unser Haus

The good news of the day is that Brad signed the lease papers for a house in Berlin this morning. Yay! We officially have a place to live! I would have hated being homeless in Germany.

The house isn't available until July, so Brad will be staying in a small furnished apartment until then. Hopefully, our furniture will arrive early in July, so he won't be rattling around an empty house for too long. I have already Google-mapped the neighborhood, and I know where the nearest McDonald's is, so that is a comfort. This house is actually very close to the first house we picked out, so that helps me feel like I kind of know what to expect.

How weird is this? We are going to live there!

Grandpa D's funeral

Last weekend, I was able to go to Utah for my Grandpa Darrington's funeral. Grandpa died last Tuesday night in his sleep at the age of 95. My grandma was holding his hand and sleeping beside him when he slipped away. Grandpa had been in poor health for several months, so it was a blessing for him to pass away so peacefully.

Grandpa D. was an extraordinarily kind man. He was a quiet presence at our family gatherings, but he always was in the middle of everything. I don't think I ever visited him without him pulling me over onto his lap and asking me, "Who loves you?" Of course, I always answered, "Grandpa!" and he would laugh and give me a hug. Later, his signature phrase was, "Remember who loves you," and that was the recurring theme at his funeral. Grandpa truly was a man who put people and relationships first in his life and made sure everyone who came in contact with him knew that he loved them. I am so grateful to my grandma for bringing Grandpa D. into my life. He is the first example I think of when I try to imagine a Christlike person.

So, after my (crazy) brother-in-law Jeff offered to watch my kids so I could go to the funeral, I hopped on a plane Friday morning for a quick weekend trip to Utah. My mom, Josh, and Jodi all met me at the airport, and I was delighted when we stopped at my favorite restaurant on the way home. Brad, I took this picture with you in mind...

Here is possibly my favorite meal in the whole world - Cafe Rio beef enchiladas. Oh baby...!

Friday night, I went bowling with some of my siblings. I started off strong, but in the end I think I ended up scoring second to last. Oh well.

Me with my cute sisters - Jami, Jodi, and Jen. By the time this picture was taken, I was pretty tired. I'd been up since 5:00 a.m. MI time for seminary, and it was about 10:00 p.m. UT time, which felt like midnight to me. Of course, my sleep-deprived state made me pretty punchy, so I was laughing way too hard at anything by this point.

I had to take this picture of the wooden plaque above the shoe-rental counter. Only in UT would you find something like this is in a grimy bowling alley. The eternal quest to be cute!

Saturday was filled with the funeral. After the viewing and funeral services, the family followed the hearse to the cemetary in Brigham City for the burial.

Grandpa was buried beside his first wife, Lila. He was married to her for about 30 years, and then married to my grandma for 35 years.

This is my dad coming up to say the dedicatory prayer. You can see how many people were there. Grandpa and Grandma Darrington always loved to number their family members. At each wedding or baby's birth, Grandpa and Grandma assigned that new person a number so they could keep track of how big their family was. I think they were very proud to have such a big family. My cousin had a baby two days before Grandpa died, and that baby was number 177. Nearly all 177 people were at the funeral. The only two of my cousins that were not there were my cousin Allie, who just had the baby in Chicago, and my cousin Curtis, who is serving a full-time mission.

This is me with my "best cousin" Marci. She and I are only a month apart in age, and were great friends growing up. We went to EFY together as teenagers, and then were roommates in college at BYU. It was great to see her and catch up with her!

Here are my parents and all my siblings. L-R we are: Jeff, Justin (Bust), Jill, Dad (Jerry), Jason, Mom (Jan), Jami, Josh, Jodi, and Jen. Yes, we are THAT family whose names all start with 'J'.

My sweet Grandma Darrington and me after the funeral lunch. Isn't she just pretty? (After being on the "giving" end of some funeral lunches, I have a great appreciation for the Relief Society who had to rustle up this lunch for about 200 people.)

Sunday morning, I caught a plane at the crack of dawn and flew home to rescue Jeff from his house-full of kids. He watched 3 of mine (Pepper stayed with a school friend), plus his own 4 because Jodi was also in Utah for the funeral. Jeff was so nice to offer to watch my kids, and they all had a good time at his house, but I'm sure he was glad to see me on his front porch on Sunday afternoon!

Eye of the Tiger

Last night was the elementary school talent show, and Pepper was sooooo excited to do his act with his best friend, Landon. They went through several versions of their act, finally deciding to have Landon do a karate demonstration while Pepper sang "The Eye of the Tiger." As awesome as that sounds, I was a little worried...

So, Jessica and I decided that no matter what, we were going to cheer for him, and cheer loudly. Jess invited her friend Karen from school to come, because Karen is such a kind soul and would help us cheer Pepper on.

Here is Pepper's cheering section. Landon's parents were sitting on the row in front of us, so we could give each other moral support.

Jess and Karen.

Landon and Pepper before the show. They got to sit on one of the front rows because they were in the show, and Pepper was in heaven because he got to spend the whole evening with his best friend.

Here is the act. . .you don't want to miss this!


The good news is that this wasn't any worse than the other acts. The bad news is that none of the other acts were any better.

All in all, a delightful night!

Adam's birthday and baptism

We have just had such a fun weekend! Adam turned 8 on Friday and then was baptized the next day. Both sets of grandparents flew in for the occasion and we partied for 3 days straight!

Here is Adam gearing up to blow out his one candle.

Adam in the "birthday chair." He got 3 Pokeman games for his DS (because I went from store to store looking for the game he wanted, and ended up buying the random Pokeman games I could find). I think his favorite gift was the Slinky he got from Jodi and Jeff's family. There was much cheering when he figured out how to get it to propel itself down the stairs.

A goofy picture of the Birthday Boy with ice cream all over his shirt...

Luke and Erik pounding away on the piano. I told you it was a party - a LOUD party!

Adam and Brad after the baptism on Saturday. The timing was perfect - Adam turned 8 on the 27th, got baptized on the 28th, and then Brad left for Germany the next day, March 1st. If Adam had been born two days later, we would have been in real trouble!

Our little family.

Adam with both sets of grandparents.

The kids goofing off after the baptism.

It was such a fun weekend, I almost didn't notice that Brad left on Sunday. I say "almost" because I did notice, and it was sad. I have to wait for him to call me because the phone he set up on his laptop for me to call doesn't work in his current hotel room in Berlin, so he calls me from his office once a day. At least we have that. He is spending today and tomorrow looking for houses with our favorite agent Stephani, so hopefully I'll have some good news soon about where we will be living in Berlin. Brad, if you see this, WE MISS YOU!!!