Easter 2012

We had an absolutely lovely Easter this year. On top of celebrating the amazing gift of Jesus' death and resurrection, we got to see lots of family, have lots of fun, and make/eat lots of delicious food!

Our Easter celebrations sort of started the day before Easter. We invited lots of family over to our house for dinner on Saturday, and we just had such fun! We had both sets of my grandparents, my parents and sisters, four aunts and uncles, and an assortment of cousins/significant others/kids. Including us, there were 21 people there - a new record for our little home! I just love filling the house up with people... it feels so warm and cozy!

Uncle Mark & Aunt Lori with my sister, Karoline

My aunts and uncles and cousins had never seen the house before, so we had fun giving everyone "the tour" and showing off our newly-updated front yard and backyard.

Karoline with my cousin's daughter

My cousin, Patrick, being silly!

For dessert, I made this lemon cake. It was really yummy, and I think it's the prettiest cake I've ever made. I was so proud to show it to Jeff after I finished it! I'll put the recipe on the blog soon.

My family is so sweet... they all brought us wine and flowers and stuff! We ended up with two Easter lilies, which I put by the kitchen window...

... and two bouquets of tulips (my favorite!), which went into a pretty vase on the coffee table:

Aren't they so sweet to bring us flowers? I really do have the best family.

The next day, we got up early and drove to Cypress to go to church at 9:00am with my family. After church, we went back to my parents' house, where we got our Easter baskets!

Jeff and I share an Easter basket. You know, since we're married and all.

Our Easter basket was full of fun things... like lots of candy and an owl kitchen timer:

My littlest sister and cousin dyed Easter eggs...

They also had a "scavenger egg hunt." They're a little old for a standard egg hunt, so this one had rhyming clues that they had to follow to find the eggs. Too fun!

This is actually the first year that my mom hasn't made Kristen, Jeff, and I participate in an egg hunt, so we were a little disappointed... haha!

Of course, we had to take some Easter family photos:

With my parents and sisters

With my parents, grandparents, and sisters

My sister, Kristen, and I helped my mom get lunch ready, which was such fun. It's always nice to work in the kitchen with my mom and sister! We recruited Karoline for a little bit too!

Of course, while we were making a big Easter lunch, the guys were sitting on the couch reading the paper:

Hehe. They all made faces at me after they saw the camera flash. 

Kristen made a cheesecake, and I helped her decorate it:

Jeff's parents usually do a big Easter lunch with some family friends of theirs, but this year the friends went out of town for Easter, so my parents invited Jeff's parents to come to our lunch. Jeff and I loved having everyone together! The past two Easters we divided the day between our families and drove back and forth a lot (morning church with my family, then a few hours with Jeff's family, then a late lunch with my family, then dinner with Jeff's family), so I can't even explain how nice it was to just see everyone all at the same place and time. SO NICE! We loved it.

Jeff's parents brought this super-impressive bunny cake (Jeff's brother's girlfriend made it). 

We all had a lovely Easter lunch with LOTS of delicious food!

We had a wonderful weekend, and we really enjoyed spending time with our families. It was a perfect way to celebrate the risen Christ!