Yesterday on Holy Saturday we were busy with our annual activities that we try to do each year as a family to prepare for Easter Sunday.  I was also busy fighting a bad cold :(

We changed the salt dough crown of thorns that we made at the beginning of Lent...



into this....


And we made resurrection rolls....These are fun, easy, and delicious!  Lacy at Catholic Icing did a post HERE about how to make the rolls and how they symbolize Jesus and the empty tomb.

Finally, the last activity that we do as a family just before everyone goes to bed is to make our resurrection cookies. You can find the recipe HERE.    We have been making this an annual tradition on Holy Saturday evening, the day before Easter morning. I love that we can do this as a family to explain the Easter story. The cookies are not only yummy, but they really do look like empty tombs when you bite into them to remind us that Jesus is risen!

Here are some photos:

Our cupcakes love to pound the pecans to pieces, although this part of the recipe is sad as it represents how our Lord was beaten and mistreated.
Another part of the recipe is to separate the egg whites as we explain that the eggs represent new life.
We put the cookies in the preheated oven and turn the oven off before heading to bed.
Our kids love to seal the oven with tape to represent that Jesus' tomb was sealed.

The next morning we have a tray of delicious resurrection cookies that are hollow on the inside.

Finally on Easter Sunday morning we attend 7:30 AM Mass before the kids even see what is in their Easter baskets.  It is an early start to our day, but so worth it to go as a family to celebrate our Risen Lord and to avoid the later Mass crowds...

Happy Easter from our family to yours!