I had a great Easter this year. The drawback was not going home to be with my family - we were singing in the choir at church and felt that we should be there. But we still had a great time with friends who joined us for church and then came over for lunch.
We didn't make it to the Sunrise Service and Easter Breakfast at church this year. Instead, we slept in a bit, and got ready. The 10:00 service was great, though. The choir sang four songs and our soloists were amazing, and our pastor delivered an impassioned message about the different responses of Mary, Peter, and John when they saw the empty tomb, asking us to consider our own response. I want to be like John, who saw the empty tomb and believed immediately that Christ was Lord and risen. Peter was fearful and skeptical, and Mary Magdalene, who desparately wanted Jesus to be alive, was so distraught that at first she couldn't recognize Christ. Like John, of course, I have believed and trusted in Christ for salvation, but I am often like Mary, fearful and unable to see Christ at work or recognize the fulfilment of His promises.
Lunch was great - I am afraid the ham got a little dry, but it had a tasty pineapple-brown sugar glaze, and we had roasted veggies (asparagus, carrots, and onions), deviled eggs, macaroni and cheese, and cheesy bread (my friend brought the last two). For dessert, I made carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, all from scratch. I am always amazed (though I shouldn't be) how much better things made from scratch taste than things out of the can). I ate an embarassing number of cupcakes myself. We dyed Easter Eggs, and then I nursed a migraine (the only other drawback of the day) from the couch, watching Mary Poppins and all but the very end of The Sound of Music. I hadn't seen Mary Poppins in years, although I watched it constantly as a kid, and I had forgotten how good it was. I had never seen The Sound of Music, and I loved it, although I am still going to have to watch it again, so I can see how they escape the Nazis.
All in all, it was a good day.
My sister's baby shower finally took place, after several months of planning. This was the first time I hosted an event like this myself, although, of course and as always, it was definitely a group effort. I made cupcakes, complete with molded-cany baby booties that involved painstakingly painting on blue details with frosting. The cupcakes were from a mix and the icing was store-bought. My sister has a sever dairy allergy, and, ironically enough, it is easier to find processed food items that contain no dairy than it is to make things from scratch sometimes. I also fixed the vegetable tray and a tray with pickles (of course, the pregnant girl's request), crackers, cheese, and hummus (this was my family's first introduction to hummus, and I don't think they were impressed). My mom (with my sister and myself acting as sous chefs) made chicken salad in filo cups, a spinach dip in Hawaiian bread bowl (yum), a cheese ball, cocktail sausages, and a cranberry punch. My aunt made bead salad (yum) and fruit salsa with cream cheese dip and cinammon-sugar tortilla chips (super yum).
Altogether, there was plenty of food (although, I'll remember to buy more cheese next time) and every one seemed to enjoy it. I was especially pleased with the decorations. I found kits by Martha Stewart at T.J. Maxx for $5 each to make the tissue paper bouquet and the yellow pom-poms (the kit had eight, but I only did two). I had also found a banner that spelled out "Congratulations" and one that said "It's a boy!" I even used a bit from the bouquet kit to make Rox a corsage.
Everything went smoothly and we all had a great time oohing and ahhing over the bitty baby clothes. We really can't wait for Lucas to get here. And there is, of course, no chance that he will be spoiled rotten ;)
