Each year I try to make Easter more of a season than a single day. At Christmastime we really do take the whole month to celebrate and to tell the story of Christ's birth. I think there ought to be ways to have our family focus on Easter for more than a single day. I haven't really succeeded in making it last a whole month, but we at least try to separate the secular baskets and candy and bunny from the sacred remembrance and celebration of the Savior's Resurrection.
We always hide the kids' baskets on the Saturday before Easter. After they found them this year, we got on our bikes and rode to a nearby park for breakfast and an egg hunt sponsored by the primary in the neighboring ward. On Easter Sunday we attended church, where Adah and Maggie sang "He Sent His Son" as part of a special primary choir. That evening the missionaries came for dinner and participated in a special Easter lesson where we have plastic Easter eggs filled with different objects representing the events of the Savior's last days, crucifixion, and Resurrection that we look at as we read scriptures. This is a vivid, hands-on way for the children to remember all the things that happened.
The actual Easter eggs didn't get dyed until the day after Easter, making things last just one day more. It made an excellent Family Home Evening activity. Here are the obligatory photos of our family coloring the eggs. I think this was the first year that we didn't have at least one cracked egg. Whew! The kids really are growing up.
This year I had some ideas on how to improve our Easter observance for next year, so stay tuned for Easter 2014. Here's a hint of what I have in mind.
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