Easter, Our Traditions

I LOVE traditions and am always on the look out for ways to bind my family together. This post comes about as my neighbor asked how we celebrate Easter and what some of our traditions are.  
The week before Easter has become one of my children's favorites as it's the week "where we have family home evening EVERY night".  For the last several years I've used ideas from the book, "A Christ Centered Easter" by Joe and Janet Hales.  It lists several ideas and scriptures for each day and each year we do a few of our favorites and maybe add in another to try out.  We always start with Palm Sunday and act out Jesus Christ's Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem.  This night we also do a nature walk looking for objects that are significant to the Easter story.  For example, a branch to signify the palm branches thrust at Jesus' feet as he rode a donkey into Jerusalem, a thorn to represent the crown of thorns Jesus wore on his head, a piece of wood to signify the cross to which Jesus was nailed, and a rock to represent the stone rolled away from the open tomb.  We started adding to our mantle a story-line of pictures that help remind us of the Savior's last week. On Monday we talk about Jesus cleansing the temple.  We discuss how Jesus would feel if He entered out home?  How might he cleanse it?  What are some ways we can purify our homes and lives?  On Tuesday we talk about Christ's parables and teachings.  My kids love Stephen Robisonson's Parable of the Bicycle, the picture book version.  If you haven't ever seen it, the story is of Robinson's daughter who wants more than anything a bicycle .  Never could there be a more perfect bike.  She claps her hands with the pure delight of it, but then reaches for the price tag and the next moment her eyes melt away into tears.  "Oh Daddy," she wept.  "I'll never have enough.  Never." She throws herself into his arms.  The story reminds us that although we can never pay the price of admission into the kingdom of God, "Christ is the answer. He knows the worth of a soul is priceless. He is our Savior."  It's darling and so great for young kids.  Wednesday we talked more about parables and watched the Light of Christ DVD which is a beautiful reminder of the Savior's life and last week.  Thursday we talk about the Last Supper and Christ's agony in Gethsemane.  It is so rewarding to watch your children grasp concepts and principles slowly but surely, a little at a time.  We talked about the Sacrament and it's meaning and significance back then and now each week.  Friday, Jesus's Trial and Crucifixion, is a day we talk about what Christ suffered on the cross.  This year we focused on how in the middle of all of his pain and suffering beyond what we can imagine, Christ was still able to say, "Thy will be done."

Saturday we have a Jerusalem dinner, eating foods like what Jesus may have eaten in Jerusalem.  This is what my kids get the most excited for.  They want to help plan the menu and set up our evening.  It is a very simple night and this year we ate grapes, bananas, cucumbers, nuts, chicken, hummus, carrots, celery, black olives, cheese, and grape juice.  In addition, we made Easter Cookies, go here for the link.  These were a huge hit.  The kids loved making these and Tyler and I loved another way to help teach them some of the symbols through a simple object lesson. On Easter Sunday, we focus on Jesus's Resurrection and appearances.  We had our neighbors over to enjoy family night with us and reviewed the entire week and what we had learned, plus shared our testimonies for how grateful we are that our Savior was resurrected and still lives!!  It was a wonderful week.