~We had a wonderful Resurrection Lord's day =) (Easter!) ~

 As many of you may know the early Christians used to greet each other on Resurrection Lord's day morning with:
"He is Risen!!"
And the next person would respond:
"He is Risen INDEED!!"
Oh, how privileged I feel that Jesus DIED for my sins, and how GLAD I am that Jesus is ALIVE again!!!
We had a simple but wonderful Easter.
~Our children LOVE dried fruits and nuts.  When they see those in my kitchen, they often beg for a piece of fruit or some raisins, etc. So, that is what we decided to basically give them in their Easter baskets bags.
2 kinds of nuts and 3 or so kinds of dried fruits, some colorful candies, and they each got a dark chocolate candy bar, a choc. ball, and a pack of Tic Tacs.   I put the treats in clear plastic bags and tied them with purple and white polka dotted ribbon for our girls...~

 ~And Blue and white (Argentine) ribbon for our boys.   They got to open their bags on Sunday morning.~

 ~Then Saturday night the kids and I made "Resurrection Cookies" together.  Kimberly sat near by and read our Scripture verses for us.~

 ~Daddy went shopping last minute and came home with some Spanish books and coloring books for the kids' Easter gifts too.~

 ~Their Easter Bags all ready for Sunday morning.~

 ~I got Kimberly and Sarah an issue of an Argentine decorating magazine to enjoy.~

 ~Phillip got an Argentine "Alfajor cookie" and He and I each got a dark choc. candy bar.~

 ~And since our children don't have a lot of toys here...Daddy picked up Mary a little baby doll.  ( I forgot to take a picture but he also found a fun 100 piece puzzle for the boys.)~

 ~After we mixed up our Resurrection cookies (tasting each ingredient and comparing it to the story of Jesus' death, we made little mounds on our cookie sheet and put them in the "tomb"...oven FOR ALL NIGHT!
We "sealed the tomb" with kitchen towels and explained to our little ones that our hearts sort of feel sad leaving our cookies all night...but that it was REALLY SAD for the disciples of Jesus to walk away from his tomb!!! ~

 ~Mary in front of our oven tomb ready to open it and get out our cookies.~

 ~Our cookies all ready to take out.~

 ~We showed our children how the cookies were all cracked and when they took a bite...they were HOLLOW inside...Just like Jesus' tomb!!! =) ~

 ~Then we scurried out the door to walk the 5 blocks to catch the bus for the 45 minute ride to church.  Here are the kids in front of the Chinese church.~

 ~Phillip visiting with little William (who comes to our English classes).  We thought it was neat how the Chinese church prepared and passed out a boiled egg to each one in attendance on Easter. ~

 ~Our family in front of the Chinese church.~

 ~Kimberly got the privilege of singing with the Chinese choir.  One of her friends spent the time to sort of "write out" the sounds of the Chinese characters so that Kimberly would sort of know how to pronounce them.  =)
I got the privilege of playing the piano for the choir.~

~This young man thinks our little Mary is pretty special.  He surprised us by coming to church Sunday with a new little Hello Kitty back pack filled with Hello Kitty hair things and goodies for Mary. =D  How sweet! ~

 ~And this young man's father (and Mother) think she is special too.  =) ~

 ~Here's part of the bulletin board that Kimberly and Sarah helped work on for WEEKS!  Lots of DETAILS went into each picture of the story of Jesus.
They traced and cut out material to put on top of the people as their clothes, the trees, etc. ~

 ~Seeds for the rocks on the ground.~

 ~Hair on each person, etc.~

 ~Then after church, and a delish Chinese meal, the choir and I practiced for their special for the month of May.~

 ~Then we got on the bus and came home.
On the way home Noah mentioned to me how "confusing" it feels to us that it is actually FALL here...and EASTER at the same time!!
I told him, "I know!  One doesn't know whether to decorate with pumpkins or wear white Springy clothes."  =)

 ~Our DELICIOUS Resurrection Meringue cookies in my new little FUN covered cake / goody plate.  That was my Easter gift from my Sweetheart.~

We're EXCITED that I.H.C. starts today! We've planned our schoolwork/schedule accordingly and plan to watch EVERY service if possible!!!  
We are PRAYING that God's sweet presence will be felt during the services!  May we each one be revived!
For those of you who get to go in PERSON...ENJOY EVERY MINUTE FOR ME!!!!!!  =D