Christ the Lord is Risen Today!

I have had the most amazing Easter. 

  I woke up early because I  wanted to be outdoors to see the sun rise.

 I decided to hike up to Jump Off Rock, which is located in front 

of our house, straight up the mountain.  I've been up there before, but it's

 been a long time.  The trail that the kids and the dog had made through

the woods is long gone and I had to blaze my way through some

thick growth. When I started it looked like this outside.

By the time I connected to the trail that took me to the top

The sun was coming up and my heart was pounding- a good early morning 

workout. In the woods, it was hard to find a place to get a picture

of the rising sun.  You can barely see it peaking through here.

In all actuality, Jump Off  Rock is really a better place to 

see the sun set- as your not looking towards the east

but it was still beautiful.  I loved hearing the birds waking

up and singing their praises.

There were some other folks gathering for a sunrise service

so I decided to join them.

There is something really special about standing on top of

a mountain singing, Christ the Lord is Risen Today and

being surrounded by this kind of beauty.

It took my breath away.

I loved the way the fog was settled in the valleys.

I saw some beautiful wildflowers this morning.

This patch of trillium is growing below Jump Off Rock.

And wild columbine-

Wild Iris

Solomon's Seal

and I don't know what this is, but

it is so pretty.  If anyone knows 

what it is - please let me know. 

I can't find it in my field guide.

It has a tiny clusters of white berries 

coming out of the leaves.

I spent some time at Micah's place.

Because of Easter, I know I will be 

with my son again.

I am so thankful for the knowledge that families

can be together forever.  Heaven wouldn't be heaven

without the ones you love.

This is the perfect place for scripture reading and prayer.

I read the resurrection account from all four gospels and 

I especially loved these words from Luke-

"Why seek ye the living among the dead?  He is not

here, but is risen."      Luke 24:5-6

We had a wonderful sacrament service at church with

beautiful music, written by my friend Darlene and the

narration was written by another friend, LaWren.  

Such talented ladies, those two!

I love seeing ladies in Easter hats.  This is my

neighbor Ellen.  She wanted her picture taken by

her snowball bush.  It is full of blossoms.  She made

me the sweetest Easter basket with all my favorite

candies in it.

And aren't little girls in Easter dresses darling?

We had a yummy Easter lunch with friends and family.

The highlight of the meal was this Lemon Cake.

It was worth all the time it took to put together and 

every dirty dish I had to wash.  Have you ever made a recipe

like that?  You know, you feel like you've used every bowl,

spoon and measuring cup in your kitchen!

( First I made the lemon curd to go between the layers, 

next a lemon cake with whipped egg whites for volume

 and then the lemon buttercream frosting.)

But, it was really good, if you like lemon desserts.  And I do!

The only thing that could have possibly made this day better

would have been to spend some of it with my kids.  Oh, it's hard

getting used to being an empty nester and having your kids

spread all over the country. I especially miss them on

holidays.  All in all, it has been a day of blessings.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

* Goal #1 - Take 50 hikes.

*Goal # 12 - Nurture relationships with extended family

*Goal #14 - Begin each day with scripture and prayer

*Goal #22 - Study the New Testament

*Goal # 23 - Try 50 new recipes