Easter Celebration Sunday, March 31, 2013

Easter is the holiday in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a belief and practice that has been in our families for as long as I can remember. We review the Easter story in church and in our homes reading the scriptural account of the time when Mary Magdalene, the other Mary and other women with them went to the sepulchre to take care Jesus' body.  They found he wasn't there but were greeted by an angel who told them that Jesus had risen, and to go tell the others. I am grateful for his atonement and  resurrection and that we all will have that opportunity to be resurrected and be with our loved ones.

 We also celebrate Easter on a more casual note, which includes chocolate Easter bunnies, decorated eggs, Easter egg hunts and cookouts. In my youth while growing up my friends and younger sister would take hikes up Baldy mountain which was across the highway and a few miles from our house.  Here we have no mountains nearby, but we have a nice backyard and take advantage of that.

For the past few years we have sponsored an Easter egg hunt for all the grandchildren who can be at our house. It is something they look forward too, the motivating factor is the treasure they find within the eggs, “no (j)yolk.” Especially enticing is the money they may find along with the sweets. We may put notes in the eggs dealing with the resurrection and atonement of Jesus, or their ancestry, or puzzles or letters so at the end of the hunt they may see how many words they can form. Prizes are given for the ones who create the most words. It usually ends up in a rigorous and fun competition, each helping one another.

This year we may have to call the Easter egg hunt a Search and Rescue Mission since it deals with teens rather than children. (Who said that Easter Egg hunts are for kids only!) Stefanie, Brent and their children have a family gathering with their cousins and won't be attending. Here are two Easter pictures from Stefanie via e-mail. This is Caleb reaching for an Easter cookie.  Yum Yum.

In the afternoon Richelle, Larry, Philip, Alex and Willy showed up with lots of Easter paraphernalia, like boiled eggs, Easter egg decorations, a bushel full of filled plastic eggs, ham, etc.

Willy did much of the egg coloring,

(there's a short video of him and his eggs) and Richelle prepared her cheesy potato casserole, ham and corn for our Easter dinner. I provided the Strawberries and shortcake for dessert.

We started our celebration with a dinner, and as soon as the dishes were done up  (grimace) the bunnies jumped right into the hunt; a hunt for the Red eggs, blue eggs, gold eggs, yellow eggs, speckled eggs, character eggs...

Willy got through the door first being the  youngest, then out flew Philip and Alex. The secret for this hunt was "how fast can you go."  The eggs weren't difficult to find except for the ones Angie hid, and she almost outwitted them. (Below is a window movie video of the hunt.)

The three boys were successful in finding loads and loads of treasure, and the adults eagerly jumped right in to help them count their loot.  Check out pictures.

To finish this day in a Grandpa and Larry fashion a campfire was built in the outdoor fireplace and any who wanted gathered around to enjoy the star-lit night.  Fortunately mother nature was generous and handed us some lovely weather.

HOPE EVERYONE HAD A SPECIAL EASTER 

CELEBRATION.  

LOVE, Grandma and Grandpa Starr

                                                                Easter Egg Hunt