Easter Weekend Recap

We did things a little different this year for Easter.
I'm still not sure how I feel about it to be honest.
We attended our Easter church service on Friday night instead of Sunday.
It was an incredible service, and I like the idea of attending church on Good Friday, but I don't think I like not attending service on Easter.
We were still at church on Sunday, but Brian and I were both serving in different areas instead of sitting in the church service together.

Also, this is the first time we haven't spent Easter day with our extended family.
Sometimes it's one set of parents, sometimes it's both sets of parents, but we've never spent it without any of them (I know, we're spoiled).
I thought that by making brunch reservations at our favorite restaurant, it would make up for not having an Easter meal with our extended family.
But I think I was wrong.
It just didn't feel like Easter.
Yes, we had an egg hunt for the kids. Yes, we physically went to our church and spent time with all of friends at church, but the day just seemed off.

Brian took the boys golfing in the afternoon and I thought I would enjoy some quiet time in the house. But again... it just felt wrong. I thought, "What am I doing sitting on the couch by myself on Easter afternoon? We should be with family... or at least together... not me at the house and Brian and the kids out golfing.

When they returned from golfing, the boys were overheated, overtired, and just plain cranky (as was their father). Everyone went in their own direction for about an hour.

In the end, we all reconvened and play board games, went for a long family walk around the neighborhood, and spent a nice evening together. But I learned a lot of lessons this weekend.

1. I always want to be surrounded by our family on holidays whenever possible. Even if that means driving a couple of hours in the car. I'm just a "gotta be with family on holidays" kinda gal.

2. Holidays are precious. Treat them that way. Don't waste away your time doing things that don't matter, or that you'll regret when you look back. I don't have one single picture of me with anyone from the entire weekend because I was too busy doing other things. I hate that.

3. Spend more time in prayer and reflection on holy holidays. Looking back at this Easter Sunday, I totally failed at this. But recognizing it and learning from it is a very valuable lesson to me.

So, I blog all of this to remind myself of what's important.
I want to be able to look back at this post and say, "That's right. I want to do things differently next time."
And so as not to end on a "down-er" note, let me share some of our truly wonderful, fun moments from the weekend...

Our Friday night church service was just awesome. They did this amazing song where it was mostly just guys banging on the bongo drums with drum sticks while people were painting the word "King" on large boards. There were black lights and our Worship Pastor and his wife sang an incredibly powerful song. It was so moving.

Saturday morning, my parents came to visit. We had such a fun time dying eggs with the kids, relaxing on the back porch and just enjoying each other's company. I am so very glad they made the trip over for the day.

Saturday evening we hung out with our dear neighbors. The kids swam (Parker is becoming quite the little fish!), while the adults sat in the hot tub and relaxed. As we were leaving they lit a bonfire so the kids could roast a quick marshmallow.

Sunday morning came very early at our house.
Parker was up at 5ish wanting to see if the Easter bunny had come. I convinced him to say in bed till 6, but that was it.
Our egg hunt happened in the dark. :)

It was so cute watching Parker run behind Payton looking for eggs. They were really sweet. Then they had to hunt for their Easter baskets. That rascally rabbit is good at hiding things!

A little while later, we headed off to church. The boys looked very handsome if I do say so myself!

And then, as mentioned, we went out for brunch after church. All of our meals were incredible, but I think I won "best order" by getting the cheddar shrimp & grits with chorizo, crumbled bacon and a maple glaze. Oh my. It was AH-mazing.

Overall, it was a lovely weekend, and I am so glad that we got to see my parents. But I wish we would have also driven over to see Brian's parents and spend some time with all of us together.

Life is a constant stream of learning, and this Easter, I learned a lot. About myself, about what I want holidays to look like for our family, and how I can make that happen in the future.
I may be almost 40, but I've still got a lot to learn.
So thankful for a wonderful family that loves us and a King of Kings that loved us enough to give us his only son. Amen to that! :)