Whatever Wednesday: Sabbath Day Easter Egg Hunt a tradition in our family

When my siblings and I were younger our neighborhood had a gigantic Easter egg hunt.  This was always the Saturday before Easter Sunday.  Never living close to family, even in childhood, until we moved here, we, kids, LOVED having so many friends near us who also wanted to observe Easter on the Sabbath with their own families and always planned those Saturday hunts instead.

My sister, Giselle, on her Saturday Easter Egg Hunt

My mother was always fantastic at celebrating each and every holiday, though, and wanted the Easter holiday, like the Christmas holiday, to be celebrated for what it was really meant.  On Easter Sunday, we would wake up to exciting Easter baskets full of candy and a toy, and my sister and I received one of our two dresses for the year.  (We did have other dresses the other times of the year, but our Christmas and Easter dresses were either hand-made or actual store bought - not thrift store, "real store"; so they were very exciting and special to us!) 

Never to let the candy and toys overtake our thoughts of the Savior, my mother and father would set up a Sabbath Easter Egg Hunt.  They would hide the eggs all over the house, or outside, if it was nice enough, and the five of us would find them all and take them into our living room to open them together. 

Dressed in our best, we would sit as a family, my dad with his scriptures, and we would open each egg.   These eggs didn’t hold candy or small gifts, instead it held a simple piece of paper with a scripture written on it.    

I loved the fun, exciting Saturday hunts, of course; but I remember those hunts on the Sabbath day to be peaceful and happy and a real reminder of the reason we celebrate Easter.  I feel this is one reason Easter is my favorite holiday.  
 

My children reading the scriptures out of their eggs.

I don’t remember the scriptures my parents used, but found a website years ago (which I can't find now) and we’ve been using the idea from that website for ages.


But there are tons on Pinterest!  Leigh Anne's at Your Homebased Mom has the one closest to the one I've used and had growing up.  But here are some more:

• http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/RaisingRockStarsEaster.html 
• http://www.faithgateway.com/making-resurrection-eggs-easter-story/#.U0wsu_ldXc8 
• http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2012/04/easter-house-tour/ 
• http://www.momfare.com/2011/04/24/plastic-eggs-turn-them-into-the-true-meaning-of-easter/ 
• http://womenlivingwell.org/2012/03/the-jesus-story-easter-eggs-fun-for-kids/ 

This Sabbath Egg Hunt always turns out to be my favorite part of Easter.  Sitting as a family, often with someone being goofy and then reverent and sometimes having a hard time sitting still.  But there is always a small moment when all is quiet and we feel the love and peace that comes with remembering the Savior of the world and all that He did so that we could live with Him and The Father again.