It's always challenging getting 17 of your children looking good all at once!
This time it was the big guys on the FAR RIGHT...
that were completely silly!
And the oldest(at home) and possibly the least mature(at that moment)
could NOT hold it together!
And it was contagious...
everyone had to get into the act!
And finally, we got the perfect picture...
except,
it was blurry!
(Wouldn't ya know it...)
So, we tried again...
and 3 maybe 4 had their eyes shut!
Now it's Mom and Dad's turn
and it was not as much fun...
2 pics later... we had what we wanted!
And it was/is
good enough!
So we did the "silly" pic!
I love the how the littles love the bigs!
And how the bigs love the littles!
Thank you Jesus!
Johnny was showing the kids things he could do on his phone.
It was so wonderful having our 14 little kids and our three big boys together in church!
We filled one full pew and a quarter of another one!
Dream come true for me!
Happy Easter sweet Emma!
Johnny had an app on his phone
that was extremely entertaining!
I think it was
"face swap"!
Yes, we are all in the porch-
visiting, laughing, talking loud
and enjoying our time together!
We missed Matt, Caitlin, Katie, Andrew, Emily and Ali.
We all texted back and forth...
these big kids really make me laugh!
Matt, Katie and Billy all got special bunnies(stuffed animal) from Jim's parents on Easter 1989!
Somehow Billy ended up with Matt's bunny and his own bunny.
They turned out to be his favorite
loved throughout his childhood!
I had forgotten how Billy got Matt's bunny...
it turned out that he "threw up" on it so Matt gave it to him!
We had brunch after church and then a light dinner later in the evening.
The children watched a moment of gymnastics while
the big boys hid the eggs for the Easter egg hunt!
Mean while I prepared the Easter baskets!
(I wrote their names on the back of the baskets with matching permanent marker!)
We divided into 3 groups for the egg hunt -
so it doesn't get completely out of control!
Group 1 is a bit more reserved and may want to take their time finding the eggs!
Joy is in this group only because it is her first Easter with us.
This is group 2!
Competitive but still somewhat thoughtful!
We have a few very competitive kiddos that would stop at nothing to get the egg!
This would describe group 3!
Ava is easy going but she is also extremely capable!
Sarah, Mia and Sam would walk right over anyone (including their grandmother)
to
"get the egg"!
Group 2 excitedly waits while Group 1 is finding the first batch of eggs!
Madeline is quite happy with her successful hunt!
In round one each child gets to find three eggs!
This group is
"nothin but trouble"!
In round two, they found three more eggs and their basket!
And you have been warned!
Guard your eggs
because
we have a few thieves!
In round three each child found 1-3 more eggs.
And then there is always a few...
we don't find until
summer ;-)
No toys this year...
we have enough stuff!
Just some candies!
BUT,
there is one basket that the boys
love to hide
in a really
hard place!
This sis loves to give her big bros a hard time
and
they like to return it!
So after much searching...
and searching some more...
the hot and cold game...
some really good clues...
and
after breaking all the "hiding rules"...
this little sister...
finally
found her basket!
Dress...
or no dress...
she was determined
to get her basket!
She can handle whatever they(the big bros) dish out!
Then it was time to
have at it!
Chocolate bunnies, Peeps, Cadbury eggs and jellybeans!
(yuck, if ya ask me ;-)
(But no one asked me ;-)
This sweet girl loved every minute of it!
Next,
is the family egg fight!
We colored our hard boiled eggs and we have an egg fight!
Each person gets one egg.
Two people go against each other and hit one end of their egg
to the end of their opponents egg.
Whose ever egg breaks... loses...
I was out in the first round this year ;-(
This is the crew that made it onto round 2!
They're quite celebratory, aren't they!
The rest of us (non winners) where rolling our eyes...
They referred to themselves as the (ahem)
great eight...
except their were nine...
And now we are down to the final four!
They wanted a complete photo session...
but I stopped after two...
geez!
Guess who won...
And who didn't!
Sorry Ava!
They hit...
they heard a crack...
so they inspected
And
guess
who
won...
Ya, that's Sarah on the floor!
It came down to Anna vs Mark!
Mark was last years champion and feeling quite confident!
It was a nail biter!
And she won!
Yay Anna!
Congratulations Honey!
What a blessed Easter!
Praise YOU
Lord Jesus!
YOU are the reason for our celebration and
for our joy!
YOU have defeated death
and YOU bring us LIFE everlasting!
Sorry about the long lull on the blog...
We had to pack for home, drive home, unpack, get readjusted and prepare for Easter!
I have quite a few back posts to post!
Lots of fun things happening here and I am hoping to post again, asap!
