The weekend, we celebrated a Savior who is risen with temperatures that definitely have not. There were parts of Nebraska that got upwards of a foot of snow over the Holy holiday weekend, but we somehow escape with just some freezing temperatures.

I kicked off Good Friday by paying a brief visit with Chip and Ian from 1420 AM as they hosted Omaha’s Morning Answer down at the Greater Omaha Prayer Breakfast. I’m a regular listener in the morning and thought I’d stop by and say hello once I heard they were hosting their show live from the lobby of the La Vista Embassy Suites. Reaching out to local media has become a part of my day job, and I got to see a few familiar faces before I left, including Dr. Mark Christian of the Global Faith Institute, who sat in for a brief interview before the end of the program.

Then that evening, we celebrated Good Friday with the kids by coloring a couple dozen Easter Eggs in the kitchen. Grammy gave us some whisk-like egg holders meant to dip them in their dye with a little less mess, but we still had more than a couple cracked eggs as we colored them all. They should still taste fine on Sunday when I devil them up.

We spent a chilly Saturday having a couple of egg hunts at Bellevue Christian Center. It was around thirty degrees outside, so much of our time was spent inside letting the kids get some exercise on inflatable bounce houses and an obstacle course. They still had big crowds for the Easter Egg hunts outside, but there were plenty of eggs for Hannah and Aaron to scoop up once their age groups were let loose. There were also some hot dogs for lunch and a giant dance party in front of the church, but the chill eventually overcame us and we had to head back inside to warm up before heading home.

Hannah also made a new friend “Chloe,” who spent Easter weekend with us.

Vivian and I were up bright and early on Easter Morning as Hannah and Aaron discovered baskets of candy that the “Easter Bunny” had somehow left overnight. They also looked out the window to see not only had a bunch of eggs been left behind, but here was still an actual Easter Bunny hopping around in our yard.

We headed off to church for a special Easter Breakfast before the kids got the chance to fill up on candy. We had Easter outfits for the kids (which I coordinated with Aaron) and then had some muffins, pancakes, and eggs together with our friends from Twin Valley Church before Pastor Ryan gave his Easter message.

We headed home afterward to let the kids gather up the eggs that had been left on the front lawn. Vivian’s parents also came over to help get ready for Easter Dinner. Vivian made scalloped potatoes, I put together some deviled eggs with the kids (who helped peel). We had the standard assortment of hors d’oeuvres to fill up on before dinnertime, including some special smoked wings and pork ribs from my dad. The plush bunny and pig from Hannah and Aaron’s Easter baskets played centerpiece until it was dinnertime, and then we stuffed ourselves further with glazed ham and fruit salad. I also tried out my new coffee pot as we visited afterward, and Uncle Jonny even read a story to Aaron (in-between rounds of video games).

It was another lovely Easter holiday, but after checking my calorie count for the day, I’m rather glad it only comes but once a year.

We just had a jam-packed Easter Weekend with the whole family, and we’re still working off the leftovers several days later, so you know it was good. The festivities kicked off with a Good Friday service at Bellevue Christian Center and then a long night of getting food ready while watching The Ten Commandments. We returned to BCC the next day to attend their Easter Egg Hunt. We were rained out of the festivities last year, but this time around the weather couldn’t have been nicer. Aaron got to collect eggs with a bunch of other tykes for the first time, and then Hannah got her turn — a bit early as the emcee told everyone to cheer with a “ready, set” that everyone thought was meant to start the egg hunt.

Afterward, we made ample use of the bounce houses inside, Hannah got her face painted, and then we had some hot dogs for lunch. There was a friendly Easter Bunny on hand for some high-fives, and then Hannah and Aaron made a new friend back on the playground, who just happened to be the niece of Vivian’s long-lost BCC friend Matt. They got some quality time making butt jokes before we headed home.

Back at the house, Hannah and mommy decorated some egg-shaped cookies for Easter Dinner. Then once Aaron’s nap was done, the whole family got to decorate some eggs together. Vivian got some “pretend” eggs with messy bags of dye, and I boiled up some regular-style eggs to go with the PAAS brand dye.

The next day, Hannah and Aaron got to wear their Easter Outfits as we all went to Twin Valley Church for a special Resurrection Sunday Breakfast put on by the Elders. They went all out with bacon, eggs, pancakes, fruit, and everything else you would want for breakfast. Since everyone was in their Sunday Best, I decided to hang around and snapped a photo of Pastor Ryan and his family after the service before doing the same with our own family back at the house.

The afternoon Easter Festivities commented with our own egg hunt in the front yard. There were plenty of eggs that the “Easter Bunny” had hidden the night before (along with the remains of a few carrots), and somehow Hannah decided only to pick the sparkly, pretty eggs that were hidden while Aaron gathered up pretty much everything else.

The kids got some special Easter baskets inside to keep them distracted while the rest of us got Easter Dinner underway. Vivian had made some delicious smoked salmon spread the night before, while I got out my traditional deviled eggs (which Hannah served everyone). Jack glazed a ham while Hannah and Grammy picked some of our blooming lilac and dandelions to make a lovely centerpiece on the table. My parents (and Uncle Jonny) came by later once Easter Dinner was ready, and Hannah got to pass out the cookies she’d decorated to everyone before we ate. Even Uncle Nathan stopped by later once we brought out the Truffle Pie.

It was a lovely Easter weekend, and then we got to have some perfect weather on Monday for some quality time in the park with the kids. They got some extra time on the swings, and we had a nice little picnic lunch under some trees in full blossom.

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.