Easter Weekend 2015

I can't believe Easter was 2 months ago and I'm just not writing about it.  We had a crazy month of April and then moved May 2nd, but still, I don't work during the day.  I should have found time to blog at night or while the kids rested.  Oh well, I'm writing now (while the kids are resting).  As usually we planned to spend Easter weekend in Hammond, at my Uncle Charles' house.  We were excited that this year our drive would be much shorter and we could actually stay for Easter service and a meal before heading back to Houston.  We left Thursday afternoon around 3 when B got home from work and drove through a drive-thru for dinner.  Just before we got to Baton Rouge, a deer jumped out and hit Cherry on the front passenger side.  UGH!

 We had to pull over and work on Cherry for a while, but with the help of 3-4 kind strangers, Cherry was drivable so we made our way to Hammond.  Friday morning C&H came over and we talked about our plan.  Since we had damage done to Cherry, I didn't know if it was safe to drive, but B & Chris agreed that it was fine, so we loaded up and drove to New Orleans with the Bryant's.  R and I rode with H and Lincoln and B & C and our 3 littles rode in Cherry.  The plan was to get beignets at Cafe Du Monde, but the line was ridiculously long, so we found another cafe du monde in a shopping mall and ate there.

We walked around New Orleans for a bit, before heading back to Hammond.  We were expecting mom and chuck, the Marshs, Hantlas and Gran/Papaw sometime Friday evening, so we wanted to get back.  Friday evening was fun as usual.  All of B's side of the family arrived so it was a little Hantla Family reunion for a while. 

They all stayed in a hotel together in Hammond somewhere and when my mom and chuck left, they took R with them for the night so she could have some special time with them.  After we put A, W, and E to bed, B and I played cards with Grandmalupe and Uncle Acho.  I had the best time playing cards and I'll be very sad when I can't play cards with Grandmalupe anymore.  It will be a very sad day when Grandmalupe isn't around anymore. Saturday started with a very light drizzle, but then cleared it and the weather couldn't have possibly been any better.  The sun was out, but it wasn't too hot.  The food was yummy as always, and I was able to see friends and family that I only get to see once a year.  My favorite holiday of the entire year is Easter only because of the crawfish boil.  To me, it's what holidays should be about.  Spending time with family and friends enjoying life that the Lord has given us.  Now, since the reason we celebrate Easter is because of Jesus death and Resurrection, I did feel convicted that there is never any mention it.  So I prepared an egg carton filled with little things that represented the Easter story. 

We gathered all the kids under the carport before the egg hunt and Bryce shared the story with them.  It started with a piece of a palm branch to represent Palm Sunday and ended with an open section to represent Jesus' resurrection.  I only heard the last little bit because I was hiding eggs, but everyone said B did a great job.  Ella wanted to know where I got that from because she wanted to do it in children's church, so I gave her my egg carton.  At least some of the kids and adults heard the REAL reason we celebrate Easter.  Next year B and I have talked about having another part of the weekend related to Jesus, but we haven't decided yet.  We don't want to offend anyone, but we feel strongly that we need to be vocal about why Easter is celebrated in the first place.  I'll be looking up ideas on pinterest. 

Saturday ended with a softball game like normal and for the first time, Lil' Charles was on the adult team.  It's been such a long time since I've played with him, so its nice to have him on our side!  Paul & Marcus played and all the kids played (I think) but it was a nice time like usual.  Saturday night my mom and Chuck took Rin and Ell back to the hotel with them and we roasted marshmallows with the boys before putting them to bed.  We played some cards Saturday but didn't stay up as late because church was at 7:30 am.  Yeah, mass started at 7:30 so we had to leave the house at 7:00.  It was early, but it was fine.  Mom and Chuck met us there and we followed Uncle Charles and Grandmalupe.  I'm glad that we made the effort and we will continue to make sure our kids go to an Easter service somewhere on Easter Sunday.  The kids were dressed up and I regret that we did not take a family picture, but I know we looked good.  After church when we got home, we helped clean up a little and then packed our bags.  Originally we were going to stay for the meal, but with the head light missing on our van, we did not want to drive in the dark so we got on the road a bit earlier than normal.  We ate at Taco Bell and then headed back to Houston with just the girls.  W and A went back to Mississippi for the week with my mom and Chuck.  I knew they would have a great time and they were so excited for the trip.  We got back to our house and had enough time for a quick bath before bedtime.  It was a lot quieter without the boys.  I didn't realize how much noise they generate, but it's quite a bit.

 Oh, how I love Easter!