Easter Sunday!!
This year was our third Easter as Catholics, and it doesn’t seem to get any less busy as time goes on! Paul and I were both sponsors this year during the Easter Vigil, while all three of our daughters are now in the choir and thus were singing for that beautiful but LONG mass.
We didn’t finish until about 10:30pm, and then had a little cake, before heading home to get as much sleep as possible before Paul and the three girls got up to go sing the Easter Sunrise Mass. I remained at home to get Jacob ready and a few other things that needed doing before our afternoon party, then drove with Mom and The Boy to arrive at 8:00 to prep for the usual 9 o’clock mass.
After THAT, we had a bit of a quandry trying to figure out what to do. Our plan had initially been to have a picnic celebration with our Gonzales family at a park near their house. But Easter Day picnics are THE THING around here, and when Paul drove by to see if any of them would be going to church in the morning (around 7:00) — there were already people at the park actually taping off picnic areas to save their territory for later in the day! It was crazy.
So here’s what we ended up doing: we all went home, and Megan and Geneva quickly helped me get the food ready for the picnic, while Paul packed up tables and chairs into the trailer. Then he and Laurent each drove over to the Gonzales house, Paul in the blue car with the trailer, and Laurent in our white minivan. By the time they came back with EVERYBODY loaded in those two cars (something like 15 people) we had the food all loaded up, jumped in the green van, and we all drove over to a park near OUR house, that was not quite as busy.
There we set up our tables and chairs in a shady spot, and had a feast of build-your-own burritos. To go with the tortillas, I had carne, refried beans, black olives, chopped onions and tomatoes, lettuce, shredded cheddar and cotija, sour cream, chips, three kinds of salsa, and some store-bought macaroni salad to fill the void left where the spanish rice (that I’d ruined by overcooking in the crockpot) was supposed to be. Dessert was vanilla and chocolate Oreos.
Everyone had a magnificent time, the weather was perfect, and we weren’t there for very long since little Joanthony, who can’t take too much excitement and fresh air, had to go home. But it was really a wonderful celebration of our joy that Desiree and Joanna completed their journey into the Church. Back at home, there were a couple of hours before the girls were off again back to sing their last mass of the day at 5pm. Exhausting, but so worth it!!
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