I'm really grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and all He did for me. Easter is a wonderful time where Christians all over the world celebrate an empty tomb. Because while the Savior suffered greatly in our behalf, the real message is that He overcame ALL! What a blessing to know that He truly lives today and loves each and every one of us!
Our kids combined with our friends, the Gimmesons, to decorate eggs Friday night to start off the Easter festivities.
Like many of may siblings and friends, Joe and I talked to the Easter bunny about showing up on Saturday instead of Sunday morning. It's just too hard to deal with getting kids ready for church while they're hopped up (no pun intended) on sugar. Worse, they usually have chocolate on their church clothes long before we can even get in the car. And worst of all, the true meaning of Easter gets lost. The kids didn't know that we'd made that deal though. So they got up Saturday morning and went about their normal cartoon-watching routine. I got up around 8:00 and started breakfast like normal. After breakfast, AJ happened to casually walk by the dining room where their baskets sat untouched and realized what had happened. So much fun. It was a great spring surprise.
Saturday evening, we really enjoyed spending time with Jeremy and Dyana and Grandma and Grandpa Johnson with games and such. Grandma Johnson graciously provided dinner because she's just that good a host.
Because of varying church routines, the Johnson family had Easter brunch instead of dinner. We had all kinds of breakfast delights. From pancakes to monkey bread to bacon and sausage to apple french toast casserole...and it was all so good!! After breakfast, the kids had their egg hunt at Grandma's house.
This year was the first Pirate Lane egg hunt. After church, the kids all got together to hunt for Easter eggs left by the Bunny himself. They had a great time, and it was really fun to do something like that with the neighbors.
When the call to "go" was given, Brooklin made a beeline straight for...you guessed it, the dog! In case you didn't know already, Brooklin absolutely loves dogs. She was eventually persuaded to try for eggs as well.
Coppelia is the story of a dollmaker who creates a doll so lifelike that he dreams of a way to make her come to life. Franz sees the doll and falls in love with her as well. Swanhilde, his intended bride, is not terribly happy about this. So she and her friends sneak into Dr. Coppelius' shop to try and talk to the girl (not realizing that she's a doll). They all get caught in turn, and Swanhilde puts on the doll's clothes and tricks both Franz and Dr. Coppelius. In the end, Swanhilde and Franz get married. It's a comedic ballet full of slapstick. I think it was the most entertaining recital so far in Natalie's ballet career. They had so much fun! 
Brooklin absolutely loved watching the girls dancing. She would have been onstage in a heartbeat if we had let her. You can't see her that well because of the lighting, but here she is dancing in the audience. I'll give her another year or so, but she's going to love ballet just like her sister.
