Easter 2017
This year we did our own thing for Easter. The lake house is STILL out of commission. Don't even get me started on my absolute annoyance with that situation. My mom decided to go to Utah to spend Easter with my brother Kirk and his family and Reilly. So even though it wasn't our typical Easter weekend we still had a really great time!
My favorite Easter tradition is to celebrate Holy Week. Easter comes up so quickly. You blink and it is over. Tyler and I like to SLOW down Easter so that we can really think about it and prepare for it. Celebrating Holy Week does that for us. Every day of Holy Week I write on a chalkboard what happened that day. We also put up pictures from the gospel art kit that go along with the events of the day and at dinner we discuss what happened on each day, read about it, read scriptures, and discuss our feelings about it.
For example:
We start with Palm Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Good Friday:
Saturday:
Resurrection Sunday:
We also really love to listen to Lamb of God by Rob Gardner during this week and especially Easter Sunday. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that amazing compilation. Listen to it!!
Doing all of these things helps to extend the holiday and makes it more meaningful for our family.
We decorated for Easter. We sent Reilly a big Easter care package. Tyler and the girls dyed eggs. The weather (sort of) cooperated for them to do it outside. Barely.
The day before Easter the girls helped me get everything ready. Our church is late; it goes from 1pm to 4pm so I didn't want to be throwing things together and trying to cook at the last minute. So we prepped food for the next day. Ailey helped by ironing the linens. Ailey and Bryn helped me set the table and made cute place cards. They are such good helpers!! Everyone helped with the food. We have some great cooks and bakers in our family...the guys included.
They did such a great job!!
Easter morning ended up being bittersweet. Just as I was waking up...I could hear the kids up and starting to check out their Easter baskets...and Tyler had just turned on the song He Is Risen...when I got a call that my Nana had passed away that morning. This wasn't a big surprise. My Nana hadn't been doing well and had been moved to hospice care. I had been getting regular updates. But I still wasn't prepared for the call. It kind of subdued things for awhile. But there was also beauty in knowing that she went home to her Savior on a beautiful Easter morning and it made the meaning of Easter even more profound for our family.
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| At Jordin's wedding: Kirk, Nana, Me, my cousin Colin, and Jordin |
I love that smile!! She was an absolute character. She will be greatly missed!!
Easter morning was still a sweet celebration. We had a delicious breakfast and the Easter Bunny had paid a visit. :) There were all kinds of treats and little gifts including Easter dresses for the girls and Easter ties for the guys. We even semi-coordinated!! I love it!!
We facetimed and did a Johnson Tries with Reilly...for Sour Peeps (meh), Summer Splash Starbursts (mixed reviews) and Cadbury Creme Egg Cookies (delish!)
We had an Easter Egg Hunt in our backyard:
On the run!!
The sly Easter Egg hiders!!
Then it was time to get ready for church. There is nothing better than church on a gorgeous Easter morning. It is my favorite Sunday of the year!! Even better...Kameron was speaking!! My Nana would've LOVED that!! She never could get over the idea that in our church the members do the "preaching". She used to call us every Sunday night for years and would always ask "Did any of you do the preaching today?" and she loved it when we did and always wanted copies of our talks. I think she would have been absolutely THRILLED to know that her great-grandson was doing the "preaching" that day!!
We were so missing our Reilly!! But we were so glad that she was spending Easter at Kirk and Meki's house and with my Mom. She was having a wonderful Easter as well and that made us feel a lot better about being far apart. (She comes for a quick visit next week and we can't wait!!)
I love Easter pastels!! The girls and I gave each other manis and pedis the night before and our nail polish matched our dresses. So fun. I wish that we still lived in the days of Easter hats, gloves, and corsages. I could totally get on board with that!! My Grandma McKinnon always wore a fresh flower corsage to church on Easter and Mother's Day. I love that tradition. I also loved getting texts when my sister Jordin found and bought her Easter dress!! Love that these traditions carry on...
It's hard to see but Kameron's tie is gray with tiny pink polka dots!! He matched!!
Tyler's tie was pink polka dots and so he matched too!! Ha ha!!
Then it was time to head to church... Kameron gave a fantastic talk about "Why the Living Christ is Important In My Life". He did such a great job! He even referenced our little Holy Week tradition which was awesome to know that he was paying attention and that it meant something to him. I'll post his talk on the blog. It was a great day at church and so wonderful to celebrate the miracle of the resurrection of the Savior.
We took a few more pictures after we got home since we were in a huge rush before church:
Love these Johnson men!!
Then it was time to eat!!
Our Easter Menu:
Baked Ham
Funeral Potatoes
Homemade Rolls
Fruit Salad
Ailey's Deviled Eggs
My Granny's Green Punch
Lemon Curd Cheese Cake
It was a delicious feast!! I texted this picture to Kirk and Reilly who were texting and snapchatting pictures of the brisket Kirk was making out on his smoker to try to make us jealous but in the end they were the jealous ones!! Ha ha!! Everyone loves Granny's Green Punch!!
Best Drink Ever!! Makes you thirsty just looking at it, right? ;)
It was an absolutely fantastic Easter even taking the bitter with the sweet. Losing Nana definitely made us all the more grateful for the miracle that occurred on that Easter morning with the dramatic announcement that changed the course of history:
Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here but is risen.
Luke 24:5-6
Happy Easter!!
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