Easter Weekend

Easter weekend this year has been one-of-a-kind. We've done some of the traditional Easter celebrating with friends that included lots of food, eggs, and laughter. But we've also tried to remember the spiritual significance of this holiday, which is easier in the Holy Land, I will admit. It still boggles my mind that the most significant things in Christian history happened right here in the city that I live in. It really is amazing.

My friend Sheri invited me and the kids over last week to make and decorate Easter cookies. Jackson had just gotten done helping me frost his, and as I turned away for HALF of a second to grab sprinkles, he lunged forward, grabbed the cookie, and pretty much shoved it into his face.

On Friday night, our friends the Fitzgeralds invited a bunch of people from the branch over for a little Easter dinner. The hostess, April, even prepared an Easter egg hunt for the kids, as seen in the above and below pictures. They had so much fun!

Here is Joni on Saturday morning before church in her Easter dress.

Then on Easter Sunday morning, we headed out to the Garden Tomb. We were sad to find out when we arrived that you can only come at certain times on Easter, and we had missed our chance. So we'll plan ahead better next year.

So we decided to go see a couple churches in the Old City. I mostly just wanted to walk around and take in the importance of the day. We ended up stopping by a couple places on the Via Dolorosa again, since Joni wasn't with us when we did it the other day.

(video)

It was PACKED at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We knew it would be, but we were excited to go see all the people who had come from all over the world. This video is taken just outside the front door. There were just crowds of people, not able to move. Crazy.


We took Joni to see the chapel built at Station Three of the Via Dolorosa, and she loved it. At the end of the day, she said it was her favorite part. We discovered some stairs that went downstairs and there were some amazing statues. Here is one of them.

I love that Joni is old enough to understand the real reason behind holidays such as today. We have talked A LOT about Jesus this week. She knows everything that happened to Christ during the last few days of His life, and she understands that He did it for her. I love to see the awe in her eyes as we explain it to her. Even though some of the details are a bit gruesome, it doesn't scare her. It creates a reverence in her of the sacredness of Christ's sacrifice. What a great place this is to teach her about the most important thing she will ever have in her life - her Savior.

Happy Easter everybody!