Easter Is…

I grew up in small town Kansas.  There were three churches in the town, within about a five-block radius of each other.  And every Easter you could see most of our small community coming in or out of one of those three buildings – bells clanging the good news of the Resurrection – dressed in their Easter best.

So for me, Easter is full of traditions.

Both the Sacred and the Secular.

But really, they both just run together to create some of my sweetest family memories on one of my most meaning-filled holidays.  Memories that I hope to recreate for my budding family.

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For me, Easter is:

Church bells.

Sunrise services, shivering in the cold, gray.

White dresses and itchy tights… always too thin for the biting early Spring air.

Inspiring sermons from suit-clad pastors.

Easter potluck breakfast… a warm respite after a chilly early morning.

“Up from the grave He arose!” sung in four-part harmony.

Easter nests scattered all over our house.

New underwear tucked inside pastel eggs.

A chocolate bunny from my Grandma.

Easter brunch with the whole family at a downtown hotel.

Daffodils in the rain.

Egg hunts at my Grandma’s Victorian house on the corner.

Finding the one egg we missed last year.

The hole in the old tree… the perfect hiding spot.

Cheap, plastic Easter grass stuck in the carpet.

The smell of vinegar.

Punching out the little holes on the back of the PAAS package.

Hard-boiled eggs colored and crayoned and slightly cracked.

Little folding cardboard egg stands.

My mom’s collection of bunnies exploding all over the house.

Awful Peeps that I pretended to be thankful for.

Reese’s Peanut Butter eggs.

Grabbing a black jelly bean instead of purple.

Dewy grass on my new shoes.

White lilies by the cross.

Purple draped linen.

And the promise of new life… even if you did get underwear in your eggs.

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Do you have favorite Easter memories or traditions?  What memories are you making with your own family?  From the Knoxville Mom’s Blog families to yours, have a happy, memorable, fun-filled Easter!