Easter Fun...

I know I'm a little late...we've just been so busy that  I haven't had time to upload my Easter pics!! And there are quite a few to share!!

We started our festivities on Saturday, when our ward had an Easter brunch and egg hunt...

Nickel-Pickle

The kids made their own Easter buckets, and were really excited to use them. After that, we dyed Easter Eggs...they came out REALLY nice...

Savvy with our beautiful eggs...

Of course, we made our Easter Story Cookies. and then went to bed to wait for the Easter Bunny.

In the morning, we had A LOT of fun surprises...

Beach gear and candy...PERFECT!!

...and then the kids went out to hunt eggs. Funny thing was, the bunny put all 150 eggs out at 5am. Then Florida decided to bless us with it's signature torrential downpour at 6am...which made the bunny scurry like mad to pick all those eggs up...it the pouring rain. The rain stopped after about 45 minutes, and the bunny had to re-hide all those candy-filled eggs before the kids woke up...avoiding puddles.

Oh my poor cotton tail.

No one sees the egg on the sign behind them...

Fabulous egg-hunting fashionista...

The kids got A LOT of loot...which made up for the slightly LESS fulfilling Ward Easter Egg Hunt...

Happy girl...

Do you HAVE to take a picture of my bedhead?

After egg hunting, we had to check on our Easter Story cookies...

Perfection!!

They came out great!! And I really love this little Family Tradition...if you've never made Easter Story Cookies with your kids, I highly recommend it...it's a GREAT object lesson...

Yummy little meringues...

Then we all got dressed up and headed over to the restaurant to have breakfast with Daddy...because it's the only time we see him on this holiday...

While there, I took lots of pictures of the kids posing by the decorated alligators in the courtyard in front of the Lux...

Pedro pointed out to me that the mosaic alligator he and Kate posed next to had a shopping bag with a certain name scrawled on it...

Barcelona

Well...that just got me ALL KINDS of excited for our big trip!!!

We had a lovely breakfast at the Lux...lovely except for the fact that I can't seem to get Joseph to abandon this half-crooked "I'm-too-cool-to-really-smile-now-that-I'm-almost-13" smile...

GRRRRRRR!!!

After breakfast, we went to church and then came home and I made dinner. It was a nice spread...Ham with an Apricot Glaze, Roasted Asparagus, Cheddar Mashed Potatoes, Steamed Green Beans, Grilled Grape Tomatoes with Chives, Pineapple Casserole, Buttery Rolls, and a platter of Fresh Fruit, including Strawberries, Mangoes, and Pineapple.

I didn't get a picture of dinner...sorry.

But I DID get a picture of the piece de resistance (which misses something with the appropriate apostrophes)...a Strawberry Shortcake Baked Alaska...

This absolutely BEAUTIFUL a SCRUMPTIOUS dessert I DID get a picture of...and was kind enough to put the recipe on the Jungle Food Chain.

So please...by all means...make it...

It's WONDERFUL!!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Happy Easter!!

Here comes Peter Cottontail,

Hopping down the bunny trail...

Hippity-Hop! Hippity-Hop!

Easter's on its' way!!!

Or in our case...already here!!

The bunny was good to the kids this year...bringing new snorkel and swim gear, bathing suits, towels, and DVD's...along with his customary candy-stuffed eggs!! The kids were REALLY excited, and kept exclaiming: "Thank You, Easter Bunny!!!"

After a quick breakfast of cinnamon rolls and OJ, it was off to church for Easter service in our pretty new Easter outfits.

After we got home...mom slaved away in the kitchen with our Easter feast.

Kaitlyn came home from a trip to visit her dad around 7:30, and plowed through the leftovers...specifically the Spinach Artichoke Dip (maybe it was because i added bacon crumbles?).

But poor Daddy...he came home from work sick. All the emotional stress and cross-country traveling of the last few weeks (he had to go back to California on business last week) have finally caught up with him and he's got a bad cold. Poor guy!!

Well - Happy Easter, everyone!!