran her pretty ragged, but I think she had fun.  At one-and-a-half, we're still trying to master how to say Jesus, much less explain his promises and resurrection, but I so look forward to the coming years to teach her why Easter is the most important celebration in our faith.

{6}  Family.  My entire family was in town this weekend.  I sure do enjoy spending time with them! Living far away from them stinks, but it sure does make us cherish our time together.  The weekend was spent playing, shopping, cooking, eating, worshipping, and enjoying our beautiful weather! Thank you, Lord!

{7} Easter Treats.  I enjoyed spoiling Avery with her Easter basket.  Her favorite to play with were the Peeps, although she has decided she doesn't like them.  Her favorite gifts were the books.  A girl after my own heart.

{8} Celebrate.  My sister and her fiance, Ross.  Our families couldn't be more excited! We love these two together, and their brand new engagement gave us even more to celebrate this weekend.  What a blessing to receive someone new into the family.  Plenty of wedding plans were discussed, and a destination wedding may be in the works:)  This matron of honor couldn't be more excited to start planning a wedding!!!

{9} Joy.  The word pretty much sums up the weekend.  Joy in The Resurrection.  Joy in time spent with family.  Joy in time rich in community.  Joy in even the simple things, like the weather and a good piece of cake.  Because Christ died for us, and because he rose from the dead, our lives matter.  Our experiences are deeper, our relationships more meaningful, our hope much stronger.  Christ is risen, He is risen, indeed!