Easter then and Now

Easter in Ukraine 2009

Easter in America 2010

Maverick


Monroe

Wyatt

Karrissa and Cash

Cash eating the sugar cookie he decorated

Bruce with his brother Jim's family

I love the holidays

Well to be honest

I love any reason to get together with family

One of the great things about serving a mission out of the Country for 18 months is you come home with a renewed appreciation for the simple things in life that you may have previously taken for granted

I love that we can have our families come over and just "hang out"

well.........

I guess we did more than "hang out" this Easter.

We had several children here to

HUNT FOR EASTER EGGS

Eat Easter Eggs,

(In Cash's case crush and smash hard boiled eggs in his tiny little palm)

Eat lots and lots of candy

MAKE SUGAR COOKIES

CHASE EACH OTHER ALL OVER THE HOUSE

complain about

getting punched,

getting "left out"

"being hungry"

"not being hungry"

and just good ole WHINING!!!

but I'm not complaining

I love it!

I love looking into the faces of our grandchildren

as they run around the yard finding treasures

I love seeing my niece being such a great mommy

I love seeing how sweet my nephew Josh is to his little nieces and nephews

I love seeing my daughter follow her children around the yard pointing out the best places to find eggs

I love listening to my husband and his brother reminisce about the "good ole days"

I love seeing my mom with her great-grandchildren

Last year we were in Ukraine and there were no kids in sight.

We walked to church in the rain.

There were no Easter Egg Hunts, no decorating sugar cookies,

and no kids crying, whining, or running all over, no hard boiled

egg shells all over the house, and no family discussions

No.......

Easter in Ukraine was much different.

What I remember most was is it was raining,

we walked to church under umbrellas

I remember there were women carrying baskets of Easter Bread everywhere we went.

Some were walking arm and arm down the street, and some we saw while riding on the bus

I have to admit

there was a part of me that was envious

because I knew these women were headed to friends or family members homes to share this special bread.

This special Ukrainian tradition reminded me of home. Of sharing a special occasion with the ones you love.

We were far from home

far from our friends and family in America but

we did get to share Easter Dinner with the young missionaries who were in our District. These young men and women had become our family in Ukraine.

Another Ukrainian tradition is hand painting Easter Eggs. Olga had spent an afternoon with friends painting eggs and on Easter Sunday she came to church and gave Sisters Fry, Solomanson, and I beautiful hand painted Easter Eggs.

So this Easter I brought out my Ukrainian Eggs and found a special place for them on the fireplace mantel.

I spent some time browsing thru pictures of our Ukrainian Easter as tears poured down my cheeks

and then I did what I promised myself I would do when I returned to America

I counted my blessings

I enjoyed every minute of a house full of loved ones

and I thanked my Heavenly Father for the wonderful

memories of our Easters in Ukraine