Easter Weekend

Well I don't think we could have packed in one more ounce of fun into our Easter weekend. We celebrated with many different friends, read the story of Christ's death and resurrection, hunted eggs, played outside, ate great food, dressed up, dressed down, stayed up late, and through it all remembered the true meaning of Easter. I know Emma Claire is too young now, but I cannot wait until she can grasp the FULL meaning of Easter. But as I sit here and write this post it is even hard for me, as a grown Christian woman, to fathom the sacrifice that Jesus made for ME on the cross. Such an amazing, free, gracious gift that has been given to small, insignificant, UNDESERVING, ME. It is truly something to be celebrated. Can I get an AMEN? 

"And this is the promise which He himself made to us; eternal life." 1 John 2:25

In true Mallorie fashion our weekend of fun was well documented. ;-) On Saturday we got up early and crashed headed to an Easter egg hunt in our friend's neighborhood. We had some absolutely gorgeous weather. Emma Claire  had fun playing outside and running around. 

They had the babies eggs in a kiddie pool with egg grass. Emma Claire was NOT having any of it. I didn't blame her, too many kiddos. 

However, as soon as the fuss was over with she was more than happy to climb into the pool and play around. 

Token white shoes. 

This girl is all about birds. All. The. Time. 

Emma Claire and her boyfriend friend Wyatt. He is just the cutest thing. Whenever Emma Claire's bow falls out he brings it back to her and tries to put it on her head. Now that right there is true love. ;-) I kid. I kid.

After the egg hunt we headed to a super fun first birthday party for the sweetest little boy. His momma did an outstanding job on planning and decorating.

So tempting. 

I'm pretty sure he liked his cake. 

 After the birthday party we headed home and attempted to do some cleaning/organizing. The spring cleaning bug is trying to bite me however I have a toddler that keeps chasing him away. Sigh. One day I will have all the time in the world to clean and organize and I will miss my messy sidekick. 

Our little street had an egg hunt for all of the kiddos last night. Emma Claire had fun watching the bigger kiddos hunt eggs. Actually, she did find one egg that had some chocolate inside. She managed to open it and snack on it for a while. Hey, it got her to stand still for a picture! ha! I couldn't waste the stillness of the moment. ;-) 

This morning we rose early again to head to the early church service. Part of my motivation to rise earlier than normal was so that we would have plenty of time to take pictures before leaving. HA. Yeah right. While we did have plenty of time the toddler wasn't having any of it. She was being 100% toddler this morning. 

  

We gave Emma Claire her Easter basket after church. I kept it pretty simple this year. She got a board book of bible stories {that we have read about 20 times since I bought it last week}, two new bath books, some maracas {in green and gold OF COURSE, sic'em!}, and the book God Gave Us Easter. It is the sweetest book and really explains Easter in a serious way but on a kids level.

After Emma Claire's nap we headed over to have dinner with friends from church. I have been so blessed to have friends include me like family on special holidays. Since I spend the majority of holidays alone words cannot express how grateful I am for that. We had great food, fellowship, and all of the kiddos had a blast. Successful Easter evening, if you ask me!

This is baby Gracie, as we call her since we have a furry Gracie at home. Emma Claire LOVES her. They were pretty cute together tonight.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. 

“You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. 

He has risen! 

He is not here. See the place where they laid him." 

Mark 16:6