Easter

Easter has come and gone. We had a wonderful time yesterday and today I feel somewhat "lost" as the focus I've had for the past month or so is suddenly over. Time to relax and take it easy I think. :)
There was plenty to do to get ready for hosting Easter dinner. The family pitched right in and we all worked together on Saturday to get the house looking better than it has ever looked! Thank you Michael and children!!!

Emily came home with flowers and an idea which sprouted into adorable centerpieces for the table.

I wrapped up hot cross buns to serve as name places/favors.

Everything was finally ready and waiting for our guests to arrive!

For a few hours, our living room (the most put-together room in the house) looked quite nice! If only it could look like this everyday! :)

David loves to get out the broom and pretend to help. I run around paranoid that I'm going to be socked in the head with the broom handle.
And I did manage to get something of a group shot of the Easter bunnies.
Grandma arrived early and entertained the children with a story.

We had a lovely assortment of appetizers: mini hot cross buns, veggies, grapes, strawberries with fruit dip, marinated baked olives, and baked brie that was outstanding! (We accidentally baked it too long, but we decided we like it this way as you could just scoop it onto a cracker and let it melt in your mouth.
We had a lovely spinach and apple salad:
I cooked my very first leg of lamb, which I was very relieved to have turn out! I made a Shrewsbury Sauce to accompany it, which was delightful. We had steamed carrots and asparagus, potato slices baked in cream, and a peach-spice jello salad. I can only take credit for the lamb and vegetables, as well as hot cross buns. Everything else was brought by various guests!
The kids had their own little table, and loved drinking the punch (for my British friends -- "punch" in America is usually just juice with fizzy water, so no worries! :) )
The happiest moment for a hostess is seeing her guests enjoying the food and having a splendid time at the table. This made me so happy!

After dinner, it was time to get out the teas and coffees. I love using what I refer to as my "Easter egg teacups". I have 9 of these cups, from 2 different sets. I think they are just perfect for Easter!
We had a three-layer chocolate cake which I did steal a bite of, and it was really, really good! And some wonderful, almond-flavored nut cookies with icing, which I also had a bite of and decided they were very, very good. (And I'm wanting to eat one today) And then we had an incredible Lemon Cheesecake topped with home-made lemon curd and the best rasberries I've tasted in so long!

I should have taken a picture to end with of the table once the meal was over! Many thanks to my mom and other family members who chipped in to help with the clean up as Michael and I and the children dashed away to the evening service!

And what shall the next event be?.........