Family Easter Gatherings ....

It's been a busy, but blessed Holy Week and Easter weekend!  Time to relax with family following it all was great too!  Jorden and Kaine were home for the weekend and Jorden looked beautiful in her Easter dress about to head out to Church ...



 

After Church we headed over to my sister's and brother-in-law's home .. Chellie and Bill had a smaller than usual crowd there as some had other family dinners to attend too... but it was still a fun time, good food and Easter egg hunt with everyone.

The "kids" getting ready to find the
candy in the back yard



"Share with me Daddy!"



Jeff looks happy!

Someone get my nieces an
Easter basket! *lol*

Kasey & Kaine

Kasey & Kaine



Daddy Kaine and Jorden



Grandkids, Jeff, Jake, Jorden, Josh



Then we headed over to the other side of the family ... Mary and Pat hosted us for dinner and the egg hunt for the kids.  Fun times there too!



Dart gun fun!



The dart guns were a big hit!




Jorden and Madison





Lots of eggs gathered!



A fun time... but, man oh man, am I ready for SLEEP!

Happy Easter Everyone!







Happy Easter! Alleluia! He is Risen!



The Recessional

End of Service.



Photos from the Easter Service this morning .... Thanks to Kasey K Photo!



40 Years Ago We Were at Church For Another Reason .. and it wasn't Easter

Happy Anniversary to us!  Forty years ago we were married ... it was a cooler day, it had just snowed several inches the day before, but it had pretty much melted by Sat., April 8, 1972. 

Can't believe how much time has gone by and so fast!

We were "kids", at the young age of 20 and 18 1/2 years old.... (yes, I was a child bride!..LOL)

This photo was coming out of the Church, as they were throwing rice at us...my Mom is to the left, with Dad's hands clapping, and two of my sisters in front of us.

Ahhhhh memories!  Happy Anniversary John! xoxxo

This is the night.... The Great Vigil of Easter



"This is the night..", words from the Exsultet, that is sung at the beginning of the Vigil (after the lighting of the "new fire").

"This is the night, when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt, and led them through the Red Sea on dry land.

This is the night, when all who believe in Christ are delivered from the gloom of sin, and are restored to grace and holiness of life.

This is the night, when Christ broke the bonds of death and hell, and rose victorious from the grave.

How wonderful and beyond our knowing, O God, is your mercy and loving-kindness to us, that to redeem a slave, you gave a Son.

How holy is this night, when wickedness is put to flight, and sin is washed away. It restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to those who mourn. It casts out pride and hatred, and brings peace and concord.

How blessed is this night, when earth and heaven are joined and man is reconciled to God."





Lighting the Paschal Candle from
the "new fire". 
Fr. Bill, Deacon Bill (my BIL),
Acolytes Jerry (my Dad) and Jo

 It was a blessed service tonight! 
Thank you Lord!

Alleluia!  Christ is Risen! 

The Lord is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

Good Friday at Christ Episcopal

Pastor Stan Curtis and
Father Bill Myrick

We shared both the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services with our friends from the Delavan United Methodist Church. 

Pastor Stan and Fr. Bill in the Chapel Altar of Repose before the start of the Good Friday Service.



The empty tabernacle
before the Good Friday Service




The stripped altar



Take Up Your Cross
and Follow Me



Clint and Fr. Bill carry the
cross into Church.

Veneration of the Cross





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Following the Good Friday Service, we took down the Altar of Repose in the Chapel and moved the flowers to the Church Altar, setting up and decorating for the Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday Services.

Check out the photo album at the Christ Episcopal Church website for those photos and more of Holy Week and Easter.

Good Friday .....



Crucify Him! Crucify Him!



Agnus Dei ... Lamb of God

Remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for us .....  via art....



Clean Sweep Jesus







Heart Exchange

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Check out this Youtube video of Taize music: Jesus Remember Me When You Come Into Your Kingdom.
(Turn off my playlist songs before playing this music video).

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One of the things I love to do, and we used to do with Youth Group kids, is look at what we consider "secular" songs, and ask yourself.... "Where is God in this song, or in the lyrics?"

I have found, that if I add God into the songs I love to listen to that aren't necessarily hymns or Christian songs, that it can still give a powerful message, sometimes in a more contemporary way that may mean more to people if they also did that .....  Here is a song, that just often reminds me of the hymn above (Jesus Remember Me...) ......this song is by Tim McGraw, titled...."Please Remember me."

Try putting God into this song ... if you take the song as if it was one of the criminals who were crucified next to Jesus, and they are the ones singing, as if to Jesus, One who loves them (as well as us), more than life... and knowing that we know Jesus is going on to "better love"...to be reunited with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, as well as uniting all of humanity back to God ....well, it just fits, at least to me. *S*  (skip the ad if there is one on this video ... and turn off my playlist music to listen to it too.)

Maundy Thursday - All Night Prayer Vigil, Altar of Repose

Tonight I signed up for the prayer vigil from midnight until 2 a.m. The Chapel looks beautiful decorated as a garden, with the Easter Flowers for the Altar of Repose. Here's a short video of the prayer space... turn off my playlist music to hear the praise music playing for the Vigil.

Here is also another photo from "The Lenten Experience Art Show - In the Eyes of a Child" which is on display just before entering the Chapel Altar of Repose area.

Lenten Experience Art Show - Through the Eyes of a Child

Our Sunday School kids have been making artistic expressions of their faith, and things they've learned over the last weeks of Lent. Tonite was the start of their Art Show following the Maundy Thursday Service.

I've been busy the last couple of days finalizing the set-up and putting their art together for people to come and see and experience. GREAT JOB KIDS!!

The photo slide show on the TV are pictures of the kids as they created their art over the last months.

The Art Show will continue through Easter Sunday, when the kids will be able to take home their art... come and check it out before then!

The Altar of Repose....

This morning and afternoon we set up our Altar of Repose for the All Night Prayer Vigil that will be happening after the Maundy Thursday Service tomorrow night.  We use the Easter Flowers that were donated in memory of and thanksgivings for loved ones... (then after the Good Friday Service, we transfer them all to the Church Altar for Easter Services).

Altar of Repose before the
blessed sacrament is added.

Altar of Repose in the Chapel

Here are some photos of the Chapel set up and ready ... it's so beautiful... looks like a garden.. it's also one of my favorite times during Holy Week - The Prayer Vigil... tomorrow night when it is lit by candles and has soft meditative hymns playing, it's truly a sacred space to be in and know that "GOD IS", and realize God's love for us all.



Altar of Repose

Congrats to BIL, Mel - Re-Elected Mayor!

Yay!! Mayor Mel was re-elected yesterday as Mayor of the City of Delavan, vote totals were 976 to 807. The last 10 years having Mel as Mayor have been a blessing to the residents of our city! Here's to our future years too!

Congrats brother-in-law Mel, happy and proud for you!

Spring is in the air.... and in the backyard....

My first bouquet of Spring "flowers" picked from the backyard this afternoon.... the bright yellow of the dandelions looks great to me, until they go to seed and spread, that is.. *lol*



....and here is my second bouquet ... I LOVE violets!!


... a great day all around...weatherwise and productive too! Thankful for that!

April Fools is Past... and Who's the Biggest Fool at Last??... Dad?? *lol*

So, this was a prank I pulled on our Sunday School class... but, my Mom had come to help yesterday morning with Sunday School, and I had a few extra bags of "cheetos", so I gave one to her to give to my Dad.

This morning at 6 a.m. (my Dad who is an early riser, usually up before 4 a.m., so I knew he must have been chomping at the bit to call me SOOO late at 6 a.m). ... he calls and he says, "What a mean trick to play on your father!" ..*lol*

Seems he loved Cheetos more than I knew, and after doing some chores around the house, he sat down to have a beer and some of those cheetos ...*heh* ... he informed me that carrots and beer just do NOT go together! Who knew?? ha!

Dear Dad, April Fool's is past, and who's the biggest fool at last?? *g* xoxoxo ...love it when I can "get" my Dad!!


But.... I was warned... Dad's out to "get" me back .. "BEWARE", he said! *L*

More Resurrection/Empty Tomb/Easter Garden updates...

Besides doing our Hosanna paintings this morning, we also added to our Easter Gardens, which on day 7, have sprouted so much we also needed to "mow" them..*lol*

The kids, who couldn't be here last week, added their small pebbles, and picked out a large stone to be rolled away from the "tomb". They added their 3 crosses, empty burial cloth, and some little white flowers and a butterfly. The other kids also added the flowers and butterflies too. Then I trimmed them, and spritzed them with water, and they are looking GREAT!




Even those slow growing gardens I had to move to another window are starting to sprout well now too! Soon they'll catch up to the others!





I have a feeling I'll need to "mow" them all again before the Art Show later this week..*L*

Hosanna! Celebrating Palm Sunday...

HOSANNA!! Check out how our Sunday School kids made these awesome paintings today!

This idea was one I found at Catholic Icing, a great site for fun Christian crafts!




Being Palm Sunday, we had the traditional blessing of the palms, and procession into church singing our Hosanna's, and Sanna's, etc. The Sunday School class made pictures/paintings based on our sharing the story of Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem, on a donkey, as people waved palm fronts, laid cloaks in front of him as he rode, and shouted "Hosanna"!

Our paintings started with the kids getting the bottom of one their feet painted gray..*lol* ... and then imprinting their foot onto cardstock paper.

This is my sister, helping with today's class, thanks to her and my mom for helping today!



After painting their foot, they also had to be washed off, so we tied that into the story of when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, sharing a bit of the Maundy Thursday/Last Supper experiences with them too.

After getting all the imprints, we dried them with a hairdryer so we could go on to the next step... which was painting in details, ears, eyes, muzzle, tufts of hair, and of course, painting the palms of the kids hands green so they could symbolize palm fronts being waved as the donkey, carrying Jesus, came into view...





It was a hectic, fun morning of paint drying detail, kids running to the bathroom sinks to wash up (often!), and back to more painting ....



The kids did a GREAT job, here are some of them showing off their paintings! They made one to take home, and another to keep at Church for their upcoming Art Show later this week.