Happy Easter!!!

Well, I have to say, I had a wonderful Easter this past weekend!  It started off with a beautiful sunrise service at a park overlooking the Susquehanna River and ended with my family and I all crashed in my grandparen's living room watching A Charlie Brown's Easter (which was really dumb btw).  The day went like most Easter days do. After sunrise service at 6:30am we all went back to the church for breakfast, then got changed into our Easter fancies and went to Sunday school, then Easter service.  After service, which ran sooo long I thought my stomach would eat itself, we headed over to my grandparent's for Easter dinner. Mmm!  Yummy!  Ham has got to be my favorite meat ever!  But, no, I did not pig out.  Lol.  Okay, that was lame ;)

Anyway, I got a few friends together at church and we got pictures in out easter dresses.  So pretty!

After dinner, we usually do an egg hunt, but the four of us cousins decided to reverse things a bit and do an egg hunt for our parents.  It was totally worth it!  Oh my, they are funny to watch ;)  I got some pictures, but again, I wish I would have videoed the whole thing.  At the end we had a gift card for the one who collected the most eggs.

Haha!  It was a lot of fun, and it got the parents to do something they haven't done in a long time.
So anyway, I had a great Easter, and I hope you all did too!
Blessings,
~Brianna

How Silently?

Hey everyone!  I found this on a dear friend's blog, LIFE IN SKUNK HOLLOW, for Easter and thought I would share it with you all.  I really liked it a lot ;)  Happy belated Easter!!!

How Silently?

SILENT night . . .
"But the crowds cried out,
'Crucify him.  Crucify him.'"

Holy night . . .
"Then they spat in his face and
struck him with their fists.
Others slapped him and said,
'Prophesy to us, Christ. Who
hit you?'"

All is calm . . .
"When Pilate saw...that
an uproar was starting, he took
water and washed his hands...
'I am innocent of this man's blood.'
All the people answered,
'Let his blood be on
us and on our children.'"

All is bright . . .
"And darkness came over the
whole land until the ninth hour,
for the sun stopped shining.
And the curtain of the temple
was torn in two."

Round yon virgin, mother and child . . .
"Who is my mother, and who
are my brothers?...From now
on...family divided against each other..."

Holy infant . . .
"And carrying his own cross, he
went out to the place of the
skull."

So tender and mild . . .
"And he cried with a loud voice,
'My God, my God.  Why have you
forsaken me?'"

Sleep . . .
"Foxes have holes and birds of
the air have nests, but the Son
of man has no place to lay his
head."

In heavenly peace . . .
"Do you think I came to bring
peace to the earth?  I did not
come to bring peace, but a
sword."

Sleep in heavenly peace.
"'It is finished.'  With that,
he bowed his head and gave up
his spirit."

"And we beheld his glory, the glory
of the one and only Son."

-- Ruth Senter, excerpt from The Stone That Rolled Away

Softball Season!!!

So for the first time (in my knowledge) our church has decided to start up a softball team and play in the Dallastown League.  This past Thursday they had their first practice, and needless to say, they were...umm...awful ;)  I actually got a kick out of watching them cause they seemed to have no clue what to do.  Some of them have played on teams for other churches before, but warming up was a bit rough.  They have greatly improved though, thankfully ;)
    Anyway, here are a few pictures from the first practice.  I think videos would have captured it better, but I didn't think of it at the time so you'll just have to see pictures.

 "Say what...?  How do I hold this thing again?" (lol)

I think the best part of the evening was when my cousin came over to the park on a horse from the nieghboring farm and took me for a ride!  I haven't ridden in such a long time, so I was terrified.  And since we were riding in a corn field, I was envisioning being impaled by a cornstalk if I should happen to slip off (which I almost did once with a squeal ;)  But you must understand, there was no saddle to speak of, and two people on a horse isn't the most comfortable thing in the world.  But it was all worth it ;)

There were other "better" pictures, but I prefer not to show them since I am clinging like a desperate leech to that poor horse while my cousin was trying to get off, and my face is twisted into a most unattractive pose of fear and a great desire to live to see tomorrow ;)

Youth Group Game Night

This past Wednesday our youth leader was sick, so we had a game night ;)  I know I shouldn't have been happy, but everyone loves a game night, right?  So we all brought some board/card games to share and had a great night of fun and fellowship.  A few of my friends and I played Dutch Blitz the entire time ;)  That's one of my favorite games, btw.  Anyway, here are some pictures:

 This picture is actually from a recent movie night, but I thought I'd include it as well ;)

 Blitz!!!

 I have no idea what they were doing...

The Blitz Ninjas!!!

Winter Wonderland Party

I can't help but laugh when I see the title of this post, cause its spring! and its warm! and I'm writing about a winter wonderland...
But there is a good reason for this.  It was supposed to be a family Christmas party, but we were snowed out, so it turned into a Winter Wonderland family party.  We didn't plan on waiting until it was spring, but that's what schedules permitted, so that's what happened.  Anyhow, we had a great time, even though it was warm outside, but it certainly looked like a winter wonderland inside!
Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy!  My Aunt and Uncle came up from Virginia and my other Aunt and Uncle came down from Maine, so it was nice to see them all again ;)

 The beautiful snowy place settings ;)

 Mmm!  Goodies!  The dessert table is always my favorite place at a party.  

 Yes, that is a cake, NOT a candle!  The cake has a tealight in the top so it looks like a candle ;)

 Chit chat and food!

 Aren't these penguins just sooooo cute!!!??

 One of the games we played was a competition to see who could make the best snowman out of toilet paper in 5 minutes.  That was really fun and really funny!

 My cousin's wife was such a good sport...she left me stick black circles to her glasses for snowman eyes ;)

 The finished snowman for my team.  She kept coming unraveled ;D

Their snowman was melting too..hehe!

 The next game we played, we had to draw a snowman on a paper plate on top of our heads.  We were given certain instructions at a time, such as "draw three circles on top of eachother" and "draw two stick arms coming out of the middle circle".  Do you have any idea how hard it is to find the middle circle on top of your head???!!!  Needless to say, I do not take instructions for drawing on my head very well ;D

 My aunt in the black above won.  Her snowman actually looked like a snowman! 

 After the organized games, we split off into groups and played games.  We were attempting to play Taboo here with a buzzer that wouldn't turn off.  We ended up taking out the batteries and playing without it ;)

 Playing ping pong in the basement

And as always, more chit chat!  

It was so nice being able to see all of the family again!  God has so richly blessed me with a great, fun-loving family that I cherish with all my heart!