“Mom…Dad…” whispered a little voice from Bethany’s side of the bed as we were asleep early this morning. The voice continued, “…it’s Easter!” And with that proclamation we were awake. The voice was that of Titus and he was pretty excited because he knew today meant a “party” at our friends house after church. We got out of bed and made our way to the living room. I looked out the window when, “what to my wondering eyes should appear,” but freshly fallen snow (minus the sleigh and reindeer). Yes…snow on Easter Sunday. Such was the start of a really fun and joy filled day.

Bethany had put together the kids Easter baskets last night and set them out for the kids to discover them this morning (shown in the photo above). Inside each were a few eggs with some candy and just a few small presents that Bethany had picked up, including new placemats for the table, shoes, socks, and some stickers. Other than the candy and stickers, I think the other things were mainly just those things you know you need so you turn it in to a present and everyone wins. The kids really loved opening everything and discovering what was inside the eggs (gummy bears and chocolate).

We made it to church this morning and were dressed for the occasion. Bethany had the kids all dressed up with Avery in a dress and Titus in a suit. I had actually ironed different clothes but when I saw Titus in his suit I decided to do the same and made a wardrobe change. At church there was a lot of special music, a lot of which was done by this women’s singing group. They were actually really talented and sang a bunch of different songs, including an old Stephen Curtis Chapman tune that had been translated in to Czech. Someone actually brought us a translation headset so we got to listen to the message in English, which was a great blessing because the message was really good and focused on Christ. There wasn’t any Sunday school for the kids, but we enjoyed having them with us. Here’s a photo of Avery and Bethany–Avery’s face is classic.

Church actually ended early to our surprise which was the Lord’s blessing because we needed to get back to get the food prep done for our lunch with friends this afternoon (which was at the Yorman’s house). Mostly, the party and lunch consisted of a bunch of Josiah Venture families getting together. Bethany made a green bean dish, deviled eggs, and fresh salsa! They were all delicious. Everyone brought different appetizers and parts of the meal so it was one big potluck. Here’s a couple photos of some of the meal. We ate like kings!

We enjoyed sweet fellowship this afternoon together with the other missionaries and even had time to talk about Jesus with all our kids, as well as enjoyed a time of singing worship songs. Casey and Kristin asked if I would be able to bring my guitar and sing some songs which turned out to be a really fun time. Our friend John actually brought a small hand drum and his accordion, so we had a small band. While we were singing it started to snow pretty good outside, so we ended up singing two Christmas songs. Why not celebrate Christ’s birth and resurrection in the same day?!

The women had planned to do a egg hunt for the kids, so everyone pitched in to put eggs together and hide them. This was probably the highlight for the kids so we I got a ton of photos of it. They are below and I’ve put captions beneath ones that need more explanation.

This is Titus deep in thought over where his eggs might be. All the eggs were divided up by kid and Titus’ were “sports” themed while Avery’s were all pink in color.

Some of these hiding spots were pretty tricky.

There’s a pink one under there for Avery!

And another one!

When it was all said and done every kid had ten eggs. There’s was a little confusion for a bit because everyone thought they had hidden eleven eggs, but we think it was just a miscount. Each egg had either a sticker or a little toy inside. In the photo above Avery is enjoying discovering each little toy and you can even see on the ground that she lined them up as she opened them. Great times! What a fun day celebrating the risen Lord, Jesus Christ (even though the snow made it feel we were celebrating His birth)! It stayed pretty cold all day, but we definitely felt the warmth of friends and fellowship all day.

Finally, here are a few shots I got of the kids in their Sunday best. He is risen!