I hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.

Our day was filled to the brim.

We started out the morning celebrating with our church family.  A building full of sinners.  Sinners that I love and share this crazy life with.  Sinners that can gather together and celebrate because we have hope.  Hope in The One that has overcome the grips of the grave.  Hope for us… that we might have life… everlasting life and life to the full!  Hallelujah!

…

We had a late brunch with my parents.

This brunch menu was my inspiration.

Spring Salad with Herbs
Cheese, Leek, and Herb Souffle Casserole
Oven Browns
Rosemary, Fennel, and Garlic Lamb-Sausage Rounds
Cinnamon-Bun Bites
Raspberry Custard Tart
Minted Mandarin and Strawberry Coolers

{Martha Stewart Living Magazine 2012.  You can see it all here.}

The souffle is especially good.

You should try it… really.  You will impress your friends and family.

From the original menu, I replaced the sausage with a delicious ham that Mom and Dad made, and I opted for fresh orange juice rather than the “minted mandarin and strawberry cooler”.  I have made the cooler before, and it is good… but I was going for easy, and our grocery store is now selling fresh squeezed orange juice so it was an easy decision.  And for dessert… I made individual raspberry tartlets.  My own version.  Super easy… I’ll share that later.

We had quite a down pour during our meal, but the clouds dispersed and the sun came out again and we were able to have a little fun with some great friends when evening rolled around.

Here you can see the aftermath from a blurry phone pic.

I didn’t get everything picked up and “just so” before friends and family arrived, and I managed to get my feelings hurt a time or two when I was working to get everything done… just so you know life is FAR from perfect around here.