Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Easter Fun

Our Easter tradition is that my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and brother-in-law come over for the weekend. They come for Good Friday dinner and stay through Easter Sunday brunch. Then they take off for their four hour drive back home.

Last year I served fish tacos (thanks AJ for that delicious recipe!) which was a hit. That dinner inspired me to have a Mexican feast for this Good Friday. I made cheese enchiladas, homemade frijoles (with bacon fat for creaminess and flavor), nachos, guacamole, and rice. Yummo! We all stuffed ourselves, especially Uncle D, who moaned for three hours. After the kids went to bed, we broke out the Wii and played for hours -- bowling, Mario Kart, and golf.

On Saturday, we had breakfast and then went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a local park. There were hundreds of kids there and my boys had fun. It was a bit colder than we expected (48 degrees plus it was windy) but we had a good time.
The boys waited patiently for it to start. They got more and more excited as the time got closer to start time. They started with the 0-3 year olds, then the 4-6 year olds, and finally, the 7 plus year olds.

R decided that he'd don an Easter Bonnet for the occasion.


Uncle D. provided a ride for T, since he had his walking cast on. We covered his cast with a
plastic bag since the grass was wet. Uncle D. was worried that he'd slip too much if he ran to get the eggs.
Finally the time came...let the mayhem begin! Three hundred seven-plus-year-olds ran out to get the eggs.

After we got home from the egg hunt, it was time to decorate eggs. You may not remember, but the Smith clan takes their egg decorating very seriously. When I was dating M, I participated in the egg decorating Event. It was a very detailed, time-consuming affair. People took, something like 7 or 8 minutes per egg, with multiple colors and multiple layers. I remember candles and rubberbands being involved. Well, my friends, this Easter was no different. We had three dozen eggs, two sets of colors, wax crayons, a candle, rubber bands, and even the netting from a bag of limes.

R helped get the colors on the table. He's thinking about what his egg will be like.




Here are the beautiful, shiny eggs all for the world to see.


T did some still-lifes (lives?) to show off the eggs -- and his photography skills.


We had our Easter dinner on Saturday night: ham, potatoes au gratin (not potatoes "all rotten," like T thought they were called) corn bread pudding, green bean casserole, rolls, jello with peaches, and glazed carrots. The boys and M set a beautiful table for me, using our china, crystal, and silver.

What a lovely day we had.

4 comments:

CaliforniaGrammy said...

A beautiful Easter celebration at the Smith household! Homemade Frijoles! Yummo . . . It was great for Uncle D to provide "the legs" for T. And I love the Easter eggs . . . thye definitely are a work of art—and you're right, they are a bit different than the "let's get the eggs died quickly" like when you were a child. But one thing I noticed was how shiny they are. . . how do you get them so shiny? And your table was beautifully set, too, with all the china and crystal. I used to love to be able to use "the good stuff" occasionaly too.

I love reading your blog because it helps me "be there" even though we're thousands of miles away!

jennavar said...

What a happy Easter you all had! I love the pictures. The eggs are beautiful. Pretty crazy that we didn't even do eggs this year especially with all of the eggs that we are getting.

I love the picture of T with his uncle as his ride and how he is holding on to the basket handle! Very cute!

A.J. said...

Oh, those have GOT to be THE most beeeutiful Easter eggs in the country. And I love T's beautiful photography of them too, so great.

Such a lovely table and a lovely meal. I like your choice of wine. If you ever see Coppola's "Director's Cut" zinfandel, our grapes are in it.

Aunt Patty said...

What a wonderful Easter Holiday you all had. That delicious menu for every night has made me hungry. I noticed all the rich color on your walls, very nice. Tell T that I really liked his eggs and his photography. Great story of your Easter. Sure am looking forward to seeing you all in June.