Easter Memories and Traditions

I love Easter. It is hands down my favorite holiday. For one thing - it's in the spring - my favorite season! But also, some of my best memories as a kid are of Easter. Now that I have my own kids, I spend a lot of time thinking about why that was. I want to be able to create those kind of memories for my family and I love holiday traditions. My mom always did such a great job with my egg hunts and baskets. I still remember where she hid my baskets most years. Some of my favorites were... in the dryer, balancing on the towel bar in the bathroom (I kept looking and looking but must have been short and never looked up) and the year it was hiding in a field in the forest with a balloon attached. There were always eggs everywhere, and every year she would count how many she hid and yet we would never find them all. So, every July or August, one of the dogs would show up with a cracked plastic egg in their mouth. Then there was the year that each egg had a clue leading to the next egg. It was by far my favorite egg hunt! I started this tradition last year with my kids and it was a huge hit - they were writing clues and making there own egg hunts for days after. They are already making sure that I will be doing the same again this year. (Luckily I still have my clues on the computer so with a few changes I can use them again!)

The other thing that always made Easter so special was my Grandpa. Being an only child, there were no siblings compete with to find the most eggs. So, the egg hunts were between Grandpa and me. He would chase me around trying to steal my eggs and talking a big talk about finding them all before me. When I was little I was worried he really was stealing my eggs - but as I got older (and realized he gave me all the eggs he found) I just loved the tradition and fun of something we shared together. Last June he passed away and with Easter approaching I am missing him more than ever. How grateful it has made me to have the gospel in my life - knowing that I will see him again is such a blessing! On a side note - as a family we are taking this week to ponder and learn about the saviors death and resurrection. This morning we were reading about Mary not recognizing the savior when he first appeared to her - we asked the kids why she didn't recognize him and Jackson's answer was, "Because he was brand new- with some holes!" They really do make scripture study pretty entertaining (when they aren't asleep!)

Anyway, Easter is almost here and for the first time I can remember, we won't have any family here with us. Luckily, we are having some dear friends over and I get to be in charge of the egg hunt! It's helping me to focus on the fun parts of this Easter and pass along all the fun I had as a child - I love it. I am also in charge of the Ham (wish me luck...) and some other food. I am sure it will work out - and if it doesn't - my friend is a great cook so at least something will be edible. And Grandpa, I love you, I miss you and I promise to steal eggs and candy from all my kids in honor of you!