Easter Saturday

Growing up, the Easter Bunny never came to our house. And it was somehow okay.

We always had new spring dresses, fresh from Mom's sewing machine.

And we always joined our cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles for a Saturday Easter egg hunt.

When we moved to Utah, mom and dad recreated this tradition with years of hosting a pancake breakfast and an Easter egg hunt in their backyard on the Saturday before Easter.

I have a theme here in Alaska:

Friends are the new family.

Inspired by my friend Cathie, who put together a spontaneous Easter egg hunt at a park between general conference sessions two years ago, I have decided to carry on this tradition with our friends.

Last year we used the park.

I sent out an evite, and the first person to respond said she was going to bring homemade ice cream. I think some recently transplanted families were still under the illusion that Easter = Spring.

Not true in Alaska.

Last year at the park most of the families froze.

But it was still fun, and it gave a lot of families the chance to participate in an Easter egg hunt.

So this year I wanted to do it again.

With the volume of snow we have received this year, and the 2-3 feet that still covers most grassy areas, I knew the park would not be the best place for the event. So this year we reserved the church parking lot, then at the last minute moved it inside to the gym.

It serves me right that it snowed on my own parade, and forced me to adjust plans accordingly. I was one of those Anchorage-ites that was hoping for the record breaking snow fall to happen. And happen it did--right during the event I was hosting that was supposed to usher in spring.

From the warmth of the gym, we had 72 friends gather for a potluck lunch. It was really ideal to have the church gym available to us--because outside the snow was heavy and wet, and puddles were everywhere in the parking lot. it would have been a cold, wet, miserable experience to have the entire event outdoors--especially with so many tiny children!

But true to our Alaskan way, we moved the egg hunt to the snow piles outdoors. Someone had come to the church parking lot and made huge snow piles for us--so it was truly the perfect place for a real egg hunt!

We had a 3 and under hunt, then a hunt for the older kids. David was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got stampeded by the older kids when they were told to "GO!" I felt bad for him--he was face down in the snow and all of his eggs fell out of his basket into the snow.

He shed a few tears, then got right up and let the excitement continue. Here is David just a few minutes after his take-down. This kid has a knack for brushing off and finding a smile!

 (The only evidence we captured that it was snowing during the egg hunt--that streak of a snowflake going from David's nose to his chin.)

Happy Easter!