Happy Easter!

Growing up, the Easter Bunny never came to our house. My Mom always said it was because she didn't believe in him. We were taught that we should think about Christ's Atonement and celebrate His resurrection, on Easter Sunday. As a kid, I didn't see the value in it...of course. What kid would want to pass up candy and presents to think about "church stuff"?

Jason grew up with the Easter Bunny. So when we were married and started having kids, the Easter Bunny finally found me and visited our family.

Each year, at Easter, I felt conflicted. I felt wrong. I felt that I was going against something deep inside me. Finally, I spoke to Jason about how I was feeling. He wasn't "on board" at first. He liked the Easter Bunny visiting. He liked the candy, egg hunts and fun around Eater time. I assured him I wasn't against candy, egg hunts and fun... just the Easter Bunny. As we talked and I continued to reassure him that I would still buy candy, take the kids to the egg hunts and still have FUN, he finally agreed to no Easter Bunny.

So how do you explain to your kids that the Easter Bunny isn't coming around any more??? (We had 3 kids by this time. Although Treyson was still very young.)

Answer: We made it THEIR idea...sort of. We gathered the kids for FHE. We talked about what Easter was REALLY about. We asked if Easter was about a bunny. No! Then should we tell the Easter Bunny to "hop on by"? Yes! Ok. (Some may call this "brain washing". I call it a good idea.)

Then we made a sign. It said, "Dear Easter Bunny, We choose to celebrate Christ on Easter. Please hop on by. Love, The Smullins" Then we taped it to our front door. --I guess it worked, because he hasn't been back since.

I've heard some verbal regret, in the past few years. "Why did we put that sign on the door? Now he'll NEVER come see us!"

Soon after the bunny tradition went away, I was referred a book, "A Christ-Centered Easter" by Janet and Joe Hales. This had some really cool ideas in it. We soon created a new Easter tradition... the passover dinner. We explained what the passover was and we ate a meal like Christ would have eaten in his day. This included sitting on the floor with blankets and pillows... an ancient picnic.

My kids LOVED the new tradition! They now look forward to it all year. One of the most favorite things they look forward to is the goat cheese. Who knew??????????

Olives, goat cheese, dried apricots, dates, figs, sunflower seeds, almonds, hard boiled eggs.
Pita bread (our version of unleavened bread), carrots, "bitter herbs", grapes, grape juice and tuna fish.
This year I also tried a new recipe, from the book, Lentil Soup. It had spices in it I had never used; marjoram and thyme.
Next, we did another of our Easter traditions... "Easter in an Egg". I'm sure you've seen or done this before. There are 11 eggs. In each one of them there is an object that represents a piece of the first Easter story. Example: sacrament cup (last supper), rope (Jesus was bound), 3 dimes (30 pieces of silver), a rock, etc. Of course the last egg is empty...because Jesus was risen. We read each scripture that goes with the object and discuss the story.
It's amazing. Each time we do this, I learn something new...or something I had forgotten.

I feel better about our most recent Easters. I feel we DO try to center our celebration more on Christ. Sorry Easter Bunny. Your out of a job (at our house) forever.

HAPPY EASTER!!!