The Journey into the New: April 2013

The past several years, living in Nebraska, we spent our Easters away from family; which meant that we got to spend them with amazing friends. We got into a really nice little rhythm of going to church, sharing a meal, and just plain having a good time. It was clear early on that this year would look a little different. First of all, we have yet to find a church out here, and though we were planning on trying one out for the first time Easter Sunday (which didn't happen...read on...), we were a little nervous at the thought of spending such an important holiday with a church family we literally didn't know at all. Second, there was the matter of the weather; it was not a nice week leading up to Easter, and the day of ended up being pretty gloomy itself, with snow flurries in the morning and a dreary cloud cover the rest of the day. It certainly wasn't in step with the Easters we had growing up in Southern California: Sunny, warm, and very much spring. Even the last three years spent in Nebraska boasted some pretty beautiful days for Easter Sunday. But not here, not this year. The fact that we woke up on Easter Sunday with two sick kids, a Momma who was not feeling so hot herself, and a Daddy with a headache, we decided to stay in, keep our germs to ourselves, and enjoy a quiet Sunday at home. Hopefully for next year we'll be settled in a church and can get back to our tradition of church, friends, and fun!
We did still have a little fun, though. On Saturday, Daniel got to color Easter Eggs for the first time!! Sunday afternoon we gave him the only suitable egg-collecting receptacle we could find (a bin we use to store some of his toys) and all went out into the backyard for a good old fashioned egg hunt! We even dressed the kiddos up in their Easter best; we weren't about to let a little snot and some coughing get in the way of them looking adorable! Never mind that I was wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt...Here are some pictures from our low-key celebration: