2 fun Easter traditions // The Tradition Series

Easter was a breath of fresh air for me. Really, anytime we take the long trek up to Northern California to spend time with my family is a lovely retreat. Everything is so green this time of year, flowers are blooming and the air smells so sweet and fragrant. We took a bike ride one day to visit some friends and family, and I just couldn't stop smiling. 

I thought I'd share 2 traditions that my families celebrates during Easter. Maybe you do these too? Here they are:

Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt

Every year on Easter morning, my dad stages a huge scavenger hunt for us "kids" to find our Easter baskets. "Kids" is totally a stretch as all of us 4 siblings are now in our 20's or 30's, whoops! I think it's time one of us starts having grandkids, as my parents "remind" me often:)

My dad writes out about 8 clues to hide around the house. When all 4 of us are awake, he puts the first clue on the table. Sometimes the clues are easy and we run straight towards the hiding spot {yes, we really do run, we get so giddy, even now that we are older!!}. Other times the clues are harder, and we check out a few spots before we find the clue. Examples of dad's past clues include phrases like "There is a herd of horses in this home" {which ended up being a grouping of orange Swedish Dahla horses my mom kept on a shelf...a subtle tribute to our Swedish heritage!}. Another clue this year was "The word of God illuminates" {where the clue was hidden under a candle}.

Be creative with your clues, and your kids will have so much fun {regardless of their age! guilty as charged! haha}. For us, the hunt is so nostalgic and brings my siblings and I together in such a fun way!

Resurrection Eggs 
Every Easter, just before we pray to eat our big lunch, my mom pulls out a crate of resurrection eggs. These are a dozen plastic eggs that have been numbered. Inside each egg is a verse from the Easter story, and a little prop that goes along with the verse. For instance, one verse talks about Judas betraying Jesus for silver coins, and the prop is 3 silver dimes. Another egg has a verse about how the tomb was open, and has a round rock in it to depict the stone at the entrance of the tomb. The last verse talks about how Jesus wasn't in the tomb...He has risen! {and that egg is empty!!!}.
Someone passes out the eggs, and we stand in a circle, and each read our egg in the order of the numbers. It's a really powerful reminder of what Jesus did for us on the cross! In case you are interested in making your own resurrection eggs, I've seen tutorials here and here!
This is a powerful and interactive way your children and family members can encounter the Easter story!! I hope you'll give it a shot!!

I hope you enjoyed these traditions!! Want to see more traditions? Just type "Traditions" into the search bar on the side of my blog, and a bunch will pop up!!

And for those of you wondering where all the travels posts are...make sure to come back next week!! Lots of travel pictures from Columbia will be up on the blog! Happy week!!

Happy Easter

This year, Easter really snuck up on me. Typically i'm very aware of the lenten season, reading along with the greatest story ever told, and preparing my heart for both good Friday and Easter Sunday. This year between classes, and seeing clients, and work, and just life...I blinked and we were driving up to my hometown in Northern California, where we were welcomed with open arms into my parents home and showered with yummy food, bike rides, yard saling dates, and laughter around the fire place. All of a sudden it was Sunday, and as we sat in church and the music played, I just started to sob. Tears rolled down my face as the magnitude of the tenderness and kindness of God just poured out on me. I looked up at the cross hanging high in the church, and memory after memory flooded into my mind. Memories of all my mistakes, memories of painful events, memories filled with guilt and shame....and then Jesus. Jesus filled that space so deeply. He cut the cords of my sin and condemnation and GRACE rained down into my heart. I kept thinking "I cannot imagine a life without the kindest person I know...Jesus". Jesus who comforted me in the pain,  Jesus who poured out his grace on my shame, and Jesus who picked me up when I was weak and redeemed so many lost years. The news on that third day that "He is RISEN, He is risen INDEED" took on a whole new meaning. He lives! And because of that I am free. Every day is new because of Him. 

I hope you experienced something sweet yesterday too:) Stay tuned this week for 2 of my family's favorite Easter traditions!! Happy Tuesday friends! xoxo

A birthday weekend with friends in the Mountains!

It's no secret that I think birthdays ought to be celebrated with gusto {see here and here for proof!}. As a fun bonus this year, two of my best friends treated me to a weekend up in the woods! It was as delightful as it sounds! A very generous family lent us their cabin for free {Thanks Stef & Medy} and we packed our little car full and headed up the hill!

The rule was that everyone had to bring a craft and a game to share! Here's what everyone brought:

Games: I brought Scattegories {my favorite!}, Emmy brought Quirkle {which I was TERRIBLE at, but it was fun!} and Diana brought Ticket to Ride (the European version) which was the biggest hit of the weekend and we all played a few times!

Crafts: Emmy is a master calligrapher {she did the calligraphy on my travel calendar here} and brought us all quills to learn and practice. Diana brought a really fun canvas and string craft like this one here {I made the outline of California!}, and I brought my dress-up bag and did a photo shoot for us all in the woods! It was really sweet how much my sweet friends loved the photo shoot. It's amazing when women speak words of beauty and encouragement over one another! Sometimes us ladies just need to dress up and feel pretty, right? {we never really outgrow playing "Dress-up"do we? haha}

We took walks, played games, lounged in our pajamas, and made yummy food!! For breakfast we made these paleo crepes, I made gluten-free bruschetta, Emmy made this delicious stew, and we topped off the weekend with this amazingly delicious paleo lemon-poppyseed cake. We drove back down the mountain with our tummies full and your hearts overflowing in thankfulness.

Women can just be the most amazing encouragements in life, right? Let's be lights in friendship, affirming, inspiring, and loving our friends for who God made them to be! Thanks E & D for a great weekend:)