Easter

We had a wonderful Easter this year.  On Easter and Christmas we are able to celebrate the perfect gifts we have received from our perfect and loving Savior.

My family and my brother's family went to my parent's house for an Easter egg hunt and an Easter celebration. Here are two pictures from that day. The first picture is of the girls (my daughter Jasmine- the oldest, & my brother's daughters- Trinity (oldest sister) and Shauna) opening Resurrection Eggs. The second pic is of them in their Easter hats that they made. They love doing crafts. :o)

Jasmine has been using the same Easter basket all of her life. Here is her basket full of this year's goodies:

Though we didn't color eggs at home this year, Jasmine did color eggs at my mom and dad's house:

Here are Jasmine, Shauna, Trinity, Ava and Brandy following the annual Easter egg hunt at Grandma Jenny's house. (My mom's mother.)

Billy and I, and my mom and dad got a very nice surprise this year. Jasmine made us Easter baskets! I don't have a picture of my mom opening hers, but here is a pic of me and Billy, and my dad- with our goodies from Jazz! :o)

So, as you can see, we did indeed have a blessed Easter! :o) Hope you did as well!

Our Leprechaun adventure & The real meaning of Saint Patrick's day

The night before Saint Patrick's day Jasmine created a Leprechaun trap. This is a tradition Nana started with Jasmine years ago. Last year there was no leprechaun trap, which Jasmine was sad about, so she made a trap this year. It is basically a piece of tupperware held up by a stick(marker). It has a sign on it that says Leprechaun, Keep Out. This would be hard for any respectable leprechaun to do however, since it was baited with small gold coins (holes punched from yellow paper with hole punchers), blueish green 'glitter' (dyed salt), and small erasers. There was also a small pencil with a loop attached, which is supposed to catch on the leprechaun's leg if he steps into the loop. Here is a pic of the trap. It's not too clear, but you get the picture.

Here is the situation we observed the next morning. The leprechaun had left $5 in the trap, then apparently tripped on the loop, falling and dropping all of his booty. He also left footprints:

On a more serious note, Saint Patrick's day is a very nice day to reflect on not only history, but how to share the love of our Lord and Savior. Here are two articles that may help:
 

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  St. Patrick's day history, outreach ideas, and encouragement

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  Saint Patrick's day children's resources

  God bless! :o)