My favorite seder

Avi and I talked about how lucky we are that we get to celebrate both Passover and Easter. There's lots more pictures from Passover, including Avi's school Seder last week. But this is just a small snapshot I could download tonight. I so enjoyed our Seder last night and also our Easter Sunday morning.
Avi came down with a cold a few days ago; I have been racked by allergies. He reminded me that fatigue is mostly a state of mind. He proclaimed that Leeor is "never" tired, nor is he. I chose to take the metaphor from our conversation and decided not to be tired anymore, either. Freedom from fatigue.
Amber, John, and their 3 gorgeous offspring visited this week. Baby Jack is not even 2 months old; 3 year old Clara calls Avi her prince. Micah, all of 14, has much wisdom. It was a virtual spring break for us.
Lilit loves toast (Leeor is the only one of our family keeping kosher for Passover). I loved imagining her as a teen while hanging out with our friends' daughter. Leeor was obsessed with their baby; this man wants another one and I am the only one who sees the big picture and says no emphatically. But it was a treat to hold a baby.
These two are just adorable. I wanted to introduce a new ritual at our seder and Saba made an announcement about it at the table in the sweetest, most inclusive way. I really lucked out to get such amazing in-laws.
This year, I enjoyed the ritual of the Haggadah more than ever. I'm not sure why, but it just felt good.
The children were mostly in other rooms, playing and snacking, save baby Jack strapped to Amber's body, and Micah, who fits in well with the grownups. Saba downloaded a new Haggadah to share and mix things up. Somehow I have two of the right tablecloths and Itay and Jen brought bowls so we would have enough for Safta's soup, which she taught me how to make (!). I found a super easy brisket recipe and dumped it all in the slow cooker the night before. I almost felt guilty about how easy it was to make--so I must be really integrating Judaism with my latent Catholicism.
Jen's chair is empty because she took the photo but looking at it, it looks like the chair we left for Elijah. Except that we left Leeor's leather chair for him, so that Elijah could recline to the left.
My simple centerpieces; our back and front yard lovelies, cut and arranged with the kids' help into used jam jars. It was such a sweet, shared event, with the grandparents providing necessities such as wisdom and matzoh ball soup; our generation provided new rituals and of course, the granchildren running around. I'm pretty sure Avi ate gluten free matzah and chocolate for dinner. He announced with big eyes this morning that he loved our seder because he got to eat "so many treats!" Things get missed when 10 adults, a teen, 4 toddlers and a baby come together to celebrate Passover in our little home.

My favorite part of the evening was when we all went around the table and talked about what we'd like to have freedom from. It turned into a rich discussion and I was left with a lot of gifts I hadn't expected.

We also talked about the similarities of Easter and Passover, of the eggs used to symbolize fertility. With a pregnant woman and a newborn present, fertility was palpable. But it also seemed to represent the season and the possibilities present.

The next few months will be busy and bring much change. But we are grounded in the traditions we share with family and friends, in the rituals we observe together.