our easter celebration

easter was especially meaningful to me this year. i don't know if it was a wonderful glimpse of spring at last & the new life that comes with it, time at the farm, or simply the Holy Spirit at work in my heart, but it will be an easter i treasure up for a long time.

i was so excited to be invited to farmer sandy's egg hunt with some other friends, in which the kids got to find TONS of hidden eggs (filled with candy of course), dye her farm fresh hard boiled eggs (speckled & all), and then, the grand finale: pet the baby lammies!!!!

here are the kiddos in the big "red" barn. pumpkin-poos had been talking about coming back here since december. literally. turns out she is deathly afraid of mama sheep & the bleating & their size..."too big mommy!" i had to be supermom & try to photograph the mama sheep with their babies while holding my own baby & working the camera. (oh, fun!) my friend dave saved the day & i was so glad she would actually go to him so i could get in the pen to get some great shots (see last post).

here is farmer sandy with her one-eared bunny, peter rabbit. (the bunny looked like he had stuck his paw in an electric socket! fuzziest bunny i have ever seen.) i am forever grateful to farmer sandy, not only for allowing me to come and photograph her beautiful sheep to create art such as this & this, but also for allowing me to bring my 3 little ducklings out to the farm and be able to experience farm life.

my kids are total nature lovers & so growing up in the burbs obviously has it's limitations. i still don't think they've even seen an all out starry sky. cannot wait for that.

while we were leaving the farm, my favorite little mister said under his breath, "it's just so peaceful here." (i would not be at all surprised if he grew up to live out in the country someday!)

in any case, look at those little lambs! and to think of Jesus as our sacrificial lamb who took away our sins was truly amazing.

now, onto easter day! ahh.... back at the arboretum. my beautiful family :)
both boys got a fresh cut that morning... sam had to do a buzz cuz he messed up on his own haircut!

and, does anyone wonder why i call her my sunshine girl?!

this pic of pumpkin poos just kills me everytime i look at it!

and, last but not least, i cannot resist this pic of pumpkin poos with "gampa-gampa" whom she has completely fallen in love with. is it that he is the owner of her 2 favorite kitties perhaps?! she had to hold his hand almost the entire afternoon.

well, there you have it. thanks for sticking through a long post. hope your easter was meaningful also.

grace & peace,
julie