Easter, Eggs and Naples (and I Don't Mean Italy!)

"The Lord Is Risen, just as He said!" Lizzy let me know that I had her memorize the WRONG verse for Cubbies. I guess I missed the memo that said we were doing the special Easter page in the back!

We had a wonderful week of celebration in honor of the Lord. Spending time with family and friends who share your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is such an encouragement!

Our family was invited 2 1/2 hours away to Naples, Florida, to celebrate Grace Bible Church of Naples first Resurrection sunday! Marc preached there over the course of the fall and winter until their new pastor arrived in February. On Easter Sunday they welcomed in their first group of members, had an enormous meal with all of us and thanked Marc and Matt for being their fill-in preachers. When they gave us a signed picture of all of them, I got goosebumps for the testimony of God's work around and through us.

We typically spend Easter with the Wragg crew and since we were going to be out of town, they rearranged our egg hunt tradition to Saturday before we trekked to Naples. This was Leah's first hunt and after the first few eggs she finally figured out that she should collect them and not just shake them! There were over 200 eggs for about 13 kids, so the pickings were plentiful! Our kids also received their baskets on Saturday since we didn't want to stuff them in the car for the trip. As you can see in the picture, Sarah got an extra special basket stuffer of the matching outfit to her American Girl doll. She already had the doll outfit and when the girl outfit went on sale, we splurged.

It was actually really nice to have them do their baskets on Saturday because then we had no distraction from Christ and church as we prepared for our time of worship. The kids thought they were on vacation since the church put us in two hotel rooms. I don't think they have stayed in a hotel room for over 2 years and they thought it was awesome! It was just a holiday inn, but we did realize that we need to be on the first floor next time for my husband to maintain his sanity. The kids kept running and he was concerned for the people below us.

Anyhow, I got a picture of the kids as we headed off to church, but Leah didn't want to stand still and get her picture taken(18 months with a 2 year old 'tude). Excuse her scream!