If you are one of the Westra Six Siblings, and you think about Easters in the Westra home, there are a few classic memories. Like looking for hidden jelly beans in all the little nooks and crannies of the lava rock fireplace, and finding jelly beans months after Easter. We also were sure to reach up IN the fireplace to the little ledge to see if there were some hidden there. Here are a few more of the classic Westra Easter items.
- The Country Bunny book: This is likely not unique to just the Westra family, this is a classic for many. Westra Siblings remember this book being read to use and it became an Easter classic. Jen had to get a copy for their home library/Easter box.
- Grandma Lucille's Cookies: Grandma Burgener often had an ice cream bucket full of cookies on top of her fridge to feed hungry grandchildren. At Easter, there were eggs and chicks, sugar cookies with a smooth icing.
- The Plastic Baskets: The four baskets, two green, one yellow, one pink, made their debut in 1971. They remained THE Easter baskets for the foreseeable future. Grandchildren have now used these baskets in classic Westra Easter egg hunts.
- Boxes of Cereal: As the picture above indicates, "sugar cereal" boxes were an Easter tradition. Every child got their own box, and it was theirs, not for the family. The Blackham household has recreated this tradition some years (Easter2020).
- Paper Plate Bunny Faces: The illustration in the top right of the collage in a modern day paper plate bunny. Even though the little paper place bunnies created to represent each family member were hung up every year (for many years, not exactly sure when it ended) there didn't appear to be a picture of them. Viewing the video of old Easters however, there was a glimpse (screen capture included in the collage above - those ARE the originals!). These were the Easter equivalent to the famous Christmas stockings.
- Sugar Mold Eggs: Mom had made a couple sugar mold eggs that were brought out every Easter for years and years. It was so much fun to look in the little hole to see the secret world inside. Jen totally planned on making some herself at some point - collecting molds of various sizes and small figures to create the inner scene, but it never happened. Jenna has made some with her church group though (Jenna's Sugar Eggs).
Jenna's eggs, just part of her collection.
Mom/Margie's eggs were larger, with the viewing hole at the end, similar to the ones pictured below. It was a smaller hole though. When I was younger I remember marveling out how it could have been created (like a ship in a bottle) not realizing that the frosting around the edge covered up a seam, that originally the egg had been two halves. Mom used her decorative icing skills she had learned years earlier (Creative Cakes).
No one can really remember what happened to the eggs (did they finally break? Were they thrown out?) or when they stopped being displayed each Easter. They were on display for many years (1970s/1980s), and similarly, a gingerbread house was brought out for Christmas. Mom/Margie also remembers:
"One year, your Grandma Westra/Burgener made sugar mold eggs for Easter and mailed them to our home in Richland, Washington. They are a lot of work, but very fragile. They arrived all broken. I felt bad since she had gone to so much work and effort. I can't remember if I told her they broke in transit. Probably not, as that is not my nature."
Jen's molds ... and undone intentions.
Check out all the EASTERS on the blog
Fun memories!!
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