Easter spells out beauty, the rare beauty of new life. ~ S.D. Gordon

When I was a little girl, I remember going to my Grandma and Grandpa Brack's for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. They would hide eggs all throughout the horse pastures and the yard. We would trek out with little baskets in hand, looking for the brightly colored eggs. One of the kids found a small garden snake and my dad chased all the little kids around with the snake! I'm sure my grandma was yelling at him, telling him to quit teasing the kids as they all scattered, screaming :) My Dad, The Tormentor and My little Grandma, The Protector.

My parents would always fill baskets full of eggs and candy and hide them somewhere in the house. As we got older, the hiding places got harder and sometimes there would be one basket that we just couldn't find so we would have to wake my mom and dad to ask where they hid the baskets.

I have always tried to carry on the family traditions that I grew up with. Just getting all the kids together in one place, at one time, seems to be getting harder and harder with each passing year. This year was a success, even if Colby and Shaylee were fashionably late :)

I spent the night before making potato salad and getting things prepared for the BBQ. Sunday afternoon, we set up the feast and fired up the BBQ. We stuffed ourselves on hamburgers, potato salad, beans, and chips. We even managed to fit in some strawberry shortcake which was nothing short of miraculous! 

Then we broke out the cameras for a family photo shoot...

The Next Iron Chef?

We were eating the food faster than Donald could get it cooked so the pressure was on...

Andrews hamburger was gone in 60 seconds :)

Christine had moved on to dessert :)

Cold hamburger? Yummm...

Strawberry shortcake is for cuties :)

Momma and Daughter <3

Easter 2011 was laid-back and low-key. We carried on the tradition of surrounding ourselves with the ones we love. Eating, laughing, and loving the time spent together. One happy family...

Easter 2011

Flat Stanley is a 1964 children's book written by Jeff Brown

Stanley Lambchop and his younger brother Arthur are given a big bulletin board by their dad for displaying pictures and posters. He hangs it on the wall over Stanley's bed. During the night the board falls from the wall, flattening Stanley in his sleep. He survives and makes the best of his altered state by visiting friends by being mailed in an envelope.

The Flat Stanley Project was started in 1995 by Dale Hubert, a third grade school teacher in London, Ontario, Canada. Dale Hubert received the Prime Minister's Award for Teaching Excellence in 2001 for the Flat Stanley project...

Caitlyn's first grade class participated in the Flat Stanley Project. Caitlyn sent her Flat Stanley to her Aunt Natalie in Idaho. Natalie sent Stanley back with some pencils for all the kids in the class and some postcards showing the kids what kind of adventures Stanley had in Idaho.

I am so excited about the idea of sending Stanley on adventures that I am going to contact some friends via facebook and see if we can send him all over the world :)