Easter...Mano Style

One of the things I love the most about living in Utah is being by all the extended relatives. My dad's side of the family gets together a lot. Most of the parties are monthly birthday parties for all the great-grandchildren, but there are several parties each year that are tradition.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years are all fun, but Easter...Easter is my favorite Mano family party of all.

We always get together at Auntie Linda and Uncle Dick's house. We have yummy food. We visit with all the relatives (and there are a LOT of relatives). And then we have the Easter Egg Hunts (yes - HUNTS - plural). We do the kids hunt first which is always so cute. Auntie Linda is very fair. She makes sure each kid gets the same number of eggs plus a couple of other treats like a bottle of bubbles. And there are always the eggs with money in it and the GOLDEN eggs. The older boys have it down. They've learned to find an egg, shake it and if they hear coins, the keep it. If they don't, it goes back to its hiding place. The kids are darling and so fun to watch.

After the little kids hunt, it's time for the big kids. And when I say big kids, I mean just that. BIG KIDS. There is a fun competition for the golden eggs which have larger denomination bills in them. I'm usually the photographer, but this time I was the baby holder so my video didn't turn out the best - but you still get the picture. A bunch of crazy adults running around looking for eggs with candy and money in them. You'd think there was a million dollars in the golden eggs.

There's nothing like family. Ryan was completely wiped out by the time we got home and we already can't wait for next year.

Like I said, this is my favorite family party of the year. And considering my family and the number of parties we have, that's saying a lot.