Happy Easter!

Isaac seems to have had a good first Easter. I'll post pictures with details from our day below. In a way, it was a bittersweet holiday without Justin. I took comfort in the fact that we were celebrating the same Savior across the miles. All in all, it was a good day.

I tried to use the timer on our camera to get a shot of Isaac and I together. This is the best I could get, as he was getting sleepy and spent most of the time diving for his thumb, which was behind my back. He's wearing the outfit Uncle Stan & Aunt Brittney gave him before he was born. I'm wearing a dress for which my mom got an amazing bargain -- what a shopper!

Isaac was very sleepy, hence the previously-mentioned thumb sucking. He went to sleep watching "Storytime With Daddy," a series of stories Justin read with Isaac before he left, as I finished getting ready. He is covered with the blanket Grandmother (Justin's mom) made him.

After church, we went to Rick & Diana's house (some friends from Sunday School) for Easter Lunch with their family and other friends. Rick has just gotten back from Iraq in the last month. He's holding Isaac in the picture below. Isaac took to him instantly, pulling on his nose, biting his finger, and otherwise letting him know he was an o.k. guy.

Isaac had just been presented with his first Easter basket. The Easter Bunny left it this morning, but Isaac didn't get it until this evening. He was too sleepy this morning, by the time we were ready for church, to pay any attention to the basket. The Easter Bunny left Isaac two cans of the melt-in-your-mouth cereal bits, one can of sweet-potato-flavored bits and the other corn-and-cheese-flavored bits. The Easter Bunny also left three eggs with some objects inside to help tell Isaac about Jesus's Crucifixion and Resurrection. The first egg contained a piece of our rose bush (thorns to represent the crown of thorns), the second egg a rock (to represent the tomb cover), and the third was empty, to symbolize Jesus rose again and is alive still today. It's never too early to begin teaching such important concepts.Isaac was puzzled by the empty egg. The other two eggs rattled and had something inside. Please ignore the huge strand of drool. This picture was just too cute.

Before anyone is alarmed, the Easter Bunny picked a very tender portion of our rose bush to include in the pink egg. Isaac listened intently as I read parts of the account of Jesus's crucifixion from Matthew. Thank you Rick & Diana for inviting us over. Thank you everyone for your prayers and concern. We truly are blessed!