Every holiday gets a little more precious as we watch our parents age.  Easter is no exception and this year we enjoyed a wonderful family time with our parents.  Lauren was home for the weekend and it was all too short, but we packed a lot of fun in those 3 days with our girls.  Easter traditions of egg hunts are so much fun and Parker, at 3 years old now, was primed for getting into the egg-hunting spirit and an egg  hunt was scheduled in my sister and BIL’s neighborhood on Saturday morning, so that was perfect.  Mom had some plastic Easter eggs at her house that we started the egg hunt fun with on Friday and Parker loved it.  We hid eggs from her and she found them, then she wanted to hide eggs from us and let us find them. So fun! It was so fun to see all the joy on her little face from hunting those eggs. Brought back so many good memories of Easter for me and my sister and for Lauren as she was growing up. Nowadays it’s the little things in life that are really the big things, like watching little ones grow.
The girls arrived early on Friday morning in their PJ’s, as Lauren had to wake them for an early morning flight. Â Parker hung in there all day before a late afternoon nap. Â She wanted to hide and hunt eggs over and over again.
It was such a beautiful and glorious weather weekend which I always love for Easter. It was just a perfect Easter weekend with mild temps and spring breezes. Â We spent a lot of time outdoors. Â Mom was in heaven with these two girls home for the weekend.
Baby Iris’s birthday is today and she turns ONE! Â Hard to believe it’s been a whole year, but it has. Â She is a tiny and petite thing compared to Parker at one, but she’s starting to stand to get her balance and will be walking soon. She’s been in no hurry to walk and Lauren isn’t in a hurry either. Â She’s still our little baby.
Coloring eggs was such a fun tradition for us growing up, so of course, Lauren wants Parker to experience that too so we all gathered at mom’s table for egg coloring, the old fashioned way with Paas egg coloring kits.
Parker loved this as you can imagine!
They came out beautiful and some were glittered.
They went in mom’s egg tray for a pretty table display.
The neighborhood egg hunt was the  next day and it was all plastic eggs with treats inside.  It was divided up in age groups, so she had a fair chance of getting lots of eggs and she certainly did do that.
No shortage of finding plenty of eggs. Â Lauren made the girls shirts for Easter with their names on the front on her embroidery sewing machine and they turned out so cute.
Sitting on the front porch at my sis’s house after the egg hunt.
There was baby cuddling going on and lots of outdoor time on the porch. Â They have a really nice covered porch over looking the beautiful backyard with pond and waterfalls.
Iris and Parker in their Easter shirts and Lauren trying to coax them into smiling for a picture.
Baby Iris is so cute, with 2 front teeth and the cutest dimple when she smiles.
We just love this little one.
Here’s a little tour of my sister’s back yard again. This is the porch we gather on so many times for special family occasions. It’s usually very nice back there, not screened in but they have 2 fans if needed.
It overlooks this pretty flagstone patio and the waterfalls and pond.
Straight out from the porch is this koi pond with a waterfall flowing in.
You can’t see the waterfalls very well in this pic, but it’s up the hill and that’s the stream coming down on the right.
Parker decided that playing in the stream was all kinds of fun and spent a lot of time doing this and climbing to the top of that waterfall and then doing it all over again.
Easter Sunday after church, we all met over at my sister and BIL’s house again and had a delicious Easter lunch. Â We all brought something and my cousin, Brenda and her family came too, so it was a nice family time of catching up. Â Mark came with me and we ate til we were miserable, then went by his family to visit for awhile.
We don’t take every Holiday for granted anymore and know that things can change from year to year, so to have another Easter with these 2 wonderful parents is a blessing. We are so grateful to still have them with us. They’ll both be turning another year older soon, Â Mom in May and Dad in July. Â Daddy is about to reach 90 years of age and Mom will be 89. Â It’s amazing to think of all the life they have lived and all the things they have seen and experienced in their years.
Lauren and the girls in their Easter finery.
She was trying her best to get them to pose, but this was as good as it got.
Real life with 2 little girls!
My sister, Parker, Iris and Bruce for Easter Sunday.
Mom made a bunny cake for Lauren growing up all the way until she was in college and then she finally stopped, so this year she brought back the bunny cake for Parker and Parker was thrilled.  She kept calling it her cake.
Lauren dug up this old pic from the last Easter she got a bunny cake from mom (it looks just the same!). Â It was her 2nd year of law school and now she is mom to two little girls!
Mom, Dad and me. Â So nice to capture these memories of our family and that’s what this blog has become too, one of sharing and saving these priceless and important family events.
It’s not Easter for us without a big feast and feast we did. Â We all brought things to share. Â Mom made the mac N cheese, my cousin Brenda made the pineapple casserole in the middle and mom made the sweet potato casserole and the ham and gravy.
Renee made the rest and I made the squash casserole on the bottom right.
As you can imagine, it all tasted as good as it looks! Â I ate too much, but boy was it delicious.
And then there was dessert. Â Bunny cake or this one….
Mom made that Pistachio cake I shared awhile back. When she made it the first time, we all decided it would be a really good Easter cake and it was! Â Everyone loved it all over again. Â I don’t think she added the coconut on top this time, but it was still delicious.
And that’s a recap on our really fun Easter weekend. Â So happy to share it with all of you and let you see how we celebrate and enjoy each other. Â We do love to get together and having those girls now make it all so much better and so much more fun. Â Children have a way of doing that to a family, don’t they?!
Happy Easter week to all of you! Â I hope you all had a joyful and blessed Easter week as well.
Love your pictures of your Mom and Dad as well as the rest of your family. My parents have been gone a long time and your parents remind me of mine. They were kind, hard working, love family and served the Lord all their life. Your family is so Blessed to have each other.
Thank you for sharing. Your family is wonderful and the food looks delicious! I enjoy your blogs so much!
Thank you for sharing your family and the family food. Nothing like a good ole Southern feast!!! I enjoyed reading this post.
Fun memories were made! Your parents look so happy and healthy! Family –nothing is better than that!!!
Lovely post, Rhoda! It’s wonderful to get together with family! You have such a wonderful family and you are so blessed to have your precious Mom and Dad with you! Your daughter is so pretty — as are those two precious grandchildren!
Great to see the picture of you and Mark. Do pray that all goes well for you both!
Blessings — and thanks for sharing your lovely family with us! God Bless you all!
Rhoda,I get a little teary-eyed seeing theses precious pictures. The love radiates from their faces,so up–lifting. I know the pain of getting kids to pose for pictures. (Christmas cards). Easter was my birthday and it was wonderful.
Rhoda,
I agree that you should put together a cookbook! Your blog name would be a perfect cookbook title. Or, if you just wanted to put one together as a family keepsake, you could use a photo publishing website like Snapfish. I made one for my family and it was great to include family photos along with the recipes.
Great post with the family! Parker and Iris are getting so big!
Thank you, Julia, I have been planning to do a cookbook for a long time and just can’t seem to do it. I do have many of them here on the blog, I just need to put them all in one place.
Rhoda,
Thank you so much for all the years of sharing your life and blogging journey! These holiday posts of your sweet family are so beautiful and really some of my favorites. I’m sure your other readers agree. I for one, would love to see a cookbook of your Mother’s recipes! You’re so blessed to have your parents with you!
They are just as cute as they can be! Have a blessed and Happy Spring!
Thanks for sharing these precious pictures of your family. We almost feel like family after seeing pictures of your family throughout the years. Love the pictures of your parents, kiddos and everyone. Your Mom and Daddy look great, the love in your family shines thru in all the smiles. These are some of the best of times spending time with family and making memories for a lifetime. My husband and I enjoyed Easter lunch with Dau. and SIL, Son and DIL, grandchildren and their friends, the older I get, the more I treasure these times together. We enjoyed Ham, Corn, Mac/Cheese, Butter Beans, Dressing, Cranberry Sauce, Rolls and Coca Cola Cake, Cupcakes. {SIL cooked most of lunch and DIL made Cake, I am a lucky MIL}. You look beautiful and happy in all your pictures. I really enjoy all your updates on you and family. P.S. Your beautiful niece looks so much like you!!!
Thank you, Theresa, I’m so glad you all enjoy my family, it sure helps me to have things to blog about and to know that y’all enjoy seeing them warms my heart too. Thank you on my niece, I love to hear that! We don’t see it so much, but others sure do.
Rhoda,
Thank you for sharing your family with us. I enjoy your blog so much. This Easter was one of my most memorable and enjoyable.
I must ask, What is Pineapple Casserole?
Best Always!
HI, Ruth, thank you! OK, Pineapple Casserole has been in our family for a few years. It’s really good when the cheese is good and melted, but here’s the recipe in this old post of mine. Chunk pineapple, cheddar cheese, Ritz crackers and butter/flour. Really easy to put together and it tastes really good with ham.
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/family-thanksgiving/
Just precious!! Your folks just warm my heart!! And you are sooooo right about enjoying every holiday!!
thank you for sharing all the seasons of your family’s life with us, I too get teary eyed thinking of how lucky we are to have the parents we do, for those that are still with us and all we’ve been blessed with – especially loved the egg coloring, I can remember how that mixture smells right now!
Rhonda thanks for sharing. Adorable pictures!!
Dear Rhoda, Thank you so much for sharing your Easter with us. I always love the family pictures so very much. Your mom and dad look great and are really enjoying their time with the family. And the little girls are cuter every time you show us their pictures. I also loved the look of the many dishes on your Easter table. Your squash dish looked great and also would like to know about that pineapple dish! Thanks again for the always great blog!!! Happy Easter Week to you and your family!
HI, Diane, I added a link to the pineapple casserole and I’m sharing the squash casserole next week. Thank you for reading!
Hello Rhoda! What a wonderful Family Easter you all had! Praise the Lord your parents are doing so well.
That backyard is unbelievable! Have a great rest of your week!
~Nancy
Oh, Rhoda, thank you so much for sharing your precious family with us! Thanks, too, for the beautiful Atlanta scenery. It’s still cold and breezy here in NW Montana!
Happy Easter to your and your family Rhoda! Couldn’t agree more with your sentiments and the blessings of family!
Hi Rhoda – beautiful family! Blessed to have your parents this side of heaven still – my daddy is 79 years old and presently fighting for his life in nuro ICU from falling down the basement stairs all 13 of them, and landing on his head. Severe brain damage. Enjoy each moment and treasure your parents. Lauren’s daughters are beautiful. Too bad her hubby did not join for Easter and Iris’s first birthday! Hope all is alright – she’s not wearing her ring ?.
Sher, I’m so sorry to hear your news about your dad, no words to express the sadness. Thank you for the note, we do treasure our parents so much. Philip stayed home to get some things done at their house and let her enjoy family time with us. She actually forgot her ring since she left way early to catch a flight with those girls. Iris’s birthday was Tuesday and they were all back together by then and celebrated at home.