tamara b

Easter

I’ve had wonderful and exciting experiences since moving to Iowa but they have differed quite a bit from those from back home. I miss my friends and family and sharing holidays, birthdays and other good times with everyone. But, this year at Easter, I missed an Iowa experience. Last year my parents moved here right before Easter and had my nephew, Kaleb, staying with them. I had a blast with my family, especially that little guy. We colored eggs ahead of time and Ryan and I put together Easter baskets for everyone. That frigid morning, Kaleb got to do an egg hunt. Oh, what wonderful memories we have of that day.

This year was special in its own way but it sure wasn’t the same without our little Kaleb. We started the morning when we left the house at 6am to walk dogs at the clinic before the sunrise service. I had my doubts about the service ahead of time. I remember back in the day when we sat along the Kings River and watched the sun come up as the message was shared. But, it’s a bit chilly out here to sit along side anything outside and watch the sun come up. I wasn’t excited about having to get up early so that I could sit in a church for this “sunrise” service. As usual, I was the jerk. The service was great and I experienced the sunrise in a new way. As we sat, the sun coming up showed so brightly through the huge stain glass along the wall. It was amazing how it lit up the sanctuary. Here, I expected a disappointment and it was wonderful.
Following the service, the men of our church served a pancake breakfast downstairs. It was fun to see the guys serve breakfast to everyone else. After eating and visiting for quite a while, we went back upstairs for the regular service which was an Easter cantata and Ryan was the narrator. Not the best I’ve seen the church do but still a neat thing.
After church, we walked dogs again real quick and then went to mom and Ralph’s for lunch. It was a great meal and I quickly ran off to lay on the couch where I could get comfortable after stuffing my face. Mom and Ralph had made us Easter baskets which was really fun to get. Along with the candy, Ryan got socks and I got undies. Go mom and Ralph!!! I had made the 3 of them baskets too but they were boring. Since they’re trying to eat healthier, there was no candy involved. The guys got new tshirts and mom got a cool candle plus they got other little things. I had made up some boiled eggs and plastic eggs and went out to hide them. It was fun for me to watch them hunt these eggs. Ryan was a superstar and I had to stop him so that my parents (they’re old) could get their basket full too. I had put one plastic egg in the fresh air intake pipe for the furnace and left enough sticking out so someone could easily grab it. By accident, mom pushed it in farther and it was quite the chore to get out. After that excitement was over, we went for a walk in the beautiful – finally spring – weather. We even stopped and played at the park on the teeter-totter and other toys. We were caught by a lady in the church who thought we were just checking it out for future purposes with the kid. What she didn’t know was that we wanted to be kids ourselves and play on the toys! Got back to the house and had angel food cake with fresh strawberries. Oh, so good; I had two servings and was stuffed. As if my stomach doesn’t feel bloated all the time as it is, and I ate extra food. We played a game called Rummikub (I kicked butt for the first time) before heading home. It made for a 13 hour day in a hurry and I was exhausted. My lazy body isn’t used to those kinds of days anymore.

Yeah, and that egg that was a pain, continued to be a pain for mom and Ralph the next morning. Their heater wouldn’t kick on so they called Floyd (the local service guy). He came out and looked at it, popped a little plastic lid off the furnace and it would kick on. Put the lid back and it would stop. Then it hit mom – we forgot to go back and get the egg out after they were done hunting. When the furnace kicked on that morning and tried to suck fresh air in, it pulled the plastic egg right down the pipe. They had to blow the egg back out with the shop vac. Mom called me Monday morning to tell me that next time I put money in eggs for a hunt, that I needed to put enough to cover the service charge from Floyd. I was quite amused by the whole situation. Better them than us I guess :)