The last six weeks have seen a lot of parties in Our Neck of the Woods. I hosted my book club and Little Miss Manners in March. In early April we threw a special birthday party for my mother and brother. Last weekend, we hosted a big youth devo for the kids from church. I'll post about that soon. And this Saturday is Brack's birthday party! But what I want to share with you today is our Easter party.
Since moving to the country eight years ago, we have hosted an annual family Easter egg hunt. And when I say family, I mean extended family! "Family" can mean those with Hilyer or Jones as a last name, but you will also find a handful of Donahoos (my SIL, Allison) or Gays (my SIL, Clancy). Regardless of surname, holidays mean family, and this past Easter was no different.
Clancy with her parents, Mama Judy and Papa Don.
Clancy's "little" brother, John, and his wife, Holly.
Usually we have the party in the early afternoon and everyone brings dessert. Yes, everyone. It is a literal smorgasbord of delicacies and we all eat way too much. But this year, we started a little later in the day, so everyone brought finger foods for an early supper and I made a lemon pound cake which you can read about here.
My SIL's and I had a discussion as to whether the kids had outgrown hunting eggs. One child (who will remain nameless for their own protection) said they had, but after floating it by the whole group, we were quickly told that they were NOT too old, so each child brought two dozen candy-filled eggs for the dads to hide.
(Side note: I'd love to be able to show you some pictures of beautifully and creatively decorated eggs at this point. However, I have none. I will honestly tell you that I have never decorated Easter eggs with my kids! I have always been so busy cooking and preparing for the party that we just settle for the plastic ones. After all, it's all about the candy, right? My belief is that they probably will be too old next year to hunt for eggs, so we will spend some special time decorating eggs. There. I have written it down. I have to do it now. Hold me to it!)
While the kids were riding the go-cart in the front pasture, the daddies hid eggs out back. Clancy's "little" brother, John, is about 6'5" and he stood on tip-toe to place them on braches and limbs. My brother, Jon, placed them under the dogs lying in the yard, who promptly rolled over, cracked the eggs carefully and somehow managed to wrestle the candy out of the wrapper, thus leaving cracked eggs and candy wrappers for yours truly to pick up. I even saw one of the men just chuck an egg out in the field. I found it. The next weekend when I was cutting grass. Or should I say my blade found it. Anyway, I digress. The eggs were hidden, and subsequently found.
One of the guilty puppies parties.
After lots of food and play, we all settled in around the fire pit for a special devotional about the resurrection presented by Gerald. The kids listened attentively and answered his questions as well. I am so very proud of all of them and their ever-expanding Bible knowledge.
Gerald leading our devotional.
The kids listening to Gerald (and scratching the dog's tummy!).
Taking a cue from her big sister, Woocy, Smudge joins the group and gets a little lovin' from Chloe.
Me and my honey.
My youngest brother, David, and his wife, Allison. (She had a day pass.)
My middle brother, Jon, obviously telling a story. And by story, I mean a story!
My sweet parents, Mimi and PaPaw.
We had a wonderful afternoon. The weather was perfect, and everyone enjoyed sitting outside to visit. We are so extremely blessed to have such a large and close-knit family. My kids love their cousins dearly and look forward to spending time together. Having my SIL's families join us is just gravy. Family is the most important thing, and we are blessed to have ours!
**************************
I'm so glad you stopped by my neck of the woods!
Please take a moment to sign up to receive new posts by email.
I wouldn't want you to miss one crazy thing...
No comments:
Post a Comment