Easter traditions...

Everything feels a little different here.  Not bad.  Just different.  I struggled getting up the motivation to do our annual day-after-easter-easter egg hunt.  The "right" people just weren't going to be there.  I didn't know how to get excited about something I couldn't picture in my head.  But my children have missed out on quite a few family traditions since last August when Tom first left for Idaho.  For them, I had to do it.  So we invited Tom's sister and a bunch of Tom's cousins that live locally.  It felt nice to do it for family.  And to know that my girls were learning about their roots. 

But to break myself in, we first went to the city Easter egg hunt with our new friends, and next door neighbors, the Maxfields.  They have daughters the twin's and Sam's age. And the parents are pretty fun too... :)

Sam and Annabelle - they are going to be trouble in a few years...

 Weird thing to find in an egg at a kid's hunt, right?  It was the favorite thing she got... (Alix)

 Once he learned there was candy inside, Ethan was an excellent hunter!

 Nothing creepy about a life-sized, cross eyed Easter bunny...

 Easter dinner was wonderful.  We had Tom's grandma come and spend the day with us.  We watched General Conference and ate a great dinner.  I loved the strong Spirit that was there all day. :) 

The weather for our Easter egg hunt was sunny, but cold.  

 Our new yard is AWESOME for egg hunts!  So many great hiding places and tons of room.

 We always hide some "special" golden eggs that come with a "big" prize.  And we really hide those eggs.  This is Tom narrowing down the search zone for the last 2 golden eggs.

 Whole new batch of kids, but we got the annual picture! :)

Rabbit races - in the bunny ears the kids made while the dads were out hiding eggs...

 And as part of the inside activities I do a "Guess What's in the Egg" game.  I fill a bunch of plastic eggs with whatever I can find (literally whatever - cheerios, Nerds, screws, washers, cotton balls, rice, popcorn kernels...) and tape them shut.  The crew gets to shake them and guess what's inside.  I usually give them a list with a few extra items on it (just to throw them off...).  It's a great time filler and the grownups even like to get in on this one!

I'm so grateful I didn't let another tradition pass our family by.  These are the things that make us the family we are.  We are adjusting to our new life and it's nice to blend the old with the new.  And we love having all these cousins around!