"Searching for Jesus"

I keep meaning to post this, and just not having time. It's almost been 40 days! 40 days of Easter, that is. Throughout the Easter season, I have hidden a little foam figure that signifies Jesus, and everyone has looked for him. When they find him, we read about one of Jesus' appearances after his resurrection from the list I had posted. This year Jaan and Raia have really gotten into the the searching. A few times I've had to stop them, calm them down, and specifically tell them to think about how Jesus' friends felt in those days right after the resurrection. It's worked! We've had some good talks about how exciting and surprising and even frustrating it all is, and they really have been thinking. We've had a lot of fun with it, too.

It's still Easter!

Easter Day

Easter is my favorite holiday! Here's some of what it looked like for us this year:

The empty tomb

"He is Risen!"

Easter breakfast

Happy baby

I kept trying to get him to repeat his first grin, but this was as close as I could catch on film.

Poems and songs at church

Family photo after church

We went home for naps, then came back for a picnic:

Bogdan and Katya

Roasting hot dogs

Raia and Alisa

Around the table

Yum!

I told her to show me what she had (kulich/paska). She thought I meant candy.

Jaan and Slavik

Raia and Asya break Sasha and Alisa's backs

Christ is Risen!

ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕС!

I greeted Bogdan with that when he woke up, and he answered with the biggest smile I've seen from him so far. I wish you all as much joy in celebrating the Resurrection as I saw in that moment!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Good Friday

Last night we blew out the last candle, placed a figure of Jesus in a tomb, and got ready for bed in the dark. Now we wait....

(Our Easter garden looks a little sparse this year. Maybe it will grow more beautiful throughout the Easter season.)

Favorite photo from last night

Preparing for Easter

This year we're doing the one-week version of Lenten Lights, so we started tonight. We lit the candles, read, sang and even painted palm branches for tomorrow. I've missed having a longer season of reflection this year, but we were busy with something (someone!) else at the beginning of Lent. Hopefully we'll really be able to savor this week and then the whole Easter season after it.