Easter Weekend

There were times after we first got married when Easter felt like the forgotten holiday. What would we do to celebrate it without kids or family in town? Unlike Christmas, with all the extra shopping and songs and parties, Easter could become just a fuller church service and ham for lunch.

Gradually, we've been working to change that, as God has shown us opportunities to make it a special weekend and a meaningful celebration. Two years ago, I started attending Holy Week services at a local Episcopal church to get my mindset on Christ. This year, I feel like we finally hit our stride, beginning traditions for our family that I hope will build and stick with time:
- Inviting family for the weekend
- Finding special outfits to wear to church on Sunday
- Attending the Tenebrae service at our church Friday night (probably my favorite service of the year - it's really beautiful and perfectly sets the stage for the celebration on Sunday)
- Eating lamb for dinner Friday night
- Decorating hard-boiled (or this year, soft-boiled) eggs on Saturday
- Exchanging Easter baskets Sunday morning before church
- Hosting friends or family for lunch (ham) on Sunday

Next year, Josh is planning to take Good Friday off to make it a long weekend, and I'm thinking about giving something up for lent to help me remember (and anticipate) the coming celebration. We'll see if that all pans out. Regardless, it was exciting to feel like we're establishing traditions that we can repeat each year until they become part of the tapestry of our family. My own parents did this for Thanksgiving (and for most holidays, actually) and I believe it made those times more memorable - even bonded us as a family.

This year, we made one other momentous visit Easter weekend: We had studio pictures taken! I've been meaning to do this with Noah since he was born, but work/chores/weather/illness/etc always got in the way. So, Josh, Noah and I finally made it to Portrait Innovations on Saturday. We had to wait an hour after our appointment time to actually get in the studio, but it was worth it. We love the pictures (especially of Noah - we're so goofy about that guy), and I'm thankful we've finally recorded him as a baby in clear, well-lit, high-resolution color.