Spring....or is it?

Spring arrived. Or so the calendar said. For us here in West Virginia, we were still dealing with snow showers until this week.

And with Easter falling so close to St Patrick's Day, I didn't even decorate! My mom and brother came down the weekend before Easter for a quick visit. That was nice. I miss my family so much!

I have been staying busy with getting Justin ready to graduate in a few months. My poor blog has suffered. 

Karsen is such a cutie as always. Learning new words and sayings. She keeps us on our toes. She misses Jonathan when he is in college. And she is always happy when he is home and wants him to play "choo choo" with her. She wasn't even afraid of the Easter Bunny this year!

It is our second official Easter in West Virginia but for the most part, we have spent every Easter here in West VA with the exception of a just a few. It was always a tradition to be here. Church, then brunch at the Marriott or Embassy Suites in downtown Charleston. PawPaw loved to see his granddaughters dressed up! He loved having the whole family together. The entire Easter weekend was full of Easter egg hunts and meals and family fun. 

We miss him most at holidays because he really enjoyed them. And he would have really loved seeing Karsen all dressed up in her poufy dress on Sunday. She loved church. They did a musical and it was really nice. She was worried about Jesus and was so happy when He arose from the tomb. She almost made it thru the entire service before she got restless and we had to wait in the lobby. She still will not let me put her in the toddler room. 

For Easter brunch this year, we ate at the golf club that John worked at when he was in High School. It was nice and the wait wasn't as long as the Marriott. Ashton enjoyed the egg buffet. She ate at least 6 eggs. It was cold and rainy so not a lot of picture opportunities. Here is what I did manage to get:

Too Busy!

The last few weeks have been a whirlwind. We have stayed on the go. We had a great time at Easter despite not having our beloved Paw Paw with us. The kids enjoyed an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and Sunday we went to church and dinner. 

It was so much fun being together. Then the kids were out for Spring Break and we took a trip to North Carolina. We stayed for four days. Not nearly enough time for me & Raini to get all of our shopping and thrift store hunting done but we savored the time none the less. 

Now we are trying to get ready for Jonathan's upcoming graduation. He was also accepted into the University of Charleston and we are trying to get all the financial arrangements made and then he must make a decision. Either Marshall University or UC and also to find out if he wants to enlist in the Air Guard. 

A lot of big choices to make. Keep us in your prayers that we make the right choices for this young man. I am so proud of him. Not many kids can move and attend 3 different high schools in 3 states in a four year period and still maintain honor roll status. 

He is a great kid and I want him to go where he wants to and not let the lack of money hold him back. Here are some pictures of the last couple of weeks!

Trying on her Easter Dress

Strategically Placed Spring

Karsen is into EVERYTHING. It has taken me all week to decide what Easter decor was safe to put out, what had to go back into the basement and what could be placed strategically.

She is such a climber. She loves to get things down. 

Here are a few of the decorations safely hidden around the house:

I love vintage Easter decor!

Spring

Yesterday was a busy day spent going thru what seemed like a million boxes searching for my Easter decorations. (Thanks Mr. Movers).

I finally found them and realized that most of them won't be able to be displayed this year thanks in part to little Miss Karsen.

Most of my Easter decorations are very old and very fragile. Still, it is always fun going thru the boxes and rediscovering my spring treasures.

This is going to be our first official Easter in West Virginia (living here) but we have spent the majority of Easter's here since John & I married many years ago.

PawPaw Hanson, my father in law,  reminds me of spring. He loved nothing more than getting the entire family together for Easter brunch following church at the Marriott hotel in downtown Charleston. He always paid and he always loved seeing his little granddaughter's dressed in their frilliest finest. The last time I would see him would be the Easter trip home in  2010.

 

He was so sick. He had lost so much weight. His beautiful silver hair was gone thanks to the harsh chemo. He had every excuse NOT to want to go to church or to Easter dinner but he gathered all the strength he could and he went. Even though he had no appetite, he sat at the head of our table and he watched us all laughing, talking and enjoying ourselves. He probably knew this would be the last Easter he would preside over the large table. Maybe we knew too and just couldn't come to terms with it yet. It was a bittersweet day for us all.

This Easter has me missing him very much. He would have been delighted to see John move back home. He would have LOVED baby Karsen. He would have enjoyed watching Tate play spring baseball. He would be very proud to watch Justin playing basketball and he would have really been impressed with Jonathan's decision to enlist in the Air Force or Air Guard. He would have clapped the loudest at Ashton's upcoming dance recital.

It just isn't the same. In less than 1 year, our families lost both patriarchs. We are shattered and still trying to find our way in the new lives without them. Holidays are rough and I imagine they always will be. Easter and spring bring back so many memories of that last holiday spent with him. I am going to see if we call all go back to the Marriott this year in his honor.

Easter 2011

We spent this Easter in North Carolina.

My cousin Danielle was getting married on Good Friday so we spent the entire spring break in North Carolina. The nine days flew by!

Danielle was a stunning bride. I pinned a piece of one of Papa Bud's hankies to the inside of her dress. It was so bittersweet not having him there for such a big family event. It rained most of the day but by the time the ceremony began, the rain stopped just long enough for the ceremony.

Danielle was married at the Harmon House. It was beautiful. I had so much fun looking around the home and all of the vintage qualities of the house. The bead board walls, the original black and white subway tiles in the master bath, the hardwood floors, the crown molding, the stained glass windows, I could go on and on about the beauty and charm of this home!

Raini and I had a wonderful time as always. I love my baby sister so much!

Bunnies!

Today Raini & I made chocolate bunnies!

We had so much fun! It was so easy to do.

Anything I can do with Raini is fun.

The Last Easter with Pawpaw

Our Easter's for the most part have always belonged to West Virginia.

Our family would pile into our mini van and make the almost 4 hour journey up highway 77 to MawMaw & Pawpaw's house just outside of Charleston.

The Easter break was always more fun spent there.

The weather is always crisp and cool, and the entire weeks vacation would be spent on Mawmaw & PawPaw's front porch watching the kids play in the huge, green front yard.


My three very talented sister-in-laws plan a huge Easter egg hunt that even the big kids enjoy. Mawmaw always makes her delicious BBQ ribs (anything Mawmaw makes is delicious). Life just slows down for that week and we can relax and appreciate the joys of having a large family and extended family.


And on Easter morning, after the Easter Bunny has visited, we all get dressed in our Easter clothes and go to church as a very large family. We easily take up 3 pews and this always made Pawpaw smile. Pawpaw loved seeing his grandchildren dressed so nicely. He was a sucker for a pretty granddaughter in a poofy, Easter dress. He liked to show off his handsome bunch.



After services we race into downtown Charleston and enjoy an Easter brunch at the Embassy Suites. Pawpaw always insisted on paying for everybody (huge check as we always had at least 18 people but he insisted).


He would sit at the end of the very large table and smile over his large brood.

Last year's Easter was a rough one. Pawpaw was undergoing an extensive chemotherapy regime. He had lost so much weight and had very little energy. He could have easily skipped church and even the big meal at Embassy Suites. He had every right to given his condition. But he didn't. He got dressed and somehow found the energy to spend one last lovely Easter with his precious family.

No one said it at the time, but we all knew it would be our last Easter with him. We choked back tears when our visit came to an end. We all squeezed him extra tight. I didn't know at the time it would be the last time I saw him, but I hugged him extra long just in case.

Mawmaw and Pawpaw always stand in the driveway and wave us off as we leave. This last time we waved longer. We shared an incredible last Easter with an even more incredible man. We miss you, Pawpaw.