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Easter was a big weekend around here – beautiful weather, wonderful activities, and blessed experiences with friends and family.

On Thursday night, my friend Julie Sivley invited us over to experience the Passover, or Seder, meal with her family.  She had a script that she used and we followed the traditions of the Jewish Passover.  It was such a fun learning experience and her 6 + my 3 kids really enjoyed it.  This was a meaningful way to start our Easter weekend.

She used a script based on this understanding:  Haggadah means “telling”. The Passover Haggadah is like a script for telling the story of the Jewish people and the Exodus. There are many different versions of the Haggadah, which is read during the Passover Dinner, or Seder.

 

Everyone's favorite part was the Dayenu which reads like this:

God did many wonderful things for us. God brought us out of Egypt, gave us the Shabbat, gave us the Torah and brought us into the Land of Israel. Any one of these would have been enough. Therefore we sing Dayenu which means “it would have been enough for us”.

If God would have …

Brought us out of Egypt and not divided the sea for us—Dayenu

Divided the sea and not permitted us to cross on dry land—Dayenu

Permitted us to cross on dry land and not sustained us for forty years in the desert—Dayenu

Sustained us for forty years in the desert and not fed us with manna—Dayenu

Fed us with manna and not given us the Sabbath—Dayenu

Given us the Sabbath and not brought us to Mount Sinai—Dayenu

Brought us to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah—Dayenu

Given us the Torah and not led us into the land of Israel—Dayenu

Led us into the land of Israel and not built for us the Temple—Dayenu

Built for us the Temple and not sent us prophets of truth—Dayenu

Sent us prophets of truth and not made us a holy people—Dayenu

For all these, alone and together, we say—Dayenu!

And then each of us (including the kids) said one of our blessings that would have been enough for us – Dayenu!

On Friday, me and my friend Amy Price took the kids to the Dallas Zoo.  We got a bit of a late start and the lines were looonnnggg, considering it was Good Friday.  But overall we had a great time and the kids loved it (despite only seeing half of the zoo).  I'm glad I got a membership because now we can go back often (and see the other half!).

On Saturday, Jacob and I woke up bright and early to go ride the Tour Dallas bike rally.  It started downtown and took us 30 miles through some of the prettiest parts of Dallas.  This was a big deal for us to do on our own, considering Derek is always with us to make sure our bikes work properly and will us along!  But he had other obligations and this was a good confidence boost to Jacob and I.  30 miles!  And we did it with a smile. 

While we were doing that, Derek and the other boys were attending the Annual Frisco 5th Ward 5K and Egg Hunt.  They also attended Caleb's baseball game – go Rangers!

Along with a grocery shopping and a b'day party for Caleb, we had about an hour that we spent at home that day, but Samuel had been asking and asking so I took a few moments to dye eggs with him.  And I'm glad I did – that's the stuff that kids remember.  And he loved it – just him and me, enjoying turning our white eggs into pretty pastel ones!

 

That afternoon we headed over to the Hall's for their annual Easter Egg Dive and Potluck.  So fun.  The weather was absolute perfection and the company was delightful.  Samuel especially enjoyed their new baby goats!  The Halls are such gracious hosts.  (Funny side note: I was in charge of baked beans, so I had a huge pan of them that I put in the back of the Suburban and told D to "drive slow".  He had to stop quickly at a stoplight and we had removed one of the back seats.  So the beans slid a few feet and toppled over into the middle bucket seats.  You can imagine that being one of the highlights of our married life. 🙂 :).  We ran home, cleaned it up and then headed to the party.)

That night the Easter bunny came and thankfully, kept up with some favored traditions – new shoes and an jelly bean trail down the stairs.  Samuel had the hardest time finding his hidden basket, but Caleb was a big help (kitchen cabinets, dryer and food storage closet were the hiding places).

On Sunday, we enjoyed Derek being home since he cancelled his early morning meetings.  So he helped us get ready for church.  Our services were lovely and helped us reflect on Christ's infinite love and grace.  And later we headed to Nana's with the whole fam for a lovely dinner.  I love Easter!