A Drummond Family Easter

Alex and Paige were at the house a few days before Easter, and while we were huddled up in my office talking about the weekend's upcoming plans and whether to get bunny ears for Fred and Rusty to wear, we noticed a gorgeous sunset outside. So Alex grabbed her phone to take a photo, and I grabbed my phone to take a photo of Alex taking a photo of the sunset.

Then Paige grabbed her phone to take a photo of me taking a photo of Alex taking a photo of the sunset. Whew! It's a good thing the rest of the kids and their phones weren't there yet. It could have been a multi-phone, multi-layered ordeal!

As I covered on my Food Network episode this past Saturday, Paige has been working on the ranch for the past few months and it's been so good to have her at home more. Alex still helps me with all things PW, so when they're both on the ranch at the same time, I just feel like things are being handled. In fact, why am I here? I think I'll go on a yearlong vacation. Not really, I'd miss the dogs too much. But someday! (Well...maybe a ten day vacation, haha.)

I've written before about the fact that I do a little children's message (called "Children's Moment" or "Children's Time" in some protestant churches) every Sunday, and Alex snapped this pic of me delivering my Easter message to the kids. I wasn't reading the message on my phone; I was showing them an app about the universe and tying it together with Easter, and at least it made sense in my head! 😂 We have a nice, sweet church and this was actually a good crowd of kids for us! The sweet little girl in front was riveted by my message, as you can see!

My kids! And a husband! And a boyfriend! And a football teammate! Ah, it was so great for everyone to be able to be home. Left to right: Tyler (Bryce's teammate at OSU), Todd (home from college for the weekend), Jamar (home from college for the weekend), Bryce (in the middle of spring ball at OSU), me, Ladd, Alex, Mauricio, Paige...and David! David just moved to Dallas from Phoenix, and since Paige goes to Dallas most weekends, they get to see each other quite a bit. (Hi, Rusty!)

You have no idea how many attempts it took for us to get one single family photo where everyone's eyes were open, everyone was looking at the camera, the dogs weren't jumping on us, and dresses weren't blowing up. I guess when the dogs heard it was time for a family photo, they really wanted to be considerate and make absolutely sure we didn't miss forget them! So nice of them, don't you think?

Tim, Missy, and their kids Caleb and Halle required exactly one take to get their perfect family photo. How did they do that? 😂 It was so great being with them on Easter! Obviously we're family but we're all always heading in separate directions and don't get much quality time. Caleb and Paige run into each other on the ranch a lot, and of course brothers Tim and Ladd are always working together. But Halle is in Texas working on getting her pilot's license (!!) and Missy has a big job taking care of her and Tim's horses. So we had a great time together!

Jamar ran off to change into his Easter egg hunt clothes so I had to snap a pic of whatever kids were left. It occurs to me that my four Drummond kids' height actually goes in ascending order. Todd, the youngest is tallest...and it goes on up to Alex, the oldest, being shortest. (Well...she's 5'10"! 😂) And by the way, am I saying that right? Ascending order? Or is it descending? I don't know, I need more coffee. Basically, my firstborn is shortest, my baby is tallest, and sitting behind all of them in church was tricky. I could hear the pastor but I couldn't see her!!

Okay, they're not so little...but they kind of are in my heart. Both Todd and Bryce are busy with spring ball at their respective schools, so it was great to be able to have them both home. They're good at balancing seeing their old friends with spending time with their boring ol' mom and dad...oh, and hauling off trash and picking up the yard and doing the dishes and...(more on this in the next slide.)

We had a big meal of prime rib, mashed potatoes, asparagus, salads, rolls, and deviled eggs, then the kids changed into their comfy clothes and hid in the garage while Ladd and Tim hid eggs all over our yard. We have a traditional family egg hunt that started at Chuck and Nan's house in the old days, and we've never skipped a year! The eggs are filled with cold hard cash, so it's not exactly Easter-appropriate, haha. But I love seeing how excited they all get.

I always count the number of eggs and bucks inside, because one year in town, Chuck and Nan's next door neighbor ran his lawn mower over an egg a couple of months after Easter and money blew out the other side, ha! So I want to ensure they find all the eggs there are to find. And they did! Look at those excited little kids go.

When I saw this photo, I didn't see a 21-year-old college football player. I saw a sweet little blond cutie-pie who would suck his thumb while holding his blankie, which was a worn and torn yellow towel from J.C. Penney. I saw his dimpled little darling boy whose animated expressions made me bust out laughing at random moments during the day. I miss that little boy---but at the same time I love this young man he's becoming. Easter gave me all the feels this year!

In closing, the boys cleaned up the entire kitchen---every last dish---after our meal. So if having all the kids home was the greatest gift I could have received on Easter day...this was a very close second. Thank you guys!