He is Risen

He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed! 

Yesterday, Josh and I celebrated our first Easter together away from our families.  I was a little sad at first, thinking about the fact that we were missing Easter church service with our family, dinner at our Gramma's house, and Easter baskets from Mom and Dad.  But then I realized that because we are here in the UK, we are also missing having to drive from one family's house to another family's house.  Practically missing dinner at every place.  Spending almost as much time in the car as we were at each house.  And being so busy that there is hardly even a chance to focus on the real reason for the day, Jesus' death on the cross in order to save us all from our sins and His resurrection three days later. 

So yesterday, Josh and I enjoyed a very pleasant Easter Sunday in Newcastle upon Tyne, where the weather was so perfect it could only have been planned by God and where there was only one stop for Easter dinner....our flat, with our good friends here that have truly become our family.

Growing up in the Fairman household, Easter baskets were a must.  Even last year (with four kids over the age of 18), Mom and Dad littered the Fairman floors with candy and goodies for us to collect on Easter morning.  I didn't make Josh hunt for candy and Easter eggs (though that would have been much more fun), but I did make us some Easter baskets, because honestly, Easter's not really complete without them.  And also, I have LOADS of time on my hands for fun crafts.

My little Easter Bunny Hubby

On Easter morning, Josh and I ventured down to St. George's Church (coincidence...I think not.) in Jesmond.  St. George's Church is Anglican, which is from what I can tell, some type of reformed Catholicism.  Josh and I aren't Catholic or Anglican for that matter.  At home, we regularly attend a Southern Baptist church, but here in the UK, Baptist churches are nearly impossible to find and in my opinion, whether you are Catholic or Anglican, Baptist or Mennonite, we are all worshiping the same God and so on Easter Sunday, Josh and I worshiped with the Anglicans, in what was probably the oldest and most beautiful church I have ever attended.  I really wanted to take pictures inside, but I figured that might be a little inappropriate.

St. George's Church

After the service, we headed back to our flat to finish the last minute preparations for our Easter lunch.  I finished cleaning up the house and preparing my additions to our potluck. 

My Easter table

Our friends Kevin, Julie, Kris, Tarrah, Ryan, Allison, and Austin came over to enjoy Easter lunch with us.  The afternoon began with an Easter egg hunt in our front yard for Austin.  He is just over one and a half and this was his first real Easter egg hunt.  He picked up the point of it surprisingly fast and after only a couple of minutes, he was running all over the yard collecting candy filled eggs.  It was soooo cute.

Josh and I

After stuffing our faces with lots of good food, including some amazing ham that Allison made and the best macaroni and cheese ever by Julie, we decided that before we could eat Kris's homemade lemon meringue pie, we needed to go for a stroll through Jesmond Dene.  It was such a perfect day for walking in the park.  We took a couple blankets out there, some drinks, and the football and spent an hour or so basking in the sunshine and enjoying the day.

When we returned to the flat, we indulged in pie, brownies, cupcakes, ice cream, and candy.  Not my best diet day by any means, but it was a great Easter Sunday with our friends.  We are so thankful for each and every one of them.



Our Newcastle Family