Easter Past

Easter has come and gone and I'm taking a minute to reflect on previous Easters that have meant a lot to me.

Childhood - I remember (and probably mostly from the pictures) that we ALWAYS had a new Easter outfit to wear to church, along with a new hat. There's nothing cuter than Easter bonnets and I'm sad that not many babies and children wear them today! Mom and Dad always had an Easter Egg Hunt for us and we have the cutest pictures of my sisters and me with a basket full of eggs. And of course since I colored Easter eggs as a child, that tradition has carried on!

Teenage Years - The Youth Group would always do the sunrise service and then serve Easter Breakfast - I don't remember a lot about the breakfast but I sure remember doing the services as I was in charge of them and we always did a guitar service! I played the guitar during this early service and I fondly remember that one of the liturgies was to the tune of Michael, Row The Boat Ashore! And we had some awesome Easter songs during this time too! Wonderful Memories!!

Early Marriage Years - My good friend Helen and I would do one of the Easter Services at our church in Missouri Valley, Iowa. It was so much fun to practice together and learn our "special" music together! As the little ones were born, they each received a new Easter dress AND bonnet to wear and we continued the Easter Egg Coloring Tradition!

Girls' School Years - Once the girls started high school and youth group, it was back to doing the Easter Breakfast again! A friend of mine, Jan, and I were the youth group leaders so were in charge of the breakfast for many years!! We cooked a lot of sausage, scrambled eggs, and pancakes during those years - along with a lot of time setting up, decorating and cleaning up! All part of the job I guess! Also during that time, we started celebrating Easter with our good friends, Cindy and Rene and their kids! Since we always had to do the Easter breakfast, they would come to our house for Easter and we headed to their home on Thanksgiving! Cindy and I would always plan a great Easter meal, have some cute gifts for the Easter baskets and do the famous Easter Egg Hunt each year, even when the girls got older - they just didn't want to give it up!!

Today - Now we're attending Easter Services at our kids' church and watching our grandkids color the eggs and do the egg hunt - years pass - times change - but some traditions and events are timeless!