Happy Easter!

Life has been busy since I last posted, so today I'll catch up.  Good Friday my hubby and I went to communion at church shortly after 1:00 o'clock.  Then daughter, Lori, came by around 3:30 to pick up the Easter baskets I made for Evie and Juliette [her granddaughters and my great-granddaughters], Peeps & Twinkie Easter bunny race car kits, and Juliette's birthday present. Lori and husband, Dave, spent today with them in Grand Ledge, MI, and took the gifts to the girls for me.  Below are the pictures Lori took and texted me.  It's been awhile since I've assembled Easter baskets and it was fun.  We will FaceTime the girls tomorrow.

Below is one of the Peeps and Twinkie race car kits I assembled for each of the girls.  I also made one to take to The Whitney to show my boss in hopes he'd want to distribute them next year to the children who attend the Tea with the Easter Bunny.  He loved the idea.  I gave the demo kit to one of the servers to take home to her granddaughter.

Juliette turned 2 years old yesterday, April 3rd.  Below is a picture her Daddy posted on Facebook.

Here she is with her present from us [two outfits].

Granddaughter, Tiffany, with her sweet little girls, Evie and Juliette

The family of four.  As you can see, it was a beautiful Easter Sunday in Michigan with a high of 65 degrees.

Daughter, Lori, with her two granddaughters.  She loves them and they love her!

I had planned to make Easter dinner - even wrote out a menu - but daughter-in-law, Sharon, invited us to their house for dinner after church instead, so all I made was a lemon cake to take.

During this interim time while our new church building is being constructed and we're sharing a facility with another church, we've been meeting on Saturday instead of Sunday.  Since I work every Saturday, I've really missed going to our church, although I am able to do a Zoom Wednesday night Bible study and prayer meeting.

Just for Easter, we met today at 9:00 a.m., and were done and out before the other church had their service at 11:00 a.m.  After church, and before going to son Steve's house, we drove by our church property to see the progress and take a couple of pictures.  It's been such slow progress with COVID, but we'll be in sometime this year.

 

Daughter-in-law, Sharon, had their house all decorated for Easter.  Resurrection Rolls [or Empty Tomb Rolls] were on the table.  I used to make these when the grandchildren were younger.  They are a great tangible way to explain the Easter story to children.  The large white marshmallow inside the dough, which represents the body of Jesus Christ, melts during baking and leaves a hollow roll [empty tomb].  I saw on Facebook this year they've been renamed "Hocus Pocus Buns."  Seriously?!  It saddened me that the emphasis of Christ's resurrection, has shifted to magic.

Granddaughter, Brooke, was home from college, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of her.  Love the little ceramic chicks pictured below representing 'new life.'

After dinner we came home and I took a nap, which I rarely ever do.  Yesterday was a very busy day at The Whitney.  I got there shortly after 9:00 a.m. and got my urns going to make the tea for the 11:00 a.m. seating, warming the teapots, and putting teapot warmers on all the tables.  37 guests attended the first seating.

After all the teapots were filled and I poured the first cup of tea for everyone, I dashed up to the second floor to get things ready for the 12:00 p.m. Tea with the Easter Bunny.  I intended to get a picture of the Easter bunny and the adorable chocolate bunny suckers Chef Eric made to distribute to the children, but it was just too busy and I didn't get a chance.  We had 22 at that tea.  Then I dashed back down to the first floor to get ready for the 1:30 seating.  We had 20 attendees for that.  Whew!  7 hours of fast-paced, non-stop activity, but it was fun even if I was exhausted when I got home.  I did manage to take a picture of the tiered server that Chef Eric put together for yesterday's teas.  This pic was taken at the last seating when things had started to slow down a bit.

I loved the chocolate Easter baskets on the middle tier.

Daughter-in-law, Samantha, texted yesterday that after a marathon of showings on their house Thursday and Friday [over 30] they accepted an offer.  Now comes the task of packing!  They celebrated Easter on Saturday at Samantha's sister's house where there was an Easter Egg Hunt with the Easter bunny for the younger kids.

Granddaughter, Ellie, showing the Easter eggs she found.

It was a great day for all the Barkey clan at their various locations.

I hope you enjoyed a blessed Easter as we celebrated our Risen Lord today!  So grateful for the hope and joy this day represents.