April 2022

Springtime in Arizona is one of my favorite times of year. The mornings and evenings are cool while the days hover around the mid-eighties. Consequently, we spend more time outside. We hike. We golf. We enjoy our patio more. The mountain preserve behind our house becomes full of blooming plants and flowers. The desert creatures become more active and playful. The air fills with the scent of orange blossoms which cause havoc on everyone's allergies, but we all embrace this time of year as we know summer is just around the corner.

This April, we celebrated two different religious holidays that epitomize spring. They are both about the themes of rebirth, hope, and liberation. As a convert, I often find the similarities between Judaism and Christianity intriguing. In fact, it makes celebrating Easter and Passover even more special to me knowing there are so many similarities like:

The Pesach Seder = The Last Supper of Jesus
Both holidays use the symbol of an egg.
Both include family gatherings and traditional meals.
Each include searching for hidden items. Easter = eggs. Passover = Afikomen.
Rebirth of the Jewish people from slavery and the rebirth of Jesus.

This year, we celebrated Passover/Pesach with traditional seders on both Night One and Night Two of the seven day holiday. Night One coincided with Shabbat so we spent the evening with just the four of us. We tried a new family haggadah. It was quaint and quiet.

On the second night, we hosted the Pattee family. I wrote a new haggadah for the occasion which everyone shared in reading. We really enjoyed celebrating the holiday with our close friends.

NIGHT ONE

NIGHT TWO

Easter fell on the Sunday following Passover this year. This year, we celebrated Easter at the Landers' home in Mesa. They hosted us for brunch and the older kids received a special scavenger egg hunt. The prize was a golden egg filled with money. The kids enjoyed having a slightly more challenging egg hunt than in years past. What a cool idea, Grandma Landers! Our kids also assisted Finn with his more traditional Easter egg hunt and they played on the new playground equipment for a bit. We also met the new puppy, Maizie. She is pretty adorable. It was a beautiful morning for a family gathering.

Kids' Easter Baskets