Getting photos of girls in clean Easter dresses is nearly impossible. To get the sisters to stand together and smile is as common as a green flash at sunset. I dutifully brought my camera with me to church. Both batteries were drained. Tonight when I asked Wayne where my battery charger was, it was in the bag from our travels at Xmas. The following are my attempts to catch Laura at home in her dress.
I worked our family hard to get ready for this day. Wayne worked for 6 hrs (by his own request) hauling molded wet carpet and assundries to the dump, cleaning up the rat feces and oil soaked floor of the shed (because rats ate through to motor oil plastic!), and working outside after winter. I cleaned the kitchen and then dirtied it again to make fun mint chocolate bars for Easter desert. So Sunday was our day to “relax”. Relaxing is a relative thing when you gather with others.
We started this blessed day at 5:30am. Wayne nudged me to take the first shower. We awoke tired girls and wrestled them into Easter finery. The outside was dark and pouring rain after the gentle spring sunshine of Saturday. The girls did look nice. We discovered Sara didn’t have tights, but her yellow pants looked good. We pulled out some hand-me-down shoes that ended up not fitting that well. At one point, she lost her shoe and stepped in at wet puddle. I had to carry her to the car. Luckily, I thought to bring her rainboots in case such a thing happen. Beyond these minor wardrobe issues, the girls looked lovely as you can see. Laura just glowed and looked very cute in her puffy Easter dress. It’s the same one Sara wore on the Easter we visited with Jon and Claire after seeing Madagascar and Sara dancing to Move It, Move It (catchy song from Madagascar). Sara liked twirling in her yellow, summer dress. The one advantage of going to the 7:15am service (we signed up to serve 3 months ago) is that we had no problems finding a seat. I think the rain kept a lot of the Easter crowds away. The disadvantage of this service is that there was no childcare/class for Sara. So we had the dilemma we had to both participate in the service and would not be able to sit with her.
Sara got complimented on how good she was during service. She looked up and noticed the huge cross. I got to sing the traditional Alleluia chorus with the choir. Dan, our pastor, talked about how Easter is perceived in society. Evidently, Seattle Public libraries have signs saying, “Due to historically low turnout, the library is closed (Easter).” It’s exceedingly ironic that the Easter is in parentheses. It’s like society doesn’t want to mention this holiday. I remember at 16 yo discovering the meaning of Easter. I had become a Christian the fall before. I had just recently been baptized at a youth retreat. Easter had meant the beginning of spring, bunnies, fun family time, and candy. I hadn’t equated Jesus dying and rising from the dead with the holiday. When I put the two together the few weeks before that Easter, the meaning sang in my heart. It was a bit of a “duh” moment in a way. But since I actually had a personal relationship with Jesus, it meant so much to me. That’s why Easter is my favorite holiday. It comes with so many surprises and blessings not defined by society. Why should I be joyous on a dark, dank Seattle morning at 7am while herding girls in Easter finery to a church. But I was. I got to say the words I love, “He has risen.” He has risen, INDEED!
We did some quick weekly shopping at Freddies. It’s so much easier to shop with both of us. Laura now says “hi” very clearly and adds a friendly wave. At the checkout line, she peaked from behind her father and looked the cashier straight in the eye and did her hi routine to charm her prey 
At home, we ate some quick lunch. Wayne started preparing the ham. He used apple juice and spices this time. It turned out delicious. He kept running into problems…where’s the broiler? On top of the frig. Where’s the apple juice? I have to make a whole pitcher for 2 tablespoons?!! I tried to help clean the kitchen (still a disaster from my brownie making adventures the night before) and wrangle the girls toward nap time. Finally, we all Sabbathed and took a nap.
When we awoke, the dreary showers were switching to sun showers. Sara called them “rain showers” meaning to say sun showers and thought it looked like snow. I put together their Easter baskets. Laura commenced in eating her new crayons! She got salivated blue crayon on her dress. Sara drooled over the peeps. Marshmellow things are hit with my girls. Interestingly, Wayne likes peeps as much as I like candy corn. We changed in and out of Easter dresses several times to attempt to get the photos discussed in the introduction. I put together over 30 plastic Easter eggs together with change, $5, and stickers for treats. We never did have a definitive Easter hunt. Jon and Claire arrived with Roo and G and we commenced into hosting/eating activities. We would wander downstairs at different times and the girls would join me. They’d grab a few Easter eggs to bring upstairs and play with. Laura, especially, loved carrying her little basket over her arm with the eggs inside.
Easter dinner was delectable and fun. We carved the ham, had cheese and potatoe casserole, steamed organic veggies, and rosemary bread. Claire was responsible for all the sides and we did the meat and desert. The twins attempted napping for a bit. Laura ate like a champ. Sara found her own way, enjoying the bread and negotiating TWO deserts, a peep and a brownie. We had tea and mint brownies.
The sun was shining by now. We started to mobilize for a walk. We walked for over 45 minutes and went through the park twice. What a wonderful ending of a day. Sara completed the Easter egg hunt without competition from her sister who was sleeping. She got some good swag and more money to buy stuffed animals. We put all her stickers on my bookmark collection to decorate them.
Blessings beyond societies expectations!
