Happy Easter!

For the last two weeks we have been reading the "Jesus stories" (as we call them) leading up and including Easter. Unfortunately the Beginners Bible is a bit too simplistic with many of the stories. So, we have also been reading a Walter Wangerin Book called Peter's First Easter which is told from Peter's perspective and gives lots of details. I also tried using the Resurrection Eggs with Joshua to help him better understand and remember the stories with visual aids (each of the 12 eggs contains a symbol pertaining to a different part of the story - a donkey, a crown of thorns, a stone, nails, etc). He enjoyed the Resurrection eggs, but it's difficult for a 2 1/2 year old to grasp all the information involved in all of the stories. Even though our focus has been teaching Joshua about the real meaning of Easter we did surprise him with some treats in his Easter basket before we went to church. One of the items we gave him was a new children's bible called The Jesus Storybook Bible which is well-written and one which I would highly recommend for a preschool age child! After church we went out for brunch (which was so delicious you could have rolled us out when we had finished eating) with my dad, Phil and Ciejae. Papa surprised Joshua with a Doc Hudson car! Thanks Papa! Finally it was over to Cory's parent's house to celebrate with his family. Joshua was spoiled with more Easter treats from Grandpa and Grandma! Thank you! We are grateful Jesus has risen and given us reason to celebrate today!