Easter Rising

Easter is almost here!  Although temperatures might not reflect spring has arrived, there are hints of buds blossoming and flowers bursting with color.  I cut my first two irises yesterday and put them in a vase in my office.  They smell wonderful!  They are two white irises that my dad planted from some bulbs he got from my grandma's garden years ago.  He didn't know what color they were, as she grew many different colors in her flower garden.  So, when they finally bloomed several years ago to our amazement they were all white!  All of them!  They were so beautiful in my backyard and definitely a sign from my grandma.  I love them!  And look forward to them every year now!

Although we had a freeze here the other night that I had to cover my garden for, you can feel the Easter traditions kicking into high gear...with Easter egg hunts last weekend, pictures of kids with the Easter bunny popping up on Facebook, Easter egg making kits all over the stores and of course all the yummy Easter treats that people are making and will be consuming come this Sunday!  

And thanks to my aunt and godmother, she has been outdoing herself every year at Easter as she hosts our family Easter celebration.  Yes, there's a massive spread of food to consume (which we do!), a fun little Easter egg hunt for my nephews and now nieces, and the best part of Easter Sunday...the adult Easter egg hunt!  That's right!  You're never too young to hunt eggs!  Except now, we know how to fight each other out the door and push each other down to collect the most eggs which gives you the best chance to win prizes...specifically gift cards!  My aunt outdoes herself and truly has taken Easter to another level...but, she learned from the best, her mother and my grandma!  One year I got 7 gift cards!  Oh yea!!  There's also a golden egg which is the grand prize!  My dad hid it last year for the first time and none of us could find it!  It took forever to find it, but we finally did so we could open our eggs and collect our prizes!  It's a fun, competitive, and joyful time that we all look forward to every year!

So, whatever Easter traditions you have for this Easter weekend, I hope you are filled with joy, happiness, contentment (from all the treats) and truly blessed for the rising of the Great I AM!