Easter 2022

 

So many bunnies at the Blackham house this Easter. We'd actually invited the folks, and they were planning on coming, but Dad got hit with a flu bug (not the first time for him or us on Easter, (2013). 

I got the three oldest to recreate this classic picture ...

They nailed it!

The Easter Bunny came and left some treats and toys in the buckets. Reeses eggs are a favorite for Keaton, but he (and I, and Landon) have been treating ourselves for a while with a big bag (or two ... or three) leading up to the holiday. Keaton did get some more in his bucket, along with some Cadbury eggs and a few other treats, and one more box of Tagalong Girl Scout Cookies (one box for Landon and Callahan too). The little boys don't like Reeses (or Tagalongs, or peanut butter anything) so they had Kit Kat and Rolos. There were a couple little nerf guns, Legos (the boys always got Legos in their younger years) and some other random little toys. 

We did brunch around noon ... cinnamon pull-a-parts, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns ... and crepes. We actually finished off most of the food, there wasn't much left-over.  In the days leading up to Easter, I'd made a few batches of meringue "nests" (a Blackham Easter tradition, Jen/Cooper and Cal love them) and copycat Swig cookies.

... one of the random toys was a package of "Bloonies" (I had this on hand from sometime before, I'd looked for them at the store this year but hadn't seen them). Landon and Cal (and Kate) really got into the Bloonies. Lots of memories blowing these bubbles when they were younger.

... there was also some fun in the backyard, playing KanJam (trying to get the frisbee into the "can" ... played with partners, so one can throw and the other can try to bop it in). After several traditional games, Callahan was super silly and put the can over his head and tried to catch the frisbee ... and he did! Also some fun video of the doggies and Daddy (Gray). 

https://youtu.be/9cDjp9Yy7fU

Another Pre-Easter activity this year ... was bunny Zumba. Jen brought all the ears, and she even wore a little white tail. And yes, the Bunny Hop was on the playlist!

Easter 2020 - Covid Quarantine

Easter was on April 12 this year. I'd like to say it was low-key because of the coronavirus ... but while things were sparse, it was only a little less than the last few years, when I didn't have the "I couldn't go to the store" excuses. And we COULD go to stores, it was just discouraged (stay home/stay safe).  To make it look like there was a little more, I incorporated an old Westra tradition. Boxes of favorite cereal (I added some cereal boxes a couple years ago too). When I was growing up, sugar cereals were a treat, not something we had access to all the time. Today? I just stormed the food storage. But it is a good way to capture what the kid's favorites are. 

Cinnamon Toast Crunch for Colton. The other kids like it too.  Hershey's Fillows for Cooper (not really even eaten as cereal. No milk, just eaten as a snack).  Fruit Loops for Keaton. I'd just stocked up because he said he LOVED Loops ... but that was before he tried some Fruity Pebbles, and he now he actually prefers the Pebbles. Malt-o-Meal Dinobites are an acceptable alternative too (not always the case, the kids are "name brand" snobs).  Honey Nut Cheerios - Cal eats this pretty much every morning. Landon likes them too. 

Peanut-butter M&Ms are for the older boys (and ME), along with Reeses Eggs. The littles don't like peanut butter. We love the FavorREDS jellybeans ... and I still pick out the reddest reds to eat first. In addition to cereal, I added another pantry staple - chips. Doritos, Cheetos and Lays. Not very "Easter" but a treat the boys like. And unique to this year, I added some sanitizing wipes.  For Landon and Sol's basket, they got some treats, some wipes and toilet paper, which has been missing from store shelves of late.

I was happy the boys were willing to put on the fluffy ears and pose for a picture. Landon and Sol came over later and there was some game play into the evening hours. The big Easter gathering on the Westra side has petered out as there just aren't that many little kids around. I didn't even get out the plastic eggs. No visits with Westras or Blackhams this year (stay home/stay safe). 

There were some "nests" made this year, but only one batch. 

I didn't get around to sugar cookies or the chocolate chip with M&Ms. 

Easter 2019

Belated Blogging - This will be backdated to April 2019

Easter was on April 21 this year. For us, it started on Saturday, with a Westra get together.  Normally bringing the filled eggs had been my job, but with only four little ones this year, my mom said she'd handle it. She had overbought candy earlier for the LRC game. I still went out to the shed to grab some Easter stuff. All our "ears" and some little games and such. I frosted sugar cookies and got them prepped to take. We headed out around 12:30. Cal had K8's brother's bachelor party, so we missed him. #1 and Sol came. Hubs ducked out of the party once to grab some diet Coke, and then again to check out Snyder's Meats. He likes his meats!

We got pictures in the ears of a few families, 

and if I leave my phone unattended ... I get photos like the ones above. 

Silly Keaton! 

Mom sent all the girls home with a bouquet of roses. We barely got home before #5 and I had to head out to his basketball games. They won both. The first one was an easy win, the second one was a little more intense. Back at home, I prepped the "pie" crust for a dessert to bring tomorrow (Blackham side) and made some jello cubes. I's also make rolls, and Gray was on deck to smoke a ham. I spaced off "easter bunny" duties until after I'd retired, but figured I'd beat the boys up anyway.

Woke around 7:00 ... plenty of time to beat the boys up, getting Easter out. I didn't have much. Some years Easter has been like Christmas, with tons of stuff. Pretty basic this year, just some candy and a few little toys for the younger boys. We had a big breakfast. I'd got the roll dough made before breakfast, and after breakfast, rolled out orange rolls. A little later shaped the remaining dough into dinner rolls. I finished up the "Cool Whip" dessert and made some rice krispie treats with sprinkles. Baked up the orange rolls and got them frosted and ready and baked the dinner rolls  (one pan got smashed on the way to Maga's house ... see the photo below. Oops!) Gray smoked the ham and we packed up and headed out. Aunt Ana had her hub's family there too. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't nice enough to spread outside. I'd brought the basket with all the ears and Easter toys, and the littles there were pretty into it all. Aunt Olivia lead a scavenger hunt. 

Cal and K8 made it, so we got some "ears" pictures with them. We missed Keaton who had to work (Sam was especially sad he wasn't there) and Sol and Landon who had activities with her side of the family.

Easter 2018

Easter ... it's that time of year when other families hard boil eggs and color them. Occasionally that happens in the Blackham home, but EVERY Easter, we separate the egg whites, beat them into a meringue and add sugar, salt and cream of tarter to make "nests" ... these crumbly, flaky, melt in your mouth bites are OUR tradition. Every since elementary school for me. 2018 was the year of the nests. I made so many batches, and ate more than my fair share.

Easter morning was underwhelming again. In years past, there were times that Easter almost rivaled Christmas with the number of goodies and gifts brought by "the bunny" instead of Santa.  Last year, this year? Not so much. Buckets weren't even laid out and filled until the morning this year. Not much in them, but the kids didn't complain. They even posed for pictures, although I didn't get the boys all together. 

In the afternoon, we headed over to Maga's house. It conference Sunday, and we couldn't have asked for better weather. Warm and sunny. Perfect!

 I'd made roll dough, turning it into orange rolls and traditional dinner rolls (forgot to grab a picture of them). I also made Brazillian cheese rolls, as they are easy and a family favorite on both sides. 

We had quite the smorgasbord laid out. Grayson had smoked brisket and made mashed potatoes. Maga had her mac&cheese and ham, Clayton prepped mussels. 

Then there was the "peeps" cake ...

Keaton had to work and was missed (Sam's first words as we entered were "where's Keaton?") but we did get both the big boys and their girlfriends. Should have grabbed a big group photo!

Landon joked he was going to hit the stores the day after Easter to stock up on clearance candy. He didn't ... but I did. I mean, I was going to the store anyway, not making a special trip just for that! I must admit, most of the candy this year, was picked up last year. My Monday stop at Smiths I grabbed a few bags of the Reeses eggs (favorites for me and the three older boys) and some Robin Eggs (I love them), but that's pretty much all they had there. A few days later, at Walmart, I was surprised there was still quite a stock of clearance candy. More Reeses eggs (as they were less $$ than Smiths had been), some odds and ends (jelly beans, smarties, KitKat and Twix, Cadbury Eggs, PB M&Ms Eggs ... only found one package of those or I would have grabbed more). I had grabbed a couple of the FavorREDS jelly beans as I saw them mixed in with the others, as the reds ARE our favorites (and then I still pick out the dark cherry reds) ... but then I found a bin full of just that flavor. I grabbed quite a few.

What are YOUR favorite Easter eats and treats?

Easter Edition - 2017

We didn't get around to decorating eggs this year ... not actual eggs anyway. 

I made some sugar cookies in egg shape, 

and frosting them counts as decorating, right?

 I don't eat hard boiled eggs ... but I DO eat these!

And Reeses eggs, M&M eggs ... I don't care for Cadbury though.

Easter was pretty underwhelming. Callahan was out of town playing basketball (Idaho tournament) and Kolby&Jami had been in town (big breakfast get-together yesterday) but before Kolby headed out (flying separately from the family to a work location) he and Gray made breakfast plans Sunday morning (Easter morning). I put the buckets out Saturday night and told the kids not to look through them, but then said, what the hey ... I did grab a picture Easter morning though.  Everyone was SO Egg-cited don't you think? ;)

Blackham Bunnies and Other Easter Activities

Easter fell in March this year ... it seemed awfully early! We celebrated on Saturday with the Westra side of the family, Sunday with the Blackham side ... and a little Easter prep all week long at home.

As always around Easter ... I made meringue nests. 

Cooper, Callahan and I LOVE them.  

The Westra gathering was quite small this year. Shane's family in California, Wendy's family in St. George, Chris and company were helping with a move ... so it was just us, Scott's family and D&D and their girls. Ani and Layla were our only "finders" for eggs this year! As usual, our family brought the eggs, but we didn't prep as many, knowing they wouldn't be needed, so it wasn't as big a job as usual.

Our Easter at home was pretty low key this year too. Admittedly, some years it's been more like Christmas. No overabundance this year. The boys got some candy and Nike socks. Keaton got a backpack (which he'd been needing for a while), a new soccer goal for Cooper, some compression shirts for Colton. Even the kitties had a bucket.

We went over to Maga's for an Easter brunch. An egg toss ensued. It was quite a bit of fun (to watch!) Instead of a traditional egg hunt for candy, Maga had prepped a pinata.  Here's a little clip of Colton having a go at it.

Instead of candy in eggs ... Maga provided a piñata! Colton's turn ...

A video posted by JenB (@jenblackham) on Mar 27, 2016 at 6:46pm PDT

Of course I brought at the bunny ears and we took pictures at both family gatherings. I even sent a set to Elder Blackham, but the package got help up and didn't make it to him before Easter. I sent him some favorite candies ... the "FavorReds" jelly beans, Reeses Eggs, and peanut butter M&Ms (I only found ONE package this year, so I didn't get any for myself ... I did indulge in lots of Reeses Eggs though). The Whoppers Robin Eggs are another favorite for me. I sent Landon some Cadbury mini eggs, and bought some for Callahan and Keaton. Those are ONE treat that doesn't tempt me. 

What are YOUR favorite Easter treats?

Blackham Bunnies

Hoppy Easter from the Blackham Bunnies ... I bought the blue ears years ago (see pictures below), added to the set with others. Got the glasses, and last year invested in the little mustaches. What do mustaches have to do with Easter Bunnies? I don't know, but it's a cute addition to the photo opp. A little funny thing with this picture. My sister Wendy was taking the shot, and she kept shaking her head and finally said "I'm just getting this GLARE just by Grayson's ... bald... head" ... Gray shifted a bit, out of the direct reflection of the sun, and we got another (less shiny) shot ...

As I mentioned above, we've had the fuzzy blue ears for several years now. I remember taking such a cute photo of the three older boys when they were just little ... I had to go find it and post it on Facebook (and now here on the blog). Awww ... aren't those the sweetest little bunnies?

And Colton some years later. 

I have a darling picture of Cooper in the ears, and other little bunnies in my previous Bunny Boys post. I know I have others too. As I posted these to the Interwebs, I got a comment asking if I had a picture of Grayson in similar garb... 

I did.

This was back in our dating days!

Well, enough bouncing down memory lane. Back to Easter 2015! As usual, it's my duty to bring the filled eggs each year. I bring home all the empties, store them, then bring them out for matching up and filling up. It's nice to have kid helpers, because it is a big job! Callahan even brought over his girlfriend and we put her to work!

Then it's off to the family party at my folks house, which we always do the Saturday before Easter. The grandkids are growing up! There are more "hiders" than "finders" anymore. Of the Blackham boys, only Colton donned a bucket and went out collecting (even Cooper helped hid this year). 

 A picture of some the grandkids in the photo opp props ...

 A photo of all the grandkids there that day ...

A photo of the people taking the photo...

As I'm bringing the eggs, I'm really not on the list to bring anything else, but I was shopping at Sam's Club and saw their yummy white cake with buttercream frosting. I L♥VE said cake and it was calling to me. They actually had Easter decorated cakes, but they had a coconut frosting. No ... buttercream is what I want. I know a cake doesn't necessarily fit in with the other Easter treats, but I bought one. I mean, we really SHOULD celebrate the April birthdays, right? Right ...

Happy birthday to Josh, Wendy, Camden and Layla.

Now give me a piece of cake!

Bouncing Blackham Bunnies

Belated happy HOPPY Easter from the Blackham Bunch! Much better than last year! We had the annual Easter Egg hunt and family party on the Westra side on Saturday, and got together with all the Blackham's on Sunday. 

In the days preceding the party, I enlisted the boys to help fill the eggs. Keaton and Colton really did about all of them! In addition to the usual edible inclusions, I like to buy toys, stickers and balloons as well. At this point, we have more older kids (hiders) and not that many seekers!

I brought the big jump rope, and it was a hit. I didn't jump myself, but I got a pretty good arm workout! Grayson got some fun action shots! We brought the jump rope to the Blackham Bash on Sunday and it was a bit hit there too!  Although Keaton did some different jumping on Clay and Courtney's tramp ...

Gray catching fun action shots again!

Sometimes I go a little overboard on Easter ... it's a little more like Christmas. Not this year. I ... (I mean the Easter Bunny) kept things pretty controlled. Callahan really wanted the DVD Frozen (I'm not kidding, he really did) and so I, and the other boys, finally got to see what all the Frozen fuss was about. It was a cute movie! Some candy, clothes ... and one more bouncy thing. A pogo stick. 

Just getting the wiggles out before church.

Saturday evening, while the Easter Bunny was waiting for littles to go to bed ... there was a shake, a little roll of the house. Gray and I looked at each other and asked "was that an earthquake?"  Yes it was. 3.2 in Tooele. The two little boys were asleep, but the older boys had felt it. 

So that was OUR Easter.

How was yours?

Easter Buckets and Barfing Boys

It wasn't quite the Easter we had envisioned ...

Every year, the Easter buckets (they are a little hardier than most baskets) are laid out in their "spots" on the couch. Five couch cushions, five baskets.The boys went to bed, and the Easter bunny came. I'm not sure what woke me up, it was just after midnight, and I noticed the hall light was on. I wondered if maybe the boys were sneaking out to check out their loot, but usually they would be a little more stealthy (in a previous Easter I did catch them out there with flashlights very early in the morning).

I got up and ran into Landon in the hallway. He commented wryly that he and Keaton were having a party. Turns out it was a "puking party" and Keaton had NOT made it to the bathroom in time. Landon was getting Keaton settled on the couch (moving Easter buckets), giving him a barf bucket (which is different than an Easter bucket), drink and towel ~ and I got to cleaning up the mess. I came pretty close to throwing up myself. It was bad. Landon is a light sleeper and often gets up to help when one of the kids cries in the night. I joked with him, asking if I had stayed in bed, would he have cleaned things up. He replied that he didn't really feel up to it ... and that's when I realized that he was actually sick too (he'd already been up for an hour an vomited twice). 

I was fairly awake by this point. So I stopped by the computer to update my Facebook status, hoping for a little late night sympathy. Before I finished I heard a voice from down the hallway "I throwed up. I throwed up" ... It was Cooper, who had burst into the bedroom (I had closed the door to let Grayson continue to sleep, but no more). Gray cleaned it up, while I got Cooper settled on the couch, moving ALL the Easter stuff up onto the counter and out of the way. 

As this seemed to be hitting fast and furious (usually the kids have a little warning, enough that we get a bucket to them in time), I put precautionary buckets by sleeping Colton and Callahan, just in case. Gray and I finally returned to bed (not to sleep ... it's hard to get back to sleep after that). I thought I heard a door close downstairs, so I went to check ... sure enough, Callahan was now sick too. He HAD noticed the bucket, so there wasn't a mess to clean up. There wasn't room upstairs on the couch, so he just stayed downstairs in his room.

I finally got back to sleep around 3:30. Woke up at 6:00 to Colton crying ... and he threw up. Seriously, all five boys down at once? We've been close to that before, where all five boys have gotten sick, but it was spread out a little bit. I didn't have enough buckets to go around!

Not only was my FB post getting some sympathy, but a neighbor down the street said the flu had hit their house too. Then Courtney posted that Addie was down ... Will too.  Later in the day it hit Maga, and Grandpa. This thing gets around!

So Easter pretty much got shoved aside this year. The vomiting didn't last too long into the morning, then it was recovery mode. Catching up on much needed sleep, after not getting any the night before. Aches and pains ... Callahan had speckled himself again (the blood vessels in his face break when he throws up, leaving him all blotchy).  Trying to tell the difference between stomach pain and hunger pains (as nothing sounded good to eat.) Eventually, the kids even managed to look through their Easter buckets ...

... and I was able to wash and disinfect the other buckets and put them away. 

Easter 2013

Many schools seemed to have Spring Break already, but for our kids, it falls over Easter weekend. On Friday, the boys went up to Maga's house to dye some eggs. Maga had 15 dozen eggs ready! The boys had a blast and brought home a few dozen.

I made several batches of "nests" ... these are basically meringue cookies, but bigger and in nest shape, to be topped with a little "Peeps" bird sitting on some jelly beans. We never made it to the bird/jellybean stage, as they were eagerly consumed by me and the middle kids (Landon and Colton don't care for them).

Saturday was the Westra Easter party. I'm in charge of bringing the eggs for the hunt. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of the  laundry basketball full of eggs (although if you look at previous years, it probably didn't look very different). Often filling the eggs is a huge chore (mainly MATCHING up the halves) but I just had them out for the kids to fill over a few days and it gone done pretty quick and easy. I had some toys I'd picked up on clearance last year, which was a good thing, because on a last minute trip to Walmart ... they had NOTHING left (no Easter candy, toys, NOTHING). I had picked up some candy earlier, and had some stickers and balloons and we got all the eggs filled.

I brought deviled eggs, chex mix, and suggested to Landon that he set up a specialty drink bar. At New Years, Uncle Clay (on the Blackham side) had introduced the boys to "dirty diet coke" and other fun concoctions. Add some Torani syrups (which come in a wide variety of flavors) to soda and half&half. They were quite popular with the Westra side too.

Then it was time for the hunt. We loaded up the big kids to go hide the eggs, while Grandma gathered the little kids in for storytime while they waited. I thought this picture turned out really cute!

 The kids had fun finding eggs ... here's Colton with his catch.

Camden and Cooper put the stickers all over their faces.

This is becoming and Easter tradition too!

We had been worried about the weather ... just the week before there had been inches of snow and freezing temperatures. But today turned out lovely, perfect for an outdoor gathering!

Sunday (Easter morning) didn't turn out QUITE as expected ... all the Easter buckets were laid out on the couch the night before as usual. The Easter Bunny came and filled them up ... so why is everything on the kitchen counter instead of the usual spot on the couch?  Because SICK kids were on the couch, and other buckets were being put to use ... that will be another post.

Happy Easter!