Easter 2013

Easter in Utah was a special treat!

We almost forgot/overlooked this tradition but at the last minute, we ran to the store to buy some eggs for coloring.  Late the night before, I was boiling eggs for the next morning.  Helpful hint:  Heber's eggs are really fresh so when you boil them, they don't peel...at all.  We discovered (thanks Pinterest) that if you add some baking soda to your boiling water, it helps with the peeling process.  When eggs don't peel, it's because they are really fresh.  We didn't have a single casualty!  Thanks Uncle Ryan for discovering this neat trick.

Aunt Katie also taught us the whisk trick to dying eggs.  You just slide the wires apart and place the egg between the wires so that it is sitting at the base of the whisk.  It makes for a handy egg dying tool, especially for little kids.  

This is just a quarter of the final eggs.  We died 48 of them!  

Later that day we hid 250 plastic eggs in Grandpa's backyard.   We told the kids that they each got to find 16 eggs...making sure that the little kids got the same amount as the big kids.

The big kids took the hunt very seriously.  (note the dreary, brown yard?  Spring hasn't even come close to hitting Heber yet.  We are in full bloom here in Oregon and were surprised to see not a single leaf on the trees.  I guess that's what happens when you live in the mountains.  My dad's yard is normally gorgeous!)

Uncle Jon hid  a special golden egg for the finale.  He filled it with money and gave them only one hint.  It took them a good 15 minutes to realize that he hid it underneath the hot tub stairs.

Here is the whole group with their loot.  A few of the kids had their candy eaten by that evening!

The next morning of course was Easter and since we had done all of the hunting for eggs the day before, we were able to focus more on the real reason for Easter.  The only snag we had was right in the middle of getting ready for church, the power went out in the entire Heber Valley.  Half of us hadn't even blown our hair dry yet.  Some of the girls had to take showers in pitch dark bathrooms. (The guest bathrooms are in the basement with no windows.)  It was very interesting but we did make it to church on time!  

I did finish my project 365 for the week before we left.  Here it is.  Hope you all had a great Easter!