Tail End of March 2024 (+ Easter!)

 

I thought I had finished the March posts, but I forgot about the last two days of March, which included Easter! (I'll put the April shower post in the right order later, because I'm compulsive like that.)

Here's Mallory in her green sweater from Kalae. I have memories of Mallory being THE most beautiful baby, but as I continue posting pictures, I find myself laughing more often than not at how funny she looked. 

The kiddos dyed eggs the day before Easter, and this is all I've got. I barely remember this, but it was definitely crammed in. 

Mallory's head looks like an egg in need of dye. 

Middle of the night sometime-- chocolate surprise eggs completed!!!

Easter Sunday morning is one of my favorite mornings of the year.  The increase in morning light coincides with the great hope of our risen Lord; the ordinary underscores the extraordinary.  He is risen, indeed!

This was our last Easter with Mildred at home, and we knew it was her last, so we soaked it in. (We didn't know Annika's would be her last, so this one with Mildred seemed full of import.) It was a sunny day, warm enough for bare feet, but just about any sunny day in March without snow on the ground begs for bare feet. 

(John, Mallory, and I are on the left.  Annika and Tim are on the right. They spent their first two Easters with Tim's side of the family, but I made eggs for them, anyway. I don't know why.)

But look at that little Glory!

One clear detriment of Mildred getting married and moving far away from my camera is that I can no longer take pictures of her with strata on a fork. 😭

She is also devastated about this. Look at her weeping. 

After we got home from church, the younger set hunted Easter baskets, so here are the requisite pictures of hunting and finding. (I know these holiday posts are a bit of a slog. Don't worry, you're getting to the end!)

Isn't it handy that we had a broken oven in our backyard that spring?  And classy. So classy. 

I did a double-take when I saw this picture of Cadence wearing Mildred's old Easter dress. Millie, she looks like you!

Another high-class hiding place-- fire pit ashes. 

Zeke at 11 years old was one dapper little dude. 

We took a few sibling pictures before we ate. This makes my heart happy-hurt. 

Millie made a lovely strawberry-lemon cheesecake. 

Here's something wonderful for you!  Deborah, Rundy, and their children bought everyone in our family an Easter gift, and while we were inside, they hung the gifts on an apple tree in the backyard. It was pure magic and made its way into core childhood memories for all the children. They still say, "Remember that Easter when Aunt Debbie and the cousins filled the tree with presents?!" I highly recommend the entire experience, if you have an Aunt Debbie in your life. 

Then we ate!!! There must have been food somewhere, but I have no pictures. 

 

After the meal, the older girls found their baskets, whether they wanted to or not. (TRADITION!!!)

We also had our old pellet stove that had broken that winter available for basket-hiding! Large, ugly appliances in the yard are so very handy. (The following year, where on earth did we hide the baskets?!)

And this is what we all looked like at the day's end, minus the severely burned foot (Poor Larkie.)