Posing at Passover 2012

I grew up celebrating Passover on Saturday night and Easter on Sunday.  As the years have gone by, I appreciate the richness of Passover more and more.  I love that Passover celebrates God saving His people.  I love that the blood of the lambs over the doorposts of homes meant God's wrath passed over that Israelite household - and that is my claim too for eternal salvation - the Lamb of God Jesus' blood saves me from God's wrath.  From the meaning of the 4 cups of wine to the hiding of the matzah, there is symbolism all over the Passover Seder that points to the redemptive plan of the Father through His Son.  It is one of my favorite nights of the year!

We gathered with family and friends to celebrate Passover Seder at Aunt Debbie's.  The Seder always begins at 6pm, but this year the lighting was perfect at about 6:30, which meant 30+ minutes of posing for pictures before we even started the ceremony. 

I'm always a fan of family pictures, but Collin was not pleased we took  him away from the wagon racing on the driveway.  Here are all the grandkids with our family matriarch, minus Alex who was in Indy.  





Uncle Larry was so thoughtful to bring Collin a car, which got us through the photos plus the hour long Seder ceremony.   

Cas' family joined us, with Uncle Libero and Aunt Elida making their first Passover appearance.  I wish we had a picture of Aunt Elida's rock star heels - at 6 months pregnant she is still gracefully maneuvering in 4-inch heels -

The hostess with the mostess, Aunt Debbie, who manages to coordinate a dinner for 40+ people.  These three beautiful generations all share a home - Debbie, Jasper & Jewell Rae -

 Jake & Leah (who was our "celebrity" cousin after flying in from NYC to celebrate with us)

  Aunt Carla, Daniel, Mary (friend of family), Jackson & Uncle Bob - 

 My parents -

I love this shot of my Grandma Betty with her kids, my mom & Uncle Dick -  

  Daniel & Cas in twinkie shirts - 

I think my two biggest hang-ups with Collin are what he eats (we try to avoid processed food) and his sleep schedule.  I plan my life around his nap and he always is in his bed by 8:30pm at the latest.  (There are other things I'm probably to lax about, drop a goldfish on the ground at the zoo and eat it, great, building immunities.)  Anyway, Passover marks Collin's latest night yet - I think by the time he settled down in bed it was almost 10pm!  Here he is with a sad face because at 90 minutes past his bedtime, the cake was just out of reach.  But grinning with Uncle Larry -

And here's how my night ended - Cas took Collin home and I got to sit on the couch with a glass of wine and chat with my wonderful cousin Leah, my Aunt Cheryl, Aunt Carla and my mom - bliss!