Easter 2015

Happy Easter from our Happy family...

A-5, C-7, B-4months, K-9, E-5

When you are living the expat life, a lot of improvising goes on during holidays.  This year, we had Easter dinner a week before Easter over at The Aitkens.  On Easter Sunday, I was traveling with my sister in France so Ryan and the kids pretended it was just another Sunday.  The Sunday after I got back, we celebrated Easter in full swing.  As a side note, I am a big believer in wearing your Easter outfits as much a possible so they enjoy a full life span.  You better believe that my kids wore them like 3 Sundays in a row during those travel weeks.  Here are a few pics of our backyard egg hunt on 'Easter Sunday' which was actually 1 week after Easter...

These pajamas were not approved by me.

And now, a word about my little bestie boy Bennett - I cannot believe how quickly Bennett has fit right in with our crew.  He is definitely one of our kids, and is certainly the most beloved of his sisters and brother.  The look on his face in the above picture says "Yeah - I'm with my people, and I'm their favorite."

Happy 1st Easter Mr. B!

Ryan made a trip to the US at the end of February.  He picked up some Easter baskets (since I have been improvising for the past couple years...we do have some somewhere in storage...I think...).  He completely forgot to get one for Bennett!  So no 1st Easter photo-op this year with his own basket.  Maybe we'll get it right next year.
In conclusion, there are 2 ways to look at this whole expat celebrating holidays situation -
1. We really make a big fuss over all the details of our traditions.  In the end, as long as you're together and in remembrance of the holiday, happy memories are made and the tradition lives on.
2. Traditions need to be adhered to.  At the end of the day, they are part of our culture and imprint an identity upon our families and our children that are a piece of who we are.
As a new carefree expat mom, I definitely subscribed to the first way of thinking.  Now that we've been away from the US and our friends and families for almost 3 years, I am leaning more toward the second way of thinking.  Making an effort for my kids and our own family memories is pretty important.  Happy (expat) Easter!