He Is Risen Indeed!

For a day that started with pouring rain and cold temps. and ended in a 3 hour wait in the pediatric urgent care, it really was a great Easter!

Backing up a little...Joshua was out of school on Friday, so Kirk took a half day vacation and we went to Shawnee to visit his parents. We had a great visit with Nanny and Gramps and got to see Aunt Karrie, Uncle Steve, AJ and Brett for a little while too! The boys got to hunt eggs, go riding in the golf cart (Joshua drove!), roll in the leaves down by the creek, and get lots of goodies! We had a great steak dinner and Kirk and I even slipped out for a late night movie! The next day we all met up at Billy Boy's (best bbq in Shawnee) for lunch and then on to the church for some arts and crafts and a huge egg hunt. It was a good time and I'm so glad we got to go.

When we got home on Saturday night, however, it was full steam ahead! I was rushing around doing laundry, ironing Easter outfits, doing baskets, charging video cameras (by golly, I even changed out my purse to match my dress!) getting everything ready for the next morning so we would not be stressed or rushed. Well, let's just say, thank goodness I prepared so much, because I hate to think of what it would have been like had I not done what I did!--It was still rushed and stressed, but I was determined not to let it take away the joy of the reason for the celebration! (I will say, if Kirk had not spent 30 minutes working on the boys' GIGANTIC tiger shark and Star Wars Tie Fighter kites, we would have been on time!--I am not bitter, though...except a little maybe when I look at the monstrously large kites now fully assembled in my house with no place to go!)

The combination of already being 10 minutes behind and the rain made dropping off under the drive thru at church VERY slow! I managed to get the boys in without getting soaked and got them to their classes. Then I waited...and waited...I could hear the music already starting and I was getting anxious and a little perturbed (but remember, I was determined to be joyful!). Needless to say, Kirk returns about 10 minutes later informing me that he had to park at Mardel's and walk over in the rain!

Our "normal" seats were so gone by now and we found ourselves walking up to the balcony! It was totally crowded too, however, we spotted a whole row of empty chairs right in front that had been added. We rushed over, put our stuff down and began to sing! Yea, right? How fortunate, right? Not so much...as soon as we sat down we realized why the seats were not already taken! You couldn't see over the railing when you sat down! So, up we go trying to scout out some more seats. Thankfully we found some available across the room and took off to stake our spot!

And it was just in time! The Lord so showed up in the ensuing praise and worship time! It was meaningful and powerful and full of praise and truth to our Risen Lord! The tone was set and Dr. Harrison preached the word clearly and precisely. With tears and amens, I took in every word and note of the morning feeling so blessed to be a child of our Jesus! What a celebration of hope and peace is Easter!

We left church and met up with Mom and Dad and Melissa and Rus and the girls at Charlestons for lunch. It was so nice to have reservations and just walk in and be seated on such a busy day. We all enjoyed our lunch and then went back to Mom and Dad's house. Before everyone changed clothes, we tried to snap a few pics and then everyone scurried off to get into something cozy! Mom had tons of yummy desserts, the Masters golf tourney was on and naps ensued! We all woke up to eat and hunt eggs and visit! What a delightful day of celebration and family and fellowship.

Yes, the day did end with me taking JT to the urgent care and having to sit for three hours in a CRAZY waiting room filled to the brim with sick and rowdy children, but in between John Thomas' strep test and chest x-ray and endless waiting, we read a book that was in the exam room. It was a bible story book and I was totally paraphrasing because it was so not on a 3 year old's level. Anyone that looks "biblical" to JT is Jesus, so every page he kept pointing out Jesus to me, however when we came to the part where it actually was Him coming into Jerusalem, I said, "Hosanna" and John Thomas said, "Yes! Hosanna to the King!" Yes, my sweet Baby. Hosanna to the King! He is risen indeed.

Bohemians Gone Bahamian!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth, I just cant seem to get away from the eleven thousand loads of laundry--all of which have to be hung to dry, and the nine stores that I need to return ties to that don't match JK's easter shirt! But time is marching on and I haven't even blogged about THE HAMAS!

The title of this post is the saying that we had on our lovely buttercream t-shirts that all 11 of us wore on the plane to Atlantis. (They were cute, but Kirk wasn't so thrilled to wear his. When we arrived in Dallas to meet up with the rest of the gang, he peeked out of the gate to make sure that his sister wasn't going to be dressed otherwise all the while giggling and saying, "You got punk'd!")

The trip was amazing and we had a blast! Everyone stayed well and injury free --minus a few scrapes and bruises from all of the slides at Aqua Adventure. It took me about three days to stop saying, "I can't believe we are here!" Paradise Island was breath takingly beautiful and the Atlantis staff was super accomodating and polite. Kirk and I have described the trip as Big Splash meets Las Vegas meets Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous! Atlantis Resort owns 70% of the island and as far as you can see, there are amazing water slides, beautiful pools, sea life like you can't believe, crystal clear surf and white sand, palm trees galore, specialty shops, and on and on.

Nanny and Gramps had the room adjoining ours, so they sure earn a jewel in their crowns for spending a very close week with us! Basically every morning we got up, put on our suits and out we went for the day. I was so impressed with Joshua for trying all of the slides.--Me...not so much! Nanny rode "The Current" over and over and even spent most of her days with the family and not in the casino! We ate dinners and walked the docks at night and saw some unbelievable yachts, went to the straw market one day by water taxi, went snuba diving off the island...It was just an amazing time making memories all together.

(On a side note...John Thomas turned three the day after we arrived. We already had his party in Tulsa before we left, but Kirk and I stayed up after the kids fell asleep and decorated the room with balloons, streamers and a banner. We celebrated that night after dinner with ice cream. $34 for four single dip cones!--He's worth it, I guess!)

I am going to post a few of our hundreds of pictures next, but had to end on a funny note...On the way home from Nassau to Dallas, we are all boarding the plane and Kirk and I start looking at our tickets for our seat numbers. Row 5, okay...wait a minute!...are you sure?...surely not!...are you kidding me?! The four of us sat down in our roomy first class seats while the rest of the gang walked on back! Oh, my goodness! While our family sat crammed in the back for 3 1/2 hours with no snacks (unless you want to pay $4 for some cheese and crackers) or leg room, we sat in plush seats with warm, roasted nuts, warm towels, a full course dinner and free head phones! What a way to end the trip. (We felt bad for the others...we really did.)