I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! I love Easter…such a beautiful day to remember all the freedom in Christ that we have been blessed with. What a Savior we have, yes? I am so thankful…will always be SO VERY THANKFUL.
Our Easter this year was so nice. We were priveledged to be part of The Promise Center’s Easter services. They finished their building remodel literally right in time for Easter, I dare say that people were still hammering in nails an hour before service started. They have expanded their building to seat double what they normally seat and have created a youth center and new Sunday School facilities. To say that this church is growing is an understatement. It is BOOMING. They are being God’s hands and feet to the community of Santa Rosa, it is so beautiful.
They had a goal of reaching 1200 Santa Rosians with the Easter message. At the end of the day they had reached 1159!! And they had fed them all too… a lovely hot pancake breakfast for the two first services and a turkey sandwich lunch for the third service. It was amazing. So amazing it brought tears to my eyes. To see people touched by the love of Christ is beyond exciting. And to see this church community do this so beautifully is breathtaking.
The Promise Center asked Brandon to be the speaker for the two youth services they had going simultaneously with the first two services. They also asked Brandon to help find a youth band that could lead worship, so Brandon was able to get some students from Stockton to come and help out. It was a spectacular service with many new students making commitments for the first time ever.
The main sanctuary was packed to the gills, they had to pull chairs out of storage to fit everyone. Unbelievable!
If you are looking for an amazing church in Santa Rosa, I would suggest The Promise Center!!
I am so bummed however, despite the great day, that we never got a family picture! Brandon had to meet the youth team at the church super early and he was busy all morning, by the time church was over my kids were so dirty from the jumpers that the church rented that a family picture was a no go. ugh. boo. I did try {unsuccessfully} to take some pictures of the kids in the morning. I asked them to smile nicely and this is what I got….
A second stab at it. oh boy.
Well this one is sweet, at least it looks like they love each other!
At least one child is cooperative!
After service we took a very long nap! ha. I had my pot roast going so I put together some carrots, green beans and potatoes, but before we ate, my parents arrived for the egg hunt! My mom had hid them while we were napping. 
We didn’t tell the kids, but Jake looked outside and started screaming, “THE EASTER BUNNY CAME TO OUR HOUSE!!” ha! He was so excited!! So out we went for the hunt, which they immediately started fighting over, of course. ugh.
My mom planted two golden eggs which they were so excited about.
The closest thing to a family picture we got. Brandon’s taking the picture and my dad’s wandering around behind us. ha. Please excuse how horrible I looked…just rolled out of bed, a completely clean face and wow, look at how tired and swollen I look. Definitely need some more sleep! But my kiddos…aren’t they amazing? And my mom always looks great of course!
After dinner my mom surprised the kids with baskets. My mom’s famous saying is “Close your eyes!” when she’s giving a gift. I adore this one of Evy. ha. 
Speaking of Evy, she scored in her basket from us earlier this morning. Tinkerbell overload!
And yes, we had waaayyyy too much sugar. Jake’s first experience with a Peep. yikes!
I hope and pray you all had a blessed Easter! He is Risen!!
xoxo