Easter is upon us once again as the the long weeks of winter make way for a season of new life and rebirth. Hannah got to wave a few palm branches at church last week on Palm Sunday, and then everyone in Omaha became sick simultaneously. There were outbreaks of flu, bronchitis, and even pneumonia hitting practically everyone we know at work, church, and elsewhere. Reid at Twin Valley even had to have an emergency appendectomy. It was a week for an Easter Bouquet of Get-Well Flowers in any case.

On Saturday, our family (plus my folks) went down to Aksarben Village to participate in an Easter Egg hunt sponsored by Jones Bros. Cupcakes. It turned out to be a frightening occasion, and not just because of the Easter Bunny. The “hunt” was a rather savage competition not unlike the Hunger Games as an overwhelming crowd of kids and parents descended upon a field with not nearly enough eggs to go around. With barely a word of warning from an emcee nobody could hear, toddlers were trampled and overeager grownups scooped up all the eggs within seconds. Hannah and practically half the toddlers there were unable to grab even a single egg during the melee. A few nice people gave our teary-eyed girl an egg or two from their own baskets in a gesture of goodwill, but we still counted the experience as a thoroughly disappointing bust. May the Eggs be ever in your favor.

That evening, we boiled up the eggs and gave Hannah the chance to dye a couple for the first time in our kitchen. She got to make some pretty colors happen and even experimenting dipping eggs into more than one cup of dye just to see how that worked. I boiled a couple extra eggs to make deviled eggs while watching the Ten Commandments, per tradition.

We had some gorgeous weather on Resurrection Sunday that made for a much happier Easter Egg Hunt for Hannah (and Aaron, who seemed content to sit in the grass and dig through Hannah’s bucket). Hannah found dozens of both plastic and hard-boiled eggs scattered throughout our yard as both sets of grandparents cheered her on.

We retreated inside afterward so Hannah could open up a few of the eggs and got and then dig through the goodies in her Easter Basket. She got an Easter activity book from Grandma Johnson and a new puzzle among other things in her Easter Basket from Grammy. Aaron got an Easter Basket too but seemed more content to chew on whatever he could find lying around on the floor.

We finished off the evening with our traditional Easter Dinner of ham (carved by Jack, naturally), Martinelli’s, and whatever else everyone brought with them. Grammy brought some sweet potato casserole that Aaron just couldn’t get enough of. Uncle Jonny was even able to escape from work long enough to join us for the evening. It’s definitely nice to be able to have so much family in one spot.

Happy Easter, everybody! Christ is risen, indeed.