Almost Easter...

Easter is almost here and we've been very busy enjoying spring and preparing for the holiday.I'm posting a few photos to share some of what we've been doing with all of you. 

Alexandra picked wild flowers when we visited the archaeological site, Dion. 

You can see her "Martis" bracelet.  The bracelet is made of red and white thread symbolizing a white complexion with rosy cheeks. The superstition is that children wear these bracelets so that the sun of early spring doesn't burn their cheeks. 

Alexandra's wild flowers. 

Some Easter Candles(Lambathes) on display. 

 One of my oldest and dearest friends, Brian,  came to visit and was impressed by all of the lamb he saw in the Kapani Market downtown. 

 Alexandra enjoys a koulouri while shopping.

We always get koulouri when we go downtown. 

 A little Easter shopping downtown. 

Yia Yia visited and made stefania(wreaths)  out of spring wild flowers for the kids. It's traditional to hang them on the front door of your home. We have one on all three doors  of our right now- one for each child. 

Foti  coloring Easter eggs.  

My lilacs are ready to blossom. 

The white lilacs seem to be a little bit ahead of the purple ones. 

                                                                       Apple blossoms. 

The kithonia(quince) blossoms are just about ready to open. This is one of my favorite blossoms. 

My friend Connie made tsoureki and gave some to us. Very delicious! 

This is the ultimate tsoureki made by Thia Nitsa.  We look forward to this every year. 

We'll be hosting dinner at our house this year, I have a little more shopping to do and a lot of cooking ahead. 

I'd like to wish everyone celebrating this weekend a very Happy Easter ! 

Καλό Πάσχα!

A Look at our Easter

Chocolate bunnies &  traditional red Easter eggs given to the children by our neighbors.

Easter was a week ago and I've finally got my act together so that I could post some photos from our celebration. It's been quite a busy week given the kids are home from school. 

Our Easter was very quiet this year. Friends that have spent the last two Easters with us moved back to the U.S. two weeks ago and another family that we invited informed us, on Friday, that they would be going away to a  spa resort for the weekend  instead. I ordered the lamb on Thursday. So, we had a much bigger lamb than we needed but everything always works out in the end. 

Enjoy the photos...

The coffee table ready for Easter. 

Here's a photo of Alexandra before church on Saturday night. The lambatha(candle) she was holding was decorated by her with her Yia Yia & Thia's help. The kids received many lambadas this year, typically they are given to children by their God parents/oi noni. 

A quick family photo before church. Foti is missing because he was sleeping. He was so tired and we didn't want to wake him up. Last year he went to church tired and he was so difficult that we learned to just let him sleep. 

Here's Izabella with her lambatha and the pretty dress that her Nono/God father bought for her. 

After the church service Alexandra is holding the Holy Light and ready to play tsougrisma. Izabella's egg cracked last so she'll have good luck for the year. 

Outside of the church after midnight- everyone is leaving with their lambathas to bring home the Holy Light. 

The children decorated their eggs with Yia Yia and Thia, they were so proud. Izabella's is the one with the face, Foti's with the ribbon and Alexandra's with the flowers. 

Early in the morning on Easter Foti helped Kosta clean and prepare the lamb for the souvla/spit.

Ready to go... sharing a proud "guy" moment. 

Myself with my proud little man. A proud "mom" moment. 

Foti enjoys snacking on tyropita near the lamb. Gigi wants a piece but we don't allow her to eat our food. Poor Gigi. 

Izabella spent a lot of time with her tortoise on Easter. 

Homemade Restina given to us by our neighbor. Actually, it's mine. No one enjoys it more than me!

Pouring myself a glass of Retsina. 

The lamb is ready! Time to eat...finally. 

A quick shot of the table. I was in a hurry to eat so I snapped this very fast because I was hungry! 

Finally, here's a shot of a pear blossom. We roasted the lamb near our pear trees that were in full bloom and thoroughly enjoyed their blossoms. Later in the evening we had friends stop by for coffee and dessert which was a nice way to end the day. 

Related Links: 

Easter in Greece-Greek Customs

Preparing for Easter

A Little More Easter