Celebrating Easter

I am truly beginning to see how the holidays take on a more special meaning when you have children. This Easter was especially meaningful to me because it was the first Easter where we could explain to Jadon the true meaning of the holiday—aside from the Easter bunny, Easter baskets, candy, etc. We talked to him about our savior Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made on the cross for us.

With the craziness of moving, unpacking, reorganizing and adjusting to a new city, my heart and mind was not focused. For example, I usually take note of Ash Wednesday –the beginning of Lent , the 40 days prior to Easter. This year, I was completely oblivious. I didn’t even realize Easter was approaching until about two weeks before the date! So, what better way to focus my mind and heart than to teach my sweet two year old about Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice? I decided to do a craft day to show him instead of tell him. (Now if you know me, you know I am not a crafty type of person so this was going to be interesting.) I did some research (btw, there is ton of fun stuff on the Internet for preschoolers!!), and I called in some reinforcements. My sister-in-law, Andrea and cousin, Cherie have been doing preschool letter days with their little ones where they do awesome crafts. I thought that this would be a great opportunity for Jadon to hang out with his cousins while mommy got some help from a few experts. And what resulted was a beautiful morning of fun and learning!





Here the cousins wait for their craft instructions.





First, Aunt Andrea explained the importance of Easter. Then we made "Resurrection Rolls". They are a combination of a marshmallow dipped in butter, cinnamon and sugar, and then wrapped in a crescent roll! YUMMY! The marshmallow is suppose to represent Jesus' body, the cinnamon represents the oil and spices that were rubbed on Him after His death, and the crescent roll represents the tomb. Awesome, right? (I found this activity online).

When the rolls are cooked and ready to be eaten, we see that the marshmallow (Jesus' body) has disappeared and the roll (the tomb) is empty! Jesus is alive! The kids LOVED this! They loved eating the rolls too!

Next we made a replica of the cross and empty tomb with sticks, yarn, rocks, plastic grass, an empty eggshell, and paper plate.

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On Easter Sunday, we dressed up in our Sunday best and went to church.

Afterwards, we gathered at Jessie and Allie’s house for a pizza party and Easter Egg Hunt.

This was Jadon’s first Easter Egg Hunt. Here the kids are getting in position for the big race!

It took him about two seconds to get the hang of it and then he was on a mission to find as many eggs as possible!

The end result was a bag full of eggs! He was so proud of himself that for the rest of the afternoon, he refused to put down his bag. He literally carried it with him running about the backyard with the other kids for an hour or so. We kept asking if we could hold it for him but he said, “no”. Later we found him in a secluded part of the backyard, under a tree, eating his chocolates. That was probably his plan all along. Who knew he could delicately unwrap the thin foil from around those chocolate eggs?…



Before the afternoon ended, we took some pictures with the family.

This Easter holiday was wonderful, we got to spend some quality time together as a family. Last year, Arrielle was still in my tummy. This year, we were able to share this awesome holiday with our two sweet babies! And, the most important part of all is that our Savior has risen from the dead and we no longer have to face eternal damnation –because we believe, we are saved and have the promise of eternal life. Thank you Jesus!!!