Traditions or memories?

This week has been a crazy mess. It started over a week ago when we I awoke to not one, by two kids throwing up. And one by one the dominoes fell until just as of yesterday we were ALL feeling better. The past Easter traditions just didn't happen this year. Normally we celebrate Holy week and discuss the Savior and the last week of His life. We celebrate Palm Sunday, the feast of the pass over, and Good Friday. This year we discussed Palm Sunday and the cleansing of the temple, and dyed eggs. And that was it. 

Dying Easter Eggs

It made me think of the Easter traditions growing up. We got Easter baskets on Saturday so we could focus on the Savoir on Sunday. We got new Easter dresses and had a great feast. I remember a beautiful Easter hat one year. I remember dying Easter eggs, but not a lot. It doesn't mean it didn't happen every year, I just don't remember it every year. I wonder what from my childhood was really a tradition or what was a memory. I thought a lot about what the difference is, but mostly about what I want my children to remember. 

2016's Family Easter Basket

I want my children to know that the Easter bunny, the chicks, the eggs all represent the new life that we experience during Spring. This new life is symbolic of the Savior and the new life that He gave us by dying for us that we can live again someday. I want them to know that the Savior went through so much because He was motivated by the love that He has for us. Not just us as a whole, but EACH of us individually. I want them to know that Easter is my favorite holiday, not because I love daffodils and chicks (although I do) but because it is the holiday that makes all the others worth celebrating. Without Easter, the rest doesn't mean much. I want my five little human beings to know that if it wasn't for Easter, we couldn't live forever with our Father in Heaven again someday.

We dyed some eggs, and there will be a family Easter basket in the morning, but I hope that by our worship tomorrow, we will have a chance to thank our Savior, Jesus Christ for His eternal sacrifice, and really feel it.