We had the most wonderful & blessed Easter celebration this year. Not only did I feel like we all had a fruitful Lent, we also kept Aubree informed on our different Easter celebrations & I believe it was the first year that she was able to grasp the concept of Jesus's Crucifixion & Resurrection. We pretty much ignored any type of Easter-bunny-delivering-baskets type stuff, I feel guilty enough to lie to her about Santa, so we really just kept Easter about Jesus & our faith. Which I think Aubree really appreciated.

On Saturday, LoVida (Garrick's Mom), flew up from Palm Beach, FL to spend Easter (until the 18th), with us. We had our friend, Joe (he's like the kid's Uncle), visit us Saturday night & then early Sunday morning, the kids got their Easter baskets (ate a little candy) & then we went to Mass at 8am. From there, we drove up to Hamburg, NJ to the Crystal Springs Resort for a Brunch Buffet at The Grand Cascades Resort (It was beautiful!!). Right after brunch, the resort put on a little Easter Egg hunt & then of course... A visit from the Easter Bunny! :)

After brunch, we drove into Upstate New York (which was not far)... We drove through the country, through farms & small towns, by lakes & on mountain tops... It looked just beautiful!

The Easter baskets... This is at 6:45/7am

 The kids all got a little FAO animal...

(Preston - Alligator, Aubree-Koala Bear, Baylee-Penguin)

 Gammie Gam gave them each a $50 bill...

 Preston liked his Chocolate bunny - we bought them up the street at a home made chocolate shop...

 Books, Peanut butter eggs, organic lollipops, organic gummy bears & a few little toys... pretty simple! :)

 Our church...

HE HAS RISEN!!

 In the hotel resort bar... sipping on Shirley Temples & Bloody Mary's

 The Banquet hall....

Dessert table (above)

Entree Table (below)

Seafood Table (above)

Artisan Cheese Table (below)

 The kids started with the breakfast foods...

French Toast, Pastries, Bagels, sausage, eggs....

 Our table & the views out the ceiling-to-floor windows was a beautiful valley with tree covered mountains...

 It was just wonderful, we even had some live music behind us...

 Of course Baylee stayed awake for the whole thing (lucky me!)

 Desserts were Red Velvet cake, carrot cake, Easter cupcakes, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolates & a ton more delicious looking goodies...

 The Easter Egg Hunt was very competitive!!! Because I was holding Baylee & helping Preston get a few eggs... these are the ONLY pictures I got!!

 Just hanging out...

 The Easter bunny! Preston could not wait to say hi!

 There were some natural springs on the property...

 The Resort...

 A few pictures from the car...

We hope everyone had a blessed Easter as well!!! :)