Holy Week / Spring Break

... went by way, way too fast.  How is it possibly Monday again, already?  And where did all my free time go?

Okay, we did get a few things done.  Like

* some weeding in the future garden (much left to do)
* the long-neglected-and-nearly-overflowing compost bin has been tended to (hallelujah and amen)
* rocks (that were once the homes of the dinosaurs of Dino-opolis) were moved into a pile
* made a pile for the dump (only a beginning - the tip of the proverbial iceberg)
* made a burn pile (windfall, scrap wood, etc.)
* scoured the stove (how does it get so yucky?)
* cleaned cabinet fronts (ditto)
* cooked a turkey (yum!)
* 'plan maintenance' for finishing this school year (ten more weeks to go, due to our three-week vacation last fall)
* began to plan/dream of next year (so much more fun than finishing this one... *sigh*)
* enjoyed Maundy Thursday Soup and Bread potluck and Lord's Supper at church (but forgot my muffin tin - the perfect "dish" for a soup potluck - like a sampler platter!)
* attended Good Friday Tenebrae service, in which Wyatt was a reader (and remembered to slow down and enunciate, double hallelujah)
* actually made it to Sunrise Service, which was glorious (also very cold)
* and to Easter morning service (though Gunnar missed part and had to go lie down in the car, feeling sick... I think an unusually early morning, begun with a large and delicious cinnamon roll, washed down with two large cups of cocoa may have had something to do with it)
* nearly fell asleep on my parents' couch, after Easter lunch (why not?)
* have begun and not-quite-finished a quilt which I can't show you yet (will be a baby gift...)
* took the boys out for a back-to-school doughnut at 7:30 am this morning (in case they hadn't filled their sugar quota over the weekend)

I look/lurk around the blogosphere at the wonderful thoughts some of you have posted about Easter, and feel quite inadequate. 

Instead, I've given you a list of mostly mundane tasks (moving rocks, house cleaning, etc.)  But we've had a good week.  A good Holy Week.  I've wanted to go to the Sunrise Service for years, but Tate and I are the only dedicated early risers in this house, and it just seemed like pushing a rope uphill, but... this year I pushed, and they all cooperated ;D

So glad we did!

Our friends, the Gibsons, have hosted this for years - they inherited the tradition when they bought their farm over twenty years ago.  From the hill behind their house you can see north into Canada, west to the Puget Sound, and east to Mt. Baker.  And on a beautiful, clear (if cold) morning, like yesterday, the sun coming up over Mt. Baker, turning the fields green and gold, and putting a glow on the blossoming apple and cherry trees will practically take your breath away.  We sat on hay bale "pews", worshiping our risen Lord.  Glorious, indeed.

After church, we went on to my parents', for a family celebration.  Somewhat less conventional...

Gunnar had been lying in wait for Mike (my cousin's husband) to arrive so he could ambush him with his little robot.  Don't know if you can tell - it's holding a (plastic toy) gun.  He was driving it from downstairs - the robot has a camera that feeds to the TV - and had taped on a walkie-talkie, so he could demand Mike's wallet.  Very funny.  Happy Easter, testoster-zone style!


This year we had more hiders than hunters for the candy egg hunt - just Gunnar and his cousin Raelynn.  The bigger kids are aging out.

Still, there was chocolate aplenty for all :D

The kids and the dads retired to the basement for a showing of Cars, also known in dad-speak as naptime.

After which we shooed all the kids back outside into the fresh air.  Tate caught three lizards (it's spring for sure!) and Gunnar was overjoyed to find this little friend in the tree house.

 

It's a little brown bat, and it IS welcome.  Did you know that not only are bats very clean, they're very hungry.  Each little bat can eat 500-1000 mosquitoes an hour.  May their tribe increase.

And that was our Easter break.