April 7, 2026

A House Full Of Love Easter Weekend With Our Family

A House Full Of Love Easter Weekend With Our Family
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A House Full of Love: Easter Weekend with Our Family is a heartfelt episode of We Are the Hansons that takes you inside a joyful, chaotic, and memory-filled holiday weekend. From long-awaited reunions and grandkids filling the house with laughter to shared meals, cornhole competition, and quiet moments of gratitude—this episode captures the beauty of family, togetherness, and the moments that truly matter.

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Hey, everyone, welcome back to We are the Hansens. I'm

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Maya Hanson, and if this is your first time here,

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welcome to the family. Because that's really what this show is.

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It's not just news podcast. It's not a self help podcast.

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It's not a show where I sit behind a microphone

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and tell you how to live your life. This is

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just us. This is our family, our stories, our moments,

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the messy ones and the beautiful ones, and sometimes the

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messy beautiful ones that end up meaning the most. And

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today's episode today is one of those. Today I'm taking

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you inside one of the best weekends we've had in

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a long time, a weekend that reminded me what life

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is actually about, what family actually feels like when it's

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overflowing out of every room in your house. I'm talking

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about Easter weekend. And let me just tell you upfront.

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It was loud, it was chaotic, it was imperfect in

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all the best ways, and by Sunday night, I was

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so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. But

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I also didn't want it to end because there's this

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particular kind of fullness you feel when your home is

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packed with people you love, and that fullness that's what

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today is about. So get yourself comfortable, maybe grab a

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cup of coffee or a glass of sweet tea or

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whatever your thing is, and come sit with me for

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a little while because we have a lot to talk about.

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You know that feeling you get when you're waiting for

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someone you love to arrive, that low level, buzzing kind

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of excitement that starts a few days before they even

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get there, where you keep thinking, Okay, just a few

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more days, Okay, just one more day, Okay, they're on

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the road. Now. That was me and the entire family

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for the entire week up to Easter, because we had

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people coming in, not just one or two people, people,

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and the house was about to go from our normal

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kind of full to a whole different level of full.

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Now let me back up and give you a little context.

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Jeremy has kids spread out. That's just the reality of

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our family. We have kids here in town that we

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get to see regularly, and then we have kids who

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are farther away. Logan Jeremy's oldest son. He lives up

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in Wisconsin. And when you're in Missouri and your son

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is in Wisconsin, you don't just run into each other

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at Target you plan, you coordinate, you pick the weekends

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that matter, and Easter Easter was one of those weekends.

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So the week before everything started, I was already in motion.

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I was thinking about where everyone was going to sleep,

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going through the cabinets, figuring out what we had and

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what we needed, writing out grocery list, trying to plan

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meals for a crew that was going to be significantly

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larger than our everyday household. And there's this thing that

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happens when you're prepping for a big family visit. Your

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mind goes in a hundred directions at once. You think

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about the food, and then you think about the drinks,

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and then you remember you need more tolls in the

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guest bathroom, and then you think about whether there's enough

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seating at the table, and then you loop back to

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the food. It's a whole process. But here's the thing

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I've learned after all these years. You can plan and

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prep and organize all you want, and it's still going

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to be chaotic. It is always going to be chaotic.

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And that's not a problem, that's just family. So I

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leaned into it. I made my list, I did my shopping,

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I got the house ready, and then I did the

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hardest part. Waited, and I kept checking my phone, and

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I kept looking out the window, and I kept telling myself,

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they'll be here soon, just a little longer, just a

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little longer now. Jeremy handles all of this differently than

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I do. He's not a pacer. He's not someone who

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steers out the window every fifteen minutes. He just kind

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of settles in, He gets comfortable. He acts like everything

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is completely fine and there's nothing to anticipate. And I

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love him for it, but also also I don't understand it,

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because how how are you not feeling the same way

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I'm feeling that? Yes? How are you just sitting there

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and watching television? Like we aren't about to have a

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whole family descend on this house. But that's us, That's

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always been us. I'm the one doing laps around the kitchen.

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He's the one who will show up fully present the

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second people walk through the door. And honestly, we balance

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each other out pretty well, because if we were both pacers,

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the build up would be completely unmanageable. So I paced

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for both of us, and I checked the window and

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I sent the how far out are you? Text? And

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I waited while we're here in the build up, I

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want to take a second and talk about what it

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actually takes to host a gathering like this, because I

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think there's a version of it that looks effortless from

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the outside, like people just show up and there's food

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and everything is clean, and somehow it all just happened,

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And I want to gently push back on that. It

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doesn't just happen. Someone made it happen. Usually a lot

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of someone There is planning and shopping and prep and

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cooking and cleaning and coordinating and a hundred small decisions

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that don't just get seen because they happen before anyone arrives.

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And I'm not saying this to complain. I genuinely love

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doing it, but I think it's worth naming because if

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you are someone who does this work, who holds the

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logistics of a gathering so that other people can simply

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show up and enjoy, that matters. That is an act

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of love, a big one. And if you are someone

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who shows up to a gatherings and doesn't think about

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what it took to make them happen, consider thinking about it.

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Consider saying thank you, not in a formal way, just

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in a way of noticing of seeing the person who

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made it possible of being aware that food didn't make itself,

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and the house didn't clean itself, and the planning didn't

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do itself. Somebody loved you enough to do all of that,

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and that deserves to be seen. There's a specific moment

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that I want to try to describe to you, because

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I think if you've ever had someone you love walk

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through your front door after a long time apart, you

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know exactly what I'm talking about. It's when you hear

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the car before you even see it. You hear the

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tires on the driveway, or a door closing somewhere outside,

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and your whole body just kind of responds. Your heart

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does this little jump thing, your feet start moving before

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your brain even sends the instruction, and you're at the

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door or you're at the window, and then they're there.

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Logan pulled in and I remember watching him step out

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of the car, and I just smiled because there he is,

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Jeremy's son, part of this family, and he's here. His

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wife stepped out right behind him, and then and then

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came remedy, Oh my goodness, there is nothing in this

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world like a grandchild. Nothing you think you understand it

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before it happens, you think you can picture what it'll

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feel like, and then that little person walks into your

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space and just completely reorders everything. Little remedy came into

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the house and the energy just shifted. Every adult in

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the room became softer, warmer, more present. Kids have this

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way of doing that. They pull you right out of

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your head and right into the moment because kids are

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always in the moment. They're not thinking about the grocery list,

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they're not thinking about whether the house is clean enough.

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They are here, they are excited and they want to

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play and watch that ripple through the house, watching everyone

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just kind of light up. That was the moment I

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knew the weekend was going to be something special. But

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Logan's family was just the beginning. Because then the doors

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kept opening and people kept arriving and the house kept

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filling up. Morgan came. If you listen to this show,

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you know Morgan. She's just She's one of those people

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who walks into a room and brings warmth with her.

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She came with her boyfriend Tie, and I love watching

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them together. There's something really sweet about seeing your kids

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in good, healthy relationships. It makes your heart happy in

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a way that's hard to explain. Keenan's girlfriend, Sophie King,

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and she fits right into the chaos of this family,

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which is really the highest compliment I can give anyone,

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because this family we are a lot. Then Kenna with

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her husband Christian and their babies, Oh, their babies, Riley,

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Liana and Zilah. Those three little girls together are basically

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a force of nature. I mean that with all the

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love in my heart. They are beautiful and hilarious and

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they have absolutely zero volume control, and I love every

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single thing about them. And then we had our nephew

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Logan come in and his fiance Kate, and more cousins

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started trickling in after Logan and Kate. At some point

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I genuinely stopped trying to take a mental count because

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it didn't matter anymore. What mattered was the feeling that

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was building in the house. This layered rich, multi track

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feeling of everyone talking at once, and kids running through

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the hallway and someone always asking where something is, and

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laughter coming from two different rooms at the same time.

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Every single room had people in it. The living room

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was packed, the kitchen was standing room only. Outside people

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were gathering, and I just remember standing still for a second,

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just standing there in the middle of it and breathing

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it in. Because this is the dream. I don't care

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what anyone tells you about the perfect, quiet, peaceful weekend. This,

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this loud, packed, chaotic, joyful house. This is the dream. Now,

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let me be honest with you for a second, because

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I want to give you the real picture, not the

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highlighted reel, the whole thing. Having a house that fall

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is wonderful. It is also absolutely exhausting. There are shoes everywhere,

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and I mean everywhere, by the door, in the hallway, somehow,

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in the kitchen, someone's shoe is always in a place

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where no shoe should ever be. There are dishes, so

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many dishes. You wash around, and by the time you

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turn around, there's another round waiting. Someone is always looking

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for something, a charger, the remote, the good scissors. Why

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does everyone always need a good scissors? Kids are asking

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for snacks every forty minutes. The little ones need to

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be changed or fed or held or some combination of

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all three. And you're running on the mix of adrenaline

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and love and honestly, probably caffeine. But here's what I've

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come to understand over the years. The mess is part

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of the magic. You cannot have one without the other.

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The pile of shoes at the door, that's proof that

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people came. The dishes, that's proof that people ate together. Noise,

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that's proof that people are here. And I've learned to

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look at it that way, because one day the house

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will be quieter. One day there won't be shoes everywhere.

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One day I'll walk into a clean, perfectly quiet kitchen,

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and I'll think about this weekend and I'll miss every

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single bit of the mess. So I've decided to stop

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dreading the chaos and start appreciating it for what it

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actually is. Evidence is love, Evidence is family, evidence that

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people showed up. Can we talk about the kitchen for

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a minute, because in any gathering of this size, the

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kitchen becomes something else entirely. It stops being just a

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room where you cook food. It becomes the center of

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gravity for the entire house. There's something about the kitchen

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that pulls people in. Even when there's perfectly good seating

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in every other room of the house, even when the

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living room is right there, people drift to the kitchen.

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They lean on the counters, they sit at the barstools,

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they stand in the doorway, they reach past each other

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for snacks, they pour themselves a drink, and then they

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just stay. And the conversations that happen in kitchens, those

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are the real ones. That's where people let their guard down,

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where the real laughs happen, where somebody brings up a

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memory that leads to another memory that leads to a

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whole conversation nobody expected to have. I spent a lot

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of that weekend in the kitchen, partly because I was cooking,

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but partly because I just didn't want to miss anything.

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The kitchen was where everything was happening, and I was

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right there in the middle of it. There is truly

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no place I'd rather be. At some point during the weekend,

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we all decided we were going out to eat, all

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of us together. And if you have never attempted to

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take a large family group out to a restaurant, let

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me paint you a picture. First, there's a process of

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getting everyone to agree that yes, we are in fact

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doing this. Then there's the process of getting everyone ready

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to actually leave the house. And those are two very

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different things that take a combined amount of time that

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would genuinely surprise you. By the time everyone has shoes on,

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and everyone has what they need, and everyone has made

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a bathroom trip, and the kids are loaded and the

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littlest ones have been changed again because of course they

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need it. You're committed, there's no turning back. We decided

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on Mexican food, and honestly, it was the perfect choice

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because Mexican food is just beloved. There's no one at

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00:15:59.240 --> 00:16:04.200
a Mexican restaurant who is unhappy. It's impossible. The chips

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00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:07.240
come out and suddenly everyone is a little more relaxed.

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We got there and got settled in, and let me

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00:16:10.600 --> 00:16:13.840
tell you, watching the hostess do the math on how

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00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:18.000
many seats we needed was a moment. But we got

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00:16:18.039 --> 00:16:21.799
a long table. Actually it might have been two tables

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00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:26.440
pushed together, but we filled every single seat. Chips and

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00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:31.279
salsa coming down the table, Menus going around, kids deciding

242
00:16:31.320 --> 00:16:36.279
immediately and then changing their minds, drink orders getting complicated,

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00:16:36.759 --> 00:16:40.240
people talking over each other, and then the food came

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out and for a few beautiful minutes almost everyone was quiet,

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because when the food is that good, you don't want

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00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.000
to divide your attention. You want to be present for

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00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:57.480
every single bite. And then slowly the conversation started back up,

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00:16:58.480 --> 00:17:01.840
and the table gets loud again, and you can hear

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00:17:02.039 --> 00:17:06.480
little bits of different conversations happening all around you. And

250
00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:09.880
I remember looking down the length of that table at

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00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:15.240
all those faces, some of them Jeremies, some of mine,

252
00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:17.559
some of the mix of both of us and everything

253
00:17:17.559 --> 00:17:21.200
that came before us, all of them there, all of

254
00:17:21.240 --> 00:17:25.559
them together, and I thought, there is no restaurant nice

255
00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:30.079
enough to contain how good this actually feels. I'm going

256
00:17:30.119 --> 00:17:33.200
to slow down here for a second, because I've been

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00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:36.519
to a lot of gatherings over the years where I

258
00:17:36.599 --> 00:17:40.799
was technically there, but I wasn't really present, you know

259
00:17:40.839 --> 00:17:44.279
what I mean, Where you're physically in a room, but

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your mind is in ten different places. You're thinking about

261
00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:52.920
what still needs to be done, or you're scrolling, or

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00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:57.400
you're having a conversation while half your brain is somewhere else. Entirely.

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00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:01.319
I've done that. I've shown up to my own family

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00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:05.079
moments and not really been there. And this weekend I

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00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:08.720
made a conscious decision to actually be there, to put

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00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.400
the phone down more, to not always be the one

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00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.839
who's managing the logistics, to sit with people, to listen,

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00:18:16.200 --> 00:18:18.799
to watch. And what I noticed when I did that

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00:18:19.839 --> 00:18:23.119
was everything. I noticed the way Remedy looked at her

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00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:27.160
dad when he wasn't looking at her, just studying him,

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00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:32.000
the way little kids do like they're memorizing you. I

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00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.680
noticed the way Kenna laughed at something Christian said, full

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00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:40.720
genuine head back laughter the time you can't fake. I

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00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.640
noticed Logan and his fiance, the way they kept finding

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00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:48.519
each other in a crowded room. I noticed Jeremy watching

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00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:52.799
all of it, quiet, taking it in, and I thought,

277
00:18:53.480 --> 00:18:57.680
he's proud. This man has built something. A family that

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00:18:57.799 --> 00:19:01.240
shows up, a family that comes back, a family that

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00:19:01.319 --> 00:19:04.359
fills the house and means it. And I'm so glad

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00:19:04.400 --> 00:19:07.279
I slowed down enough to see all of it. Because

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00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:12.519
those little things, those quiet observations in the margin of

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00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.920
a big, loud weekend, those are the ones that stay

283
00:19:15.960 --> 00:19:19.559
with you the longest. There's something that happens when you

284
00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:23.799
choose to actually be present that nobody tells you about upfront.

285
00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:28.240
You start to see things you would have missed. Small things.

286
00:19:28.759 --> 00:19:32.400
A hand on someone's shoulder, a kid who quietly comes

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00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:35.240
and sits beside you because they feel safe near you.

288
00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:38.759
Two people sharing a joke that nobody else is in on,

289
00:19:39.480 --> 00:19:43.119
a grandparent and a grandchild making eye contact across a

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00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:48.000
noisy room, and both of them smiling. These things happen constantly,

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00:19:48.799 --> 00:19:52.279
They're happening all around us all the time, and they

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00:19:52.319 --> 00:19:55.720
require you to be paying attention. And I've been trying

293
00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:59.319
to do that more, not perfectly. I still reach for

294
00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:03.079
my phone, I still drift into logistic mode when I

295
00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:07.880
should be sitting down. But I'm trying. I'm actively trying

296
00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:12.319
to stay in the moment longer than feels natural, because

297
00:20:12.359 --> 00:20:17.519
the natural instinct is to keep moving, keep organizing, keep managing.

298
00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:24.119
But the meaningful instinct is to stop. Sit, look, listen,

299
00:20:25.279 --> 00:20:30.279
be here while here is still happening. Okay, now let's

300
00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:35.359
talk about cornhole, because cornhole at a handsome family gathering

301
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:39.160
is not a casual activity. Let me be very clear

302
00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:44.680
about that up front. It starts innocently. It always starts innocently.

303
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:50.559
Someone drags out the boards, someone starts tossing bags. It's light,

304
00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:57.000
it's fun. Nobody's taking it seriously yet, And then then

305
00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:01.559
someone makes a really good shot, and someone else says something,

306
00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.359
and then someone responds, and before you can even track

307
00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:14.319
how it happened, it's a whole thing. Teams form not casually, strategically.

308
00:21:14.759 --> 00:21:17.440
People who are good at this are not going to

309
00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:21.240
be on the same team. That's just the unspoken rule.

310
00:21:21.839 --> 00:21:25.720
You spread the talent, you make it competitive. Brackets are

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00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:29.920
being discussed, best of three is being decided, and then

312
00:21:29.960 --> 00:21:34.599
the trash talk. Oh, the trash talk. Now. I want

313
00:21:34.599 --> 00:21:38.440
to be clear, We're a family that loves each other deeply,

314
00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.279
but on the corn hole boards we are not giving

315
00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:47.480
each other an inch. There's absolutely trash talk happening, gentle

316
00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:51.440
at first, and then progressively less gentle as the game

317
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:56.759
goes on. Misshots are noted loudly. Good shots are celebrated,

318
00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:01.799
also loudly. Kids are running around, people on the sidelines

319
00:22:01.799 --> 00:22:05.200
are calling commentary like they're on a broadcast, and there's

320
00:22:05.279 --> 00:22:09.440
this energy that just builds and builds, and it's so fun.

321
00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:13.839
It is genuinely so much fun. Not because cornhole is

322
00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.960
the greatest game ever invented, but because of what it does.

323
00:22:18.640 --> 00:22:22.039
It gets people outside together. It gives them something to

324
00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:25.920
root for and something to joke about, and something to share.

325
00:22:26.559 --> 00:22:29.799
And that's the point. That's always the point with family.

326
00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:34.960
You're not really playing cornhole, you're being together. The game

327
00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:38.440
is just the excuse I keep coming back to the

328
00:22:38.519 --> 00:22:41.759
kids in my mind when I think about this weekend,

329
00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:45.440
because watching all these little people in our space, it

330
00:22:45.559 --> 00:22:48.119
does something to you. You look at them and you

331
00:22:48.200 --> 00:22:51.519
see time moving in a way that's hard to process.

332
00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:55.880
Because there's Remedy who's just growing so fast. Every time

333
00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:59.640
we see her, she's different, more alert, more aware, more

334
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:04.319
her and it hits you. These windows, the windows when

335
00:23:04.359 --> 00:23:07.599
they're small enough to fit in your arms, and big

336
00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:10.680
enough to actually respond to you, and young enough to

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00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:14.240
think everything you do is the most wonderful thing you've

338
00:23:14.359 --> 00:23:20.039
ever seen. Those windows are short, they are so so short.

339
00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:25.599
And then there are Riley, Leanna and Zilah. Those three,

340
00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:30.000
my goodness. Riley is at that age where she is

341
00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:34.160
deeply curious about everything. She wants to know how things

342
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:37.359
work and why things happen and what everything is called.

343
00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:41.440
And she plays and she will ask you. She will

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00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.519
ask you until she has an answer that satisfies her,

345
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:49.039
which I respect. Leanna is in her own world half

346
00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:53.640
the time, her own beautiful, elaborate world, and every now

347
00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:56.799
and then she'll look up at you with those big

348
00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:00.799
blue eyes and just smile, and you'll feel in your chest.

349
00:24:01.400 --> 00:24:05.440
Zilah is just pure joy. She's at that little age

350
00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:09.920
where everything is so peaceful and everything is worth it.

351
00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:14.720
She has absolutely no concept of slowing down. And I

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00:24:14.799 --> 00:24:20.160
think she's onto something. Watching those two girls together, watching

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00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:23.559
them interact with remedy and with each other, and with

354
00:24:23.880 --> 00:24:27.720
all the adults moving around them, it's just like watching

355
00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:32.400
something really important happen. They're learning what family feels like.

356
00:24:32.759 --> 00:24:35.359
They're building their picture of what it means to have

357
00:24:35.559 --> 00:24:39.960
people who love you show up in the same place.

358
00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:44.799
And someday years from now, one of them is going

359
00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.519
to smell something or hear a song and sit down

360
00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:52.839
to Easter dinner and they're going to feel this warmth

361
00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:56.079
and they won't even know exactly where it comes from,

362
00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:00.359
but I will know it came from this weekend. It

363
00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:03.480
came from this house. It came from all of us

364
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.039
being together. One of the things that really stayed with

365
00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:11.279
me after this weekend was the sense of generations of

366
00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:15.319
time stacked on top of time, because when you have

367
00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:19.240
a household of family like that, you can actually see it.

368
00:25:20.200 --> 00:25:23.319
You can see the newest little ones who are just

369
00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:27.079
learning that the world exists, and you can see the

370
00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:31.720
older kids like Logan who are now adults with their

371
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:35.559
own lives and their own families and their own rhythms.

372
00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:40.720
And somewhere in the middle are the kids like Maddie

373
00:25:40.799 --> 00:25:44.599
Torren and Anelin who are in that in between stage,

374
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:49.079
building their own things, figuring out who they are becoming.

375
00:25:49.759 --> 00:25:52.680
And then there's Jeremy and me looking at all of it.

376
00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:56.559
And I'll be honest, sometimes it takes your breath away

377
00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:00.000
a little because you don't always feel like time is moved.

378
00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:03.880
You're in it. You're in the day today and the

379
00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.799
ordinary and the routines. And then you get a moment

380
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:11.039
like Easter weekend where everyone is in the same room

381
00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:14.920
and you can literally see time. You can see what's

382
00:26:14.960 --> 00:26:19.319
been built, who's come, and who's grown, and who's brought

383
00:26:19.400 --> 00:26:24.279
something new into the circle. And it's beautiful. It's genuinely,

384
00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:28.000
deeply beautiful. But it also makes you want to hold

385
00:26:28.039 --> 00:26:30.400
on to it. It makes you want to grab the

386
00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:34.039
weekend by the edges and just keep it from moving

387
00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.440
forward for a little while, just stay, just let us

388
00:26:38.519 --> 00:26:41.680
have this a little longer. I think about what it

389
00:26:41.759 --> 00:26:44.799
must look like from the outside. If you were to

390
00:26:44.880 --> 00:26:48.519
walk past our house that weekend and look through the windows,

391
00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:52.039
you'd see a house packed with people of different ages,

392
00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:56.160
little ones running, adults laughing, a table covered in food,

393
00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:59.759
people spilling out the back door, and I hope it

394
00:26:59.880 --> 00:27:02.920
was look like what it felt like from the inside,

395
00:27:03.640 --> 00:27:08.119
which was love, just love it full volume. There's something

396
00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:12.039
about a big family gathering that makes you understand in

397
00:27:12.079 --> 00:27:15.799
a way that's hard to articulate why people have always

398
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:20.799
done this. Why across every culture and every time period,

399
00:27:21.039 --> 00:27:24.799
in every corner of the world, people have come together

400
00:27:24.920 --> 00:27:28.599
to share food and be in the same space. It's

401
00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:32.720
not just tradition. It's something deeper than that. It's this

402
00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:37.359
fundamental human need to be witnessed, to be known, to

403
00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:39.839
sit in a room with people and share your blood

404
00:27:40.480 --> 00:27:44.559
or your history or your chosen family bonds and say,

405
00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:49.039
we are here, we made it this far, we are

406
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:54.079
still doing this. That's what Easter weekend felt like, a declaration,

407
00:27:54.799 --> 00:28:00.000
a quiet, joyful, chaotic declaration that we are still here

408
00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:03.359
and we are still doing this, and we love each

409
00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:07.200
other enough to make it happen, and that is everything.

410
00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:11.200
And then came Easter dinner. I'm going to be honest

411
00:28:11.240 --> 00:28:15.119
with you, Easter dinner is my love language. I know

412
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:18.519
that sounds a little silly, but I mean it. There's

413
00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:21.839
something about cooking for a lot of people that brings

414
00:28:21.880 --> 00:28:25.920
me a kind of peace that's hard to describe. You

415
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:30.640
know the menu, you know the process. You've done this before,

416
00:28:31.680 --> 00:28:34.799
and there's a comfort in the ritual of it, getting

417
00:28:34.799 --> 00:28:37.759
everything started at the right time, so it all lands

418
00:28:37.799 --> 00:28:42.160
at once, moving around the kitchen with purpose, the smell

419
00:28:42.240 --> 00:28:46.480
that starts filling the house. And this year we did

420
00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:49.279
it up. The table was set and it was long,

421
00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:53.000
and it was full, and when everyone sat down, honestly,

422
00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.799
when everyone sat down and the noise settled for just

423
00:28:56.839 --> 00:29:00.880
a second as plates started being passed around, I had

424
00:29:00.920 --> 00:29:05.119
one of those moments, one of those stopped clock moments

425
00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:09.240
where you're just aware of how good something is while

426
00:29:09.279 --> 00:29:13.839
it's happening, not after the fact, right while it's happening,

427
00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:18.799
and I thought, this, this is it. Not the perfect

428
00:29:18.799 --> 00:29:22.759
table setting, not everything going exactly the way I planned,

429
00:29:23.640 --> 00:29:29.839
but these people, this food, this noise, this moment, that's it.

430
00:29:30.680 --> 00:29:33.920
That's what we're doing all of this for. And since

431
00:29:33.960 --> 00:29:36.839
we always take a minute to share something from the kitchen,

432
00:29:37.400 --> 00:29:39.359
I want to walk you through what I made for

433
00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:42.799
our Easter dinner center piece this year. Because we got

434
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.079
so many questions about it after I mentioned it, and

435
00:29:46.160 --> 00:29:49.119
I figured this was the perfect time to share it.

436
00:29:49.799 --> 00:29:53.839
This is my honey glazed Easter ham, and it is simple,

437
00:29:54.559 --> 00:29:57.839
but it is so so good. Now, when I say

438
00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:01.240
glazed ham, I don't mean something complex. I mean something

439
00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:03.440
that your family is going to circle back to the

440
00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:08.480
kitchen for multiple times, because there's something about the combination

441
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:11.519
of sweet and savory and just a little bit of

442
00:30:11.599 --> 00:30:15.160
heat that makes people lose all sense of portion control.

443
00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:19.599
And I say that lovingly. So here's what you need

444
00:30:20.359 --> 00:30:24.720
for the ham. You want a bone in fully cooked ham,

445
00:30:25.039 --> 00:30:28.519
about eight to ten pounds for a big crowd. You

446
00:30:28.559 --> 00:30:31.400
can go bigger if your crowd is bigger, and trust me,

447
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:35.519
it won't go to waste. For the glaze, you need

448
00:30:35.559 --> 00:30:38.880
a half a cup of honey, good honey, don't go

449
00:30:39.039 --> 00:30:42.599
cheap on the honey. Half a cup of brown sugar packed,

450
00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:48.759
two tablespoons of djarn mustard, two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar,

451
00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:53.160
a teaspoonful of garlic powder, a half a teaspoonful of

452
00:30:53.200 --> 00:30:58.039
ground cinnamon, a quarter teaspoonful of ground clothes, and a

453
00:30:58.079 --> 00:31:03.000
pinch of cayenne to a pinch. You don't want heat.

454
00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:07.759
You want a whisper of warmth. There's a difference. Now

455
00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:10.599
here's how you do it. Start by pulling your ham

456
00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:15.000
out of the refrigerator about thirty to forty minutes before

457
00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.359
you put it in the oven. You want it to

458
00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:22.359
come up toward room temperature. This matters cold meat right

459
00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:25.720
out of the fridge into a hot oven. Cooks on evenly,

460
00:31:26.160 --> 00:31:30.160
and you don't want that preheat your oven too three

461
00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:33.920
hundred and twenty five degrees. Score the outside of your

462
00:31:33.960 --> 00:31:38.400
ham in a diamond pattern, not deep, just about a

463
00:31:38.480 --> 00:31:42.799
quarter of an inch. This does two things. It helps

464
00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:45.000
the glaze get into the meat, and it gives you

465
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:48.079
that beautiful visual when you bring it to the table.

466
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:52.920
Place your hamd cut down in a roasting pan, put

467
00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:55.319
about half a cup of water in the bottom of

468
00:31:55.359 --> 00:31:59.240
the pan, cover it lightly with foil, and put it

469
00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.880
in the oven. You want to cook it at about

470
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.839
fifteen minutes per pound, covered, until the internal temperature reaches

471
00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:10.960
one hundred and twenty degrees. While that's happening, you're going

472
00:32:11.000 --> 00:32:15.359
to make your glaze. Combine your honey, brown sugar, jean

473
00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:21.440
apple cider, vinegar, garlic powder, cinnamon, cloves, and that pinch

474
00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:26.079
of cayenne in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir

475
00:32:26.200 --> 00:32:30.079
it together. You're just warming it and bringing it together.

476
00:32:31.079 --> 00:32:35.240
You're not boiling it or reducing it dramatically. Just a

477
00:32:35.279 --> 00:32:38.759
couple of minutes until everything is combined and the sugar

478
00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:42.880
is dissolved and it smells absolutely incredible in your kitchen,

479
00:32:43.519 --> 00:32:47.480
which it will, trust me. Set the glaze aside. When

480
00:32:47.519 --> 00:32:50.839
your ham hits one hundred and twenty degrees, pull it

481
00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:54.799
out of the oven, remove the foil, and now here's

482
00:32:54.839 --> 00:32:58.839
the part that makes the house smell like a holiday brush,

483
00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:02.079
a generous lager player of glaze all over the ham.

484
00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:08.119
Don't be shy, get into the scoring, get it everywhere.

485
00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:11.279
Then put the hand back in the oven, uncovered at

486
00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:15.200
four hundred and twenty five degrees. Every ten minutes, you're

487
00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:18.640
going to pull it out and add another layer of glaze.

488
00:33:19.319 --> 00:33:24.079
Do this three times, three layers. You're building something beautiful here.

489
00:33:24.680 --> 00:33:27.759
The glaze is going to caramelize on the outside and

490
00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:31.880
get sticky and golden and a little shiny, and your

491
00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:34.680
family is going to come into the kitchen asking what

492
00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:38.400
that smell is, and you're going to feel very good

493
00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:42.880
about yourself. Pull the ham when the internal temperature reaches

494
00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:46.240
one hundred and forty degrees, let it rest for at

495
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:50.240
least fifteen minutes before you cut into it. I know,

496
00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:54.200
I know it's hard to wait, but rest your ham

497
00:33:54.599 --> 00:33:57.480
it makes a difference. And then bring it to the

498
00:33:57.519 --> 00:34:00.920
table and watch what happens. This is the dish that

499
00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:05.279
gets talked about afterward. This is the one that has

500
00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:09.159
people asking for the recipe the next day. And now

501
00:34:09.239 --> 00:34:13.480
you have it, so make it yours. By Sunday evening,

502
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:17.800
the weekend was winding down and the house was still full,

503
00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:22.000
but you could feel the shift happening, that energy that

504
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:25.639
comes at the end of a long stretch of togetherness,

505
00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:30.519
where everyone is loved and full and tired and a

506
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:34.280
little quieter than they were two days ago. Kids were

507
00:34:34.280 --> 00:34:38.199
getting that glassy eyed look that means bedtime is overdue.

508
00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:43.679
Adults were settling into slower conversations. The peace of everything

509
00:34:43.920 --> 00:34:47.320
just softened, And I remember sitting down for the first

510
00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:51.320
time in what felt like the entire weekend, and I

511
00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:57.280
was tired, genuinely, deep down tired, the good tired, the

512
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:01.239
tired that comes from doing something that mattered. And I

513
00:35:01.280 --> 00:35:04.119
looked around the room at the people still here, and

514
00:35:04.199 --> 00:35:08.119
the dishes we hadn't gotten to yet, at the shoes

515
00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:12.239
still near the door, at the corn hale bag someone

516
00:35:12.360 --> 00:35:16.039
had brought inside and left on the couch, And I

517
00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:18.599
felt this eighth start in the middle of my chest

518
00:35:19.159 --> 00:35:23.159
because I knew what was coming. Tomorrow day leave and

519
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:27.840
the house gets quiet, and I love quiet. I genuinely

520
00:35:27.880 --> 00:35:31.079
love a quiet morning with coffee and time to think.

521
00:35:31.800 --> 00:35:35.760
But this particular quiet, the one that comes right after

522
00:35:35.880 --> 00:35:40.519
this particular loud, that one is hard because the house

523
00:35:40.599 --> 00:35:44.679
doesn't just feel quiet. It feels like it's missing something,

524
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:49.760
and it is it's missing them. I think about this sometimes,

525
00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:55.400
about how right now our family expands and contracts, people come,

526
00:35:55.440 --> 00:35:58.920
and people go back to their lives, and we're in

527
00:35:58.920 --> 00:36:02.760
this phase where we still get together, where the kids

528
00:36:02.800 --> 00:36:05.760
still come back, where the grand kids still fit in

529
00:36:05.800 --> 00:36:09.159
our arms, where everyone is healthy enough to make the

530
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:13.480
drive or flight. I know that this phase is precious.

531
00:36:14.119 --> 00:36:17.079
I know it doesn't last forever, and so I want

532
00:36:17.119 --> 00:36:22.920
to soak it up, every noisy, chaotic, shoe, cluttered, dish, piled, cornhole,

533
00:36:23.039 --> 00:36:27.559
competitive left filled minute of it, because one day I

534
00:36:27.599 --> 00:36:30.719
will close my eyes and try to remember what it

535
00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:34.480
felt like and I want to have so much stored up,

536
00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:38.440
so much to pull from that the memory keeps me warm.

537
00:36:38.519 --> 00:36:41.760
For a long long time. I've talked to women who

538
00:36:41.800 --> 00:36:45.119
are further down the road than me, women whose kids

539
00:36:45.159 --> 00:36:49.000
are grown and gone and spread across the country, women

540
00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:52.960
whose houses are quiet now in that permanent, settled way,

541
00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:56.239
and every single one of them says the same thing.

542
00:36:57.000 --> 00:37:01.320
It goes fast, faster than you think, faster than you're

543
00:37:01.360 --> 00:37:06.000
ready for. And I believe them. I believe them completely.

544
00:37:06.280 --> 00:37:09.760
So I'm choosing as best as I can to not

545
00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:14.400
sleepwalk through this season, to be here in it, to

546
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:17.880
let the mess be messy and the noise be noisy

547
00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:22.559
and the chaos be chaotic, because this is the season.

548
00:37:23.400 --> 00:37:26.840
This is exactly where I'm supposed to be, and I'm

549
00:37:26.840 --> 00:37:29.920
not going to miss it while I'm in it. And

550
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:33.599
then came Sunday, and the cars started getting packed, and

551
00:37:33.639 --> 00:37:37.519
the hugs started getting passed around, and not the quick hugs,

552
00:37:37.719 --> 00:37:40.360
the long ones, the ones where you hold on a

553
00:37:40.360 --> 00:37:43.960
little past the point of comfortable because you know it'll

554
00:37:44.000 --> 00:37:46.559
be a while before the next one. I hug the

555
00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:50.320
logan I held remedy one more time. I told her

556
00:37:50.360 --> 00:37:53.199
I loved her even though I know she's too little

557
00:37:53.320 --> 00:37:55.519
to carry the words with her, but I said them

558
00:37:55.559 --> 00:37:58.920
anyway because it mattered to me to say them. One

559
00:37:59.000 --> 00:38:03.079
by one, people trickled out the parking situation in front

560
00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:06.880
of the house that had been complicated, and chaotics slowly

561
00:38:06.960 --> 00:38:10.719
resolved itself as cars pulled away. And then there was

562
00:38:10.760 --> 00:38:14.159
that moment, you know, the one where you close the

563
00:38:14.199 --> 00:38:17.800
door and you stand in the hallway and the house

564
00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:22.400
is quiet, and you can almost still hear them, almost

565
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:25.519
the echo of all that laughter, the ghost of all

566
00:38:25.639 --> 00:38:28.920
that noise. And I just stood there for a little while,

567
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:32.639
not rushing to clean up, not trying to get the

568
00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:36.039
house back to normal, just standing in it, feeling it,

569
00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:42.039
letting it settle, because that moment after everyone leaves, that's

570
00:38:42.119 --> 00:38:47.239
sacred too. That's where gratitude lives. That's where you feel

571
00:38:47.239 --> 00:38:53.599
it most fully, how quickly, how lucky, how truly genuinely

572
00:38:53.719 --> 00:38:56.800
lucky we are. I walked back through the house after

573
00:38:56.880 --> 00:38:59.719
the last car left, and I did something I don't

574
00:38:59.719 --> 00:39:03.920
all do. I didn't immediately start cleaning up. I just

575
00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:06.960
walked through the rooms. The living room still had that

576
00:39:07.079 --> 00:39:10.400
lived in look, blankets on the couch, a few cups

577
00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:14.400
on the coffee table, pillows moved around and never put back.

578
00:39:15.039 --> 00:39:17.880
The kitchen still had the aftermath of Easter dinner on

579
00:39:18.079 --> 00:39:22.440
every surface. The backyard still had the corn hole boards out,

580
00:39:23.280 --> 00:39:26.000
like the game might start again if the right people

581
00:39:26.039 --> 00:39:29.360
came back. And I walked through all of it slowly.

582
00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:35.280
Not was frustration, not making a mental list of tasks,

583
00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:39.280
just looking at the evidence, evidence that people were here,

584
00:39:40.159 --> 00:39:44.480
evidence that we did it. We brought everyone together. We

585
00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:47.639
fed people and made them laugh, and let the kids

586
00:39:47.719 --> 00:39:51.679
run wild, and played cornhole until someone declared a champion,

587
00:39:52.480 --> 00:39:55.639
and sat around a table and passed the ham and

588
00:39:55.719 --> 00:39:59.360
stayed up too late, and made memories in every corner

589
00:39:59.400 --> 00:40:02.960
of this house. And then I sat down and I

590
00:40:03.039 --> 00:40:06.920
said thank you out loud, just to the empty room,

591
00:40:07.360 --> 00:40:12.199
to whatever is listening, because I'm aware, I am so

592
00:40:12.360 --> 00:40:16.280
deeply aware that this kind of weekend doesn't happen by accident.

593
00:40:16.840 --> 00:40:20.000
It takes people who love each other enough to show up.

594
00:40:20.880 --> 00:40:24.039
It takes health and time and the ability to travel

595
00:40:24.679 --> 00:40:27.960
and the desire to make it happen. And not everyone

596
00:40:28.079 --> 00:40:32.519
has that. Not all families come together like this, and

597
00:40:32.559 --> 00:40:35.320
so when ours does, I don't want to take it

598
00:40:35.360 --> 00:40:38.360
for granted. I want to name it, I want to

599
00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:41.559
hold it. I want to say thank you while I

600
00:40:41.639 --> 00:40:44.639
still have it, to say thank you for. If you've

601
00:40:44.679 --> 00:40:48.760
been listening to this episode while you're driving, or cooking,

602
00:40:49.039 --> 00:40:52.239
or walking, or folding laundry or doing whatever it is

603
00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:55.360
you do when you listen to this show, I want

604
00:40:55.400 --> 00:40:59.280
to leave you with something. Not advice, not a list

605
00:40:59.320 --> 00:41:02.880
of steps, just a thought. Don't let perfect get in

606
00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:05.760
the way of good. Don't wait until the house is

607
00:41:05.800 --> 00:41:10.320
big enough, or until the timing is perfect, or until

608
00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:15.239
you've got everything figured out. Bring your people together, whoever

609
00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:20.239
that means for you. Family. You are born into family.

610
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:24.599
You choose people who make your home feel fuller. Bring

611
00:41:24.599 --> 00:41:28.360
them over, Make something in the kitchen. Let the house

612
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:32.559
get loud, Let there be shoes by the door. Let

613
00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:36.559
it be a little chaotic, because the chaos is the evidence.

614
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:40.920
The mess is the memory in the making. And years

615
00:41:40.920 --> 00:41:43.599
from now, when your house is quieter and the kids

616
00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:46.880
are further away and the grandkids are growing faster than

617
00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:50.719
you can track, you'll look back on the messy weekends

618
00:41:50.880 --> 00:41:53.880
and the full tables and the corn Hall trash talk

619
00:41:54.559 --> 00:41:58.639
and the giant restaurant bills and the Saturday mornings with

620
00:41:58.760 --> 00:42:02.920
people asleep on every surface of your house, and you'll

621
00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:06.440
be so glad. You'll be so glad you said yes,

622
00:42:07.360 --> 00:42:10.639
You'll be so glad you didn't wait. You'll be so

623
00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:14.320
glad you let it be imperfect and noisy and real,

624
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:18.360
because that's what love looks like when it's living in

625
00:42:18.400 --> 00:42:23.119
a house. That's what family sounds like when it's really happening.

626
00:42:23.920 --> 00:42:28.360
And it is worth every dish, every chaotic moment, every

627
00:42:28.480 --> 00:42:32.039
late night, every single bit of it. I think we've

628
00:42:32.039 --> 00:42:35.119
been sold this idea that life is supposed to be created,

629
00:42:35.840 --> 00:42:39.920
that your home should look a certain way, that gathering

630
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:42.960
should be organized and beautiful and run on his schedule.

631
00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:46.400
And I get it. I understand the appeal of that,

632
00:42:47.280 --> 00:42:50.639
but that's not what I remember. What I remember is

633
00:42:50.679 --> 00:42:54.519
the laughter that came from somewhere I couldn't see, The

634
00:42:54.599 --> 00:42:58.840
moment someone told the story that had everyone crying, laughing,

635
00:42:59.320 --> 00:43:02.400
The way a kid ran into the room and interrupted

636
00:43:02.440 --> 00:43:06.119
whatever serious conversation was happening and somehow made it better.

637
00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:09.960
The food that was slightly overcooked but nobody said anything

638
00:43:10.079 --> 00:43:13.480
because the company was so good it didn't matter. The

639
00:43:13.559 --> 00:43:16.679
long goodbye in the driveway that turned into forty five

640
00:43:16.800 --> 00:43:21.159
more minutes of conversation. Those are the memories, not the

641
00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:24.280
perfect ones, the real ones. And I think the real

642
00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:26.440
ones are worth more than we give them credit for.

643
00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:31.639
So go gather your people. Do it imperfectly, do it loudly.

644
00:43:32.559 --> 00:43:34.639
Do it with the kitchen full of dishes and a

645
00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:38.000
yard full of cornhole bags and a table that doesn't

646
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:43.800
quite fit everyone, but somehow does do it, because this

647
00:43:43.800 --> 00:43:46.840
this is the life. Thank you so much for spending

648
00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:50.159
time with me today, thank you for being part of

649
00:43:50.199 --> 00:43:53.760
this show, and honestly, thank you for being part of

650
00:43:53.800 --> 00:43:56.679
our family in your own way, because that's what you are.

651
00:43:56.719 --> 00:43:59.559
When you tune in, You're sitting in a room with us,

652
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:03.360
you're at the table, You're part of the story. And

653
00:44:03.440 --> 00:44:05.360
that means more to me than I know how to say.

654
00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:08.920
This is we are the Hansens. I am Maya Hansen,

655
00:44:09.400 --> 00:44:10.800
and I will see you next time.