Easter Weekend

Seriously, this was pretty much the funnest Easter weekend ever.

I love holidays. I love the festivity, the planning, the shopping, the get-togethers. I LOVE being surrounded by our families. I'm a huge fan of all things 'traditions'. I love the food, the company, the meaning behind it all. I love what holidays mean to my family, bringing us together, helping us to grow closer, and what so many of my favorite holidays mean to me personally and spiritually and that awesome power they have to make me stop and reflect on my life and realize how wonderful life truly is.

This Easter weekend was just about as perfect a holiday weekend I could have hoped for . . . I loved every minute of it. We spent time with so much family, enjoying meals and conversations and watching our girls play with the people we love the most.

I've already posted some pictures from Saturday, when our girls had a blast hunting eggs and playing with new Easter toys at Greg's parents house. So now it's time for Sunday's pictures . . . we went to my Aunt Judy's house for my Mom's family's annual Easter party. It's one of my favorite holiday gatherings of the year. Especially with the girls. (For a few years there, it was a tad lame, with all the grandchildren grown and a bunch of us twenty-somethings hunting for eggs in the backyard.) :-) My siblings are some of my very favorite people to hang out with, and this party was the epitome of why. We had violent soccer games, inside jokes, bantering, a chocolate fountain, competitive volleyball, painful hair removal, and a ton of people who love and adore my girls, all in one place.

Uncle Cody & Annie up above the sandbox . . . sending Hot Wheels speeding to their death down the slide . . .

Aunt Lacy and Ellie (with a very snotty nose)

Annie flying by Uncle-David-power.

My brother Cody flattening my sister Lacy in a 'friendly' game of soccer. Star claims that my husband Greg broke her toe in this same game.

Annie hunting for eggs.

Ellie and Daddy tracking down those tricky-hiding eggs (vs. the rest of Ellie's eggs, that were pretty much just laying out in the grass.)

Cody, just chillin'

Annie running . . . she ran more today than I think in the rest of her life combined! :-) She would run from one side of the yard to the other (and it's a huge yard), to bring people their eggs, or to come back to me to show me her loot.

Ellie, proudly displaying her latest find.

Star, 'striking a pose', or something.

My adorable family

Ellie had almost as much fun as Annie did. Ellie's eggs were filled with Cheerios, and she loved shaking them and hitting them together.

"I think I hear something in this one!"

How freakin' cute is this kid . . . this is while she was looking through her Easter presents from Grandma Karine.

It's not a family get-together until someone gets out the tweezers and Star shapes up all of our brows . . . (and this time she also did Lacy's leg hair. Ouch.)

How cute are my sisters!? (Lacy's much cuter in person than she appears here.) :-)Here is my family playing "Ninja." Have you played it? So much fun! Nothing better than an organized excuse to try and slap one another. (I think there's almost as much violence in our interactions now that we're adults than there was when we were kids . . . now it's just without the malice!)

This video should probably be titled: "Annie Excitedly Running."

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter!!