Tuesday—Dear Jane

Dear Jane, I wish you would share your secret on keeping up traditions with kids that are older. Did you do hunts when the four of yours were teens? My kids are good sports and never complain, but I'm pretty sure that if there were no Pal or Hy we would just let many of those things slide and just lay on the couch. What's our deal? Tell me where we are going wrong. Love, Rachel


Dear Rachel,

My suggestion is to find a Ray and Grace to add to your family. I couldn’t get the kids to do an egg hunt for years. And then . . .

Cali and Ray came over late Thursday night to spend the Easter/Conference weekend, which ended up being positively providential because the pass closed on Friday. Ray told Cali he had to get a lot of work done and she assured him she could take care of that. She put a table up in Ande’s room and a sign:

On Friday Calvin came home with this year’s new batch of chicks. He promised he’d only bring home ten. Welcome twenty new chicks. "But one was free, Jane."



Ray came out a time or two and suggested we go to Clash of the Titans. Oh ho. What a pleasant surprise it was. I expected a night of pain. I was Greek Mythology ignorant, now I am Greek Mythology conversant—which is a whole lot of borrowed Bible stories with a heavy sprinkle of human. We came home and watched The Ten Commandments.



We had a wonderful time listening to conference on Saturday. Cousin Rachel came to spend the weekend with us too, which added to the Easter egg enthusiasm . . . and the Church’s humanitarian service mitten pile.

In between sessions Calvin, Cali, and Ray got a little shooting in.



It's not really a successful weekend for them without it.



While Calvin and Ray were at the Saturday evening Priesthood session, Grace cut Rachel's hair.



And in keeping with a new tradition we started last fall, we made cherry bread so it would be fresh and hot when Ray and Calvin got home.

We also colored eggs. Ande joined us via speaker phone.

hands and eggs from L-R: Cali, Rachel, Grace

And then, because we hadn’t had enough screen time in the last 24 hours already, we watched the three hour movie of Joseph.

We woke up in good time Sunday morning. The Easter bunny didn’t hide the baskets this year because where do you hide a bunch of these? He was perplexed too, so he just put them on the breakfast table.

In between the morning and afternoon session of General Conference, but before dinner, we had an Easter egg hunt. Everybody was in charge of filling six plastic eggs to hide. They were filled with ring pops, coins, Cadbury eggs, fruit snacks, chocolate bunnies. We divvied up first the eggs and then the lawn. Everybody went out and hid eggs in their section of the lawn and then we met up for the hunt.


I don’t know what I was thinking, but I hid my eggs easy—3 year old easy. Habit not brain guided me. When we said, “Go!” everybody took off running. It was the funniest thing to see.

Ray was a big hunter and because his stride is one for every two of the girls’ he covered a lot of ground. His sack was clear full. But when he bent over to pick up another egg, a bunch fell out and Grace was there to nab one of them.

Cali found the super egg.

And since we were out by the chicken coop I gathered the unboiled eggs that the hens had laid.

We watched the afternoon session of Conference with differing degrees of consciousness and then played several rounds of dominoes before Ray and Cali had to take off.

I’m telling you Rachel, the key to making sure your traditions stay alive is to invite happy, fun cousins, have a daughter that loves to make memories, and welcome people into the family that are willing and ready to make any event a success. That's the secret.

Love,
Jane