Easter 2025

Happy Easter season to all my readers! I had a busier than usual Holy Week and Easter, but now I’ve got a minute to record a few details before our Easter break is over. Affiliate links below.

My parent’s 50th wedding anniversary fell on Holy Saturday this year, and my mom really wanted us all together to celebrate. I offered to host everything at our house (it’s honestly easier than traveling and dealing with caregiving elsewhere), so I spent most of the week cleaning and shopping for supplies. Thankfully, we still managed to get to Holy Thursday and Good Friday services, but the anniversary celebrations meant no one would attend the Easter Vigil this year. Edie was recently hired full time with a company that works out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard and was on a tugboat all week. Her work wrapped up and she was home in time to attend the Good Friday service with us. Addie and her boyfriend Adam flew in Friday night, and my sister, her partner, and their daughter, my niece also flew in Friday, but spent time with family in Lancaster before they, and my parents came over Saturday.

I served a light lunch and we took a bunch of family photos. The weather was perfect and my two year old niece cooperated beautifully even if she wasn’t smiling in any of the photos. She consistently looked at the camera which is pretty much a miracle. We ate out at a local restaurant my parents selected and then spent time back at our house afterwards. We did an egg hunt just for my niece (her first ever) and she ran around the yard collecting eggs I’d filled with stickers. She proceeded to put the stickers all over her clothes and face and wear them for the remainder of the day. It was great having a little kid in the house again. While Addie and Adam stayed at our house, everyone else retired to hotels for the night.

On Sunday, I had to attend an early Mass alone so I could get home and finish making Easter dinner. My sister and her family had to leave at 3 p.m. so dinner had to be ready when my family got home from Mass. While I don’t want to make splitting up for Easter a tradition, it was nice to have an empty house while I cooked and set the table. I do have a playlist I like to listen and sing along to, so being able to do that without comments was also a blessing. We had 14 people in total, including a friend of mine who’s been joining us the last few years. I actually set up two six foot tables in our living room and used our dining table as a buffet and it worked great. We usually break out our china set, but since that’s only for 12, and I really didn’t want to hand wash all those dishes (or more likely have Tony wash all those dishes), I got a really nice set of heavy duty plastic plates. It seemed like my sister had just arrived when she needed to leave again. It was the first time Tony and the kids had met my niece’s father, and Fulton really connected with him once he learned his cousin had played for the New Orleans Saints (Fulton’s favorite football team). We had a few hours until Addie and Adam needed to head to the airport so we did an egg hunt (a bit more cutthroat) and decorated eggs. I’d gotten an egg spinner for Fulton and Teddy to try and we all wound up using, and loving it. We still dyed our eggs, but if you want to avoid the mess of dyeing eggs, the spinner is a great option! (We’re also huge fans of these egg wraps.)

My Easter menu this year (I’m saving the savory Easter pie for Low Sunday).

• lamb with homemade brandy gravy (It was our largest lamb to date at over 11lbs! I miss being able to call and relay that fact to my grandmother.)
• mashed potatoes
• roasted artichokes
• cheesy carrots
• cheese ravioli
• salad bar
• fruit salad
• bread
• And for dessert we had Tony’s homemade cannoli, ricotta pie and I had a friend make my parent’s a special anniversary cake

Like the rest of you, I woke up Easter Monday to the news of Pope Francis’ death. I’ve been following the headlines through the EWTN app, but remain off social media because I just don’t need to know what everyone thinks about Pope Francis and who his possible successor might be. We’re praying about *all of it* waves hands wildly and I’ve reminded the kids that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church so let’s talk about something else at dinner thankyouverymuch. I also realized I have blog posts from the last papal conclave, the best of which is my board game Papalopoly. Teddy is curious to try it so we might print out a fresh copy and give it a go tonight. This post also has a lot of links to great resources, most of which are still available and applicable. I also shared a post on my ministry’s website that lists quotes the Pope made about the disabled.

Prayers and blessings to you all for a celebratory Easter season!