Alleluia!

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Happy Easter, everyone! And now, Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

I hope everyone had a beautiful and joyful Easter celebration!

We went to the Vigil and welcomed the entry into the Church of two of our friends - a great cause for celebration! I was honored to be asked by one of our preschool co-op friends to be her sponsor.  I wish I could have been more involved with the RCIA process, but the class was during my CRE class. The few classes I attended were taught by our the cheerful deacon, who shared welcome insights on prayer and epiclesis and other topics. The other confirmandi we knew personally was a  young SEAL who is one half of the couple we are preparing for marriage.  He and his fiancee are so sincere and committed to starting their marriage off well. They've asked for books to read, enjoyed talking with our kids, asked us good questions, and even hosted us for a dinner they cooked.  (Most of that happened before he left on deployment, from which he just returned. Another of his brother SEALS, the brother of our son's friend, was shot up, but not killed, in Iraq. Violence continues.) It's encouraging that this young couple already is praying together.

With all these things to celebrate, on Easter Sunday, after our family Easter basket and egg hunt in the morning, we had an Easter dinner party for our newly confirmed friends and a few other families from church. The menu was traditional - ham, fruit, asparagus, roasted sweet potatoes, twice-baked baked potato casserole instead of scalloped potatoes, Watergate salad, and Hawaiian rolls. Friends brought shrimp, salad, and a delicious chocolate macaroon cake. I also made carrot cake and lemon bars. No one left hungry, and the kids seemed to have a good time, even though the egg hunt was confined to our tiny yard because another party had taken over the park across the street. The kids are really getting too big to hunt eggs, but I love that they still enjoy the tradition (although maybe the money eggs had something to do with that.)

After the vigil

Basket of loot

Some of the spread

A couple photos from our study abroad son - Easter Mass at the Vatican

They arrived at 5 am so they could get photos like this one - up close and persona! Buona Pasqua, Papa!

 I didn't take many Easter photos, so here are some random photos to review the past month...

My favorite sports season - track!

Although watching beach volleyball isn't a bad way to have to spend an afternoon...

Flower show weekend!

This kid has grown a bit this year...

Husband's birthday celebration

Five year old hippopotamus cake

The side yard loved the recent rain

Santa Ysabel Preserve hike