Easy Easter

We went to our church's Easter service Saturday night, so our Sunday Easter celebration was laid-back and certainly like no other Easter we've ever had!

Our church's Saturday night Easter drama was AWESOME and very moving. We all went to Sunday school during the 5:00 service. Travis and I are small group leaders for Maddie and Justis's 1st-3rd grade class, and Jillian and Daws went to their classes. Travis, me, Madalynn, Justis and Dawson went to the 6:45 church service. The production told the events of the Easter story from Palm Sunday to Resurrection Day. The adults as well as the kids left with a crystal-clear portrait of the reason Jesus died for us. (To those of you wondering why in the world our church has two services Saturday night, it's because over 4,000 people attend church each weekend over 5 services. Two are Saturday night services and there are three Sunday morning services.)

We slept in on Easter Day and dyed our eggs in the afternoon. The Easter Bunny was almost late this year, but made it by Easter day. (Whew!) Daddy Easter Bunny bought candy Saturday and Mommy Easter Bunny went to Walgreens to get the plastic eggs Easter day. Matter-of-fact-Madalynn made it clear to her siblings a long time ago that the Easter Bunny is Mom and Dad. Travis and I have no reason to sneak around, therefore, and are at liberty to go to bed whenever we want to Easter Eve! ;)

We dyed camouflage eggs this year. Fun, but messy! Oil mixed in with the egg coloring produced the splotchy camo effect. The dyed eggs were just for traditional fun and decoration, though, because the kids wanted to hunt for the candy-filled eggs! Daddy Easter Bunny hid the eggs and also put money in the form of one-dollar bills into four of the eggs (and had to make sure each of the kids got one of the dollars).

We started with the littlest, giving Jillian a head start on finding the eggs. Then we let Dawson out, then Justis and finally Madalynn. THEN the mad rush to get the eggs was on. We should have let Justis out to find the eggs last, instead of Madalynn, because he was all over those eggs like stink on a skunk! Dawson and Jillian kept trying to stop and open their eggs to eat the candy, but we had to remind them they needed to hurry so they could get some eggs before Madalynn and Justis got them all. I would say Travis and I had an equally-fun time participating in the festivities.

Travis hid 51 eggs and we only counted 50 when we thought we were done. So, clawing and tripping over one-another, they all scrambled back out into the grass to find the coveted 51st egg. Lo and behold, Justis was the "winner." He found that egg in less than a minute. He's always a man on a mission. Thankfully they were all good sports and didn't compare how many eggs they each got. They just enjoyed the fun finding them and eating what was in them.

My favorite part of this Easter was remembering what my Savior did for me without having to worry about fancy clothes, big meals, or formal gatherings. I like traditional Easters too, don't get me wrong. This year, though, we wore casual clothes Easter service, focused on the message, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of a formal meal for Easter lunch and dyed our Easter eggs the day of Easter. Stripping off all of the formalities, commercialism and traditions and getting down to the true meaning of Easter was powerful (and enjoyable) for all of us.