Easter

What a pretty morning, after Mass on the deck.

I loved this day.  I love the people I got to spend my day with.  I love the reason I got to live this day. 

These three smiles are living love. They strengthen my soul and bring depth to my life. There is such joy radiating from these faces, and seeing them reminds me what a gift God has given to me.



My three favorite smiles...

After early Mass, we took some pictures out on the deck before eating brunch.  What a gorgeous morning!  It simply couldn't have been more beautiful.  

  

Busy LEGOing already!

 It didn't take long for the Second Little Nguyen to throw off his church clothes and try on his new Tom & Jerry t-shirt!  He dug in and got down to business putting together a LEGO Easter basket kit and had a blast doing it. 

Intense focus!

Ta-Da!  A LEGO Easter basket.

Meanwhile, the First Little Nguyen got busy planting some basil seeds.  His recent fascination with Pizza Margherita (tomato, basil and mozzarella) has left him wanting to grow his own basil and grow our own tomatoes this summer.  Hopefully, he won't want to make his own mozzarella cheese, too!  We'll plant the tomatoes in a few weeks and let the warm North Carolina sun work its magic.

A little indoor gardening.



Sewing some basil seeds...

 

Planted, watered, and ready to grow!

After brunch (no pictures of the Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon and spinach!  Yuuummmmy!), Chi got to work on installing the new kitchen cabinet he made.  I love that he was able to echo the design of the built-ins he made for the living room. We primed and painted the cabinet yesterday, and it was dry enough to secure to the wall today.  There are no doors on the top and bottom yet, but there will be soon.  I am already making a list of the things I am going to be able to store in it!  Ice cream maker, blender, food processor, Christmas dishes, roasting pan, baking pans, trifle bowl....



The best lookin' handyman a girl can find!

My new kitchen cabinet, in progress.

It was just such a relaxed day that we didn't even get around to hunting for eggs until later on in the afternoon.  Hunting for eggs used to take quite awhile when the Little Nguyens were younger, but now they are off like a shot and the whole hunt is over as quickly as it began.  It took me forever to hide all of the eggs!  Whew!  Still, they were finished in what seemed like minutes, but they had fun nonetheless!  I remember when their Easter baskets were almost as big as they were, and they were working hard to tote them around all over the yard.  Sigh.

 

And.....he's off!



Hunting for eggs.

  

A little healthy competition...

   

A satisfied grin....

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Ps. 118:24)

On this beautiful Easter day, this Psalm reminds us that today was planned. This day was meant to happen. His sentence and suffering and death and resurrection was not without purpose. This day reminds us to live in appreciation of the Life that was sacrificed for us, the blood that was shed for us, the body that was given for us.  It reminds us to give thanks for His unending mercy and forgiveness, to love with our whole hearts and to live deliberately. The Lord made this day possible for us, and we relive the story of His death and resurrection so that we may not forget the immense love that led Him to make the greatest sacrifice man has ever known.  I never want to take that for granted, and I am so thankful for the promise that this day brings.