Normally Ukraine celebrates Easter on a different day and therefore we get to celebrate two Easters. The Orthodox calendar uses the Julian calendar and has different dates for Easter and when the vernal equinox occurs, but this year they happened to be on the same day!

This year for the first time (possibly the last time) Lance and I decided to attend a sunrise service for Easter. I can’t say that we are early risers but we thought that one day out of the year we can rise well before we needed to. We met in a park by the lake and sang a few worship songs. We read through the Easter story and prayed for our city and Ukraine. It was special time that can only be enjoyed at the crack of dawn. Sadly it was a foggy morning and we did not get to enjoy the sunrise but it was still fun to fellowship by the lake in the wee hours of the morning.

By the lake at the crack of dawn

After our jaunt to the lake we had friends over for an Easter meal. We ate WAY too much food; roast chicken, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad, banana cream pie, and apple pie. We played games and finished the evening with a movie.

The day before we had also gathered together with friends for a pre-Easter celebration. This time we colored some eggs and then hid them for a few kids who were quite excited about finding them. Of course there was tons of food and plenty of desserts. We were fooded and peopled out by Monday, but it was all worth it!

Mr. & Mrs. Egghead

Getting ready to hide some eggs