Easter 2014

Last Friday, my friend and neighbor had an Easter playdate at her house.  The kids made bunny faces, played, and then had an egg hunt.  

Isaac has worn the bunny face that he made non-stop!  It is currently in our car, since he wants to wear it to so many different places.  He even visited Grandma Joan while wearing it.  :)

Egg Hunt

Emma would find an egg, pry it open, and then unwrap the candy inside.  Consequently, she found about two eggs because all she cared about was opening eggs-not finding them!  

"Open, open, open!"  she'd say over and over.

Isaac, on the other hand, could care less about what was inside each egg--he only cared about finding as many eggs as possible.  The moms set the eggs out in very obvious places…after Isaac gathered about two dozen, he said, "You didn't do a very good job hiding these eggs!"  :) 

 Once his basket was nearly overflowing, he ran around to each child and gave them a handful of eggs from his own basket---unprompted!  It's such a delight to see those moments when your child shows generosity & kindness to others.  

hunting for more eggs

 Resurrection Cookies

My mother-in-law sent me a recipe for resurrection cookies.  Isaac and I had a chance to do this together last Friday night while Dave was at church serving at one of our Easter services.  

First, we read from the Bible how the soldiers beat Jesus.  

Isaac "hammered" the pecans.

Then, we added salt (showing the salty tears of Jesus' followers as He was led to the cross), vinegar (which Jesus was offered to drink while dying on the cross), egg whites (signifying new life which comes through Jesus' death), and sugar (because Jesus' death is sweet to us since it allows us to receive salvation).  Then, we put all the ingredients in the mixer until the batter became white (just as we become white as snow).  

We read how Jesus was laid in a rocky tomb, and our cookies looked like miniature rocky tombs because of the pecans poking through the batter.    When I started to take this picture, I told Isaac to say "cheese."  He said, "No, say 'Jesus is alive!' "  :)

Then, we put the cookies in the oven.  Isaac taped the oven door shut, just as the tomb was sealed shut.

The next morning, we opened the oven and bit into a cookie…it was empty inside!  

I love how you can see Isaac's smile in the background of this picture--he was SO excited that the cookies were hollow!

Easter Morning

 Isaac & Emma opened their Easter baskets early on Sunday morning.

new pajamas, which both of them wanted to put on right away

and "Isaac" and "Emma" plates and bowls

I have been looking forward to giving these plates and bowls to my kids for awhile.  They love them and have eaten every meal on them since Sunday!

Easter Sunday at Keystone Church

My friend posted this picture on Facebook of some of the toddlers in Emma's class going for a ride in the "Bye-Bye Buggy."   

A Rinn tradition--the lamb cake

cousins!  Isaac, Amanda, and Emma

Emma was much too busy eating lamb cake to smile.  :)

After Easter dinner, Isaac took a swim.  It was only 65 degrees out, but that didn't stop him from swimming.  :)

Emma and Uncle Mike

 We hope you had a wonderful Easter, too!  Jesus is alive!