Today was the First Lawn Mow of the Season.  

When Adam did his section, he insisted that he couldn't empty the bag without Luke's help.  Oh brother.  I'm sure this was Adam's way of making sure Luke didn't get out of helping.

We had an impromptu BBQ tonight, and when I saw these three handsome boys sitting in a row, I couldn't help but snap a picture.

Our Saturday was once again dominated by baseball, but I think I've overdone the baseball posts for this week.  So, this photo may be boring, but at least it's not baseball-related.

It occurred to me today when we came home from the baseball games (see, I can't help the baseball references - sorry) that I've walked through this front door thousands of times in the three years we've lived here.  It seems appropriate that I have a photo to remember how it feels to come "home" in Germany.

Today was our last morning of seminary.  We are officially finished with the Old Testament.

When I made up the lesson schedule last Fall, I was surprised to see that even with school breaks, there were only enough lessons to fill until the end of April.  I suppose I could have drawn some out and given a few lessons two days, but since our family and J's family are both moving this Spring, I figured we'd all appreciate being done with seminary by May.

Quite frankly, I'm pretty proud that we made it all the way through without bloodshed.  There were a few mornings when Jessica looked very tempted to break the sixth commandment.

After-school crash.

Jessica has been plagued by a pimple this week, and she is convinced it has rendered her utterly hideous.

In the spirit of solidarity and support for her bruised self-esteem, I am posting one of the worst pictures of myself ever taken.

Here I am in all my 12-year-old glory modeling a dress I sewed myself in a Young Women fashion show (just reading this sentence makes me shudder - it's a recipe for disaster).  

I remember that I made the bodice for the dress too short, so the "waist" was about 2 inches too high.  That is why the pink sash was so wide - to cover it up.  And, could the just-below-the-knee length be any more unflattering on my skinny legs?  I have all the allure of a hockey stick.  And, let's not even talk about the huge glasses.  Or the white nylons.

But do you want to know the really sad thing?   I thought I looked good.

Lukie seriously has the nicest tee-ball coach in the world.  

After their practice today, the coach had them all join hands.  Then he gave them a little "pep talk" that began with him thanking all the players for their curiosity.  This is the most Sensitive Guy approach I've ever seen applied to sports, but the kids are eating it up.  I think it's great.

This morning in seminary, we were talking about the book of Micah.  Because Micah uses a lot of "word pictures" I gave Jess and J some verses for them to draw.  Luke happened to be up, and he loves to join us for seminary.  When he saw we were coloring, he was all over that and drew a picture of his own.

Luke wanted to draw a picture of Micah with God and Jesus.  You can see they are all wearing capes.  That's because, you know, they're Super.

Yesterday was a HUGE day for us.  I already wrote about the baseball, but an even HUGER thing happened in the evening after we got home.  Such a HUGE deal that I am giving it it's own blog post rather than adding it to the baseball post from yesterday.  

Let me back up a bit.  I've mentioned before that we have the lovely Beatrice living with us this year.  Last summer, her father passed away unexpectedly and Beatrice needed a place to live here in Berlin so she could finish her last year of school.  I knew her well from institute, so we were happy to let her use our extra room in the basement.

As she's been finishing school, Beatrice has also been preparing to serve a full-time mission for our church.  About three weeks ago, she sent in her papers, expecting to get her mission call in about a month or six weeks.  

Well, on Wednesday this week, I found a big, white envelope with the First Presidency's return address in my mailbox.  We weren't expecting it so soon, so it took a few moments for me to register what I was holding in my hand.  Once it sunk in, I gasped, squealed, and ran into the house to find Beatrice.  She saw it, gasped, SCREAMED, and then we screamed some more together.  During a break in the screaming, we stared at each other with wide eyes, and wondered, "What do we do now?!?"

Beatrice really wanted to have a party to celebrate her mission call, and she didn't want to open it until she had her close friends all there to be a part of it.  The killer was that because of other things already planned, she couldn't have her mission call party until Saturday night.  So, she gave me the big white envelope to hide until she could open it last night (I should point out that I was the model of self-restraint in that I knew where it was the whole time, and never peeked.  I'm very proud of myself).

So, last night we arrived home from Adam's baseball game to find our house bursting with people gathered to watch Beatrice open her call.  Everyone brought food, and Beatrice had a map posted where people could make their guess as to where she'd be called.

Lots of people guessed places in America and Germany.  But nobody guessed the right place.

Beatrice finally opened the envelope and read her call aloud...

...and she's going to the Greece, Athens mission!!!!!!  

Is that the most coolest, most romantickest mission or what?!?

Needless to say, when she read her call out loud, the whole room cheered and applauded.  It was a great moment!  Beatrice's mother happened to be visiting from England, so she was standing next to me and we both cried like babies.  I love cheering and crying at the same time!

Here is the video I took of Beatrice opening her call. If you watch it, be ready to smile like an idiot and maybe shed a tear or two.  It's awesome!

OK, so I think I've made it clear that I love baseball.  And by "baseball", I mean a bunch of amateurs hitting balls/striking out, catching/missing pop flies, and the occasional hot shot stealing base/getting flattened by the tagging player.  I like the kind of baseball that gets played in local parks by less-than-perfect teams who make as many mistakes as they do successful plays.

I think I got this gene from my Grandma Darrington.  I remember one summer when I was 10 years old, my brother and I stayed with Grandma and Grandpa in Utah for a few weeks.  Occasionally, Grandma would announce that we were going to a "Ballgame", and the four of us would head to the Brigham City Park, where some random league was inevitably playing baseball or softball.  We'd sit on the bleachers filled with parents and family members of the players and Grandma would cheer for whomever was batting, whomever made a good play, whomever made a scoring run.  She didn't know the players, but by the end of the game, she knew the fans (anyone who knew my Grandma will back me up on this).  We'd stay until past dark, when the field lights were on and we were wrapped up in the blankets we'd brought to sit on.  It was Summertime at its most magical.

Plus, Grandpa would buy us all hamburgers at the concession stand.  As I was one of six children (eventually 8) of a poor graduate student, then poor professor, this was a major event.

So, you can imagine how thrilled I was today at the season openers of Adam and Luke's baseball league.

This morning, Luke played his first tee-ball game.  They've never practiced, so this "game" was all about a bunch of little boys whacking the ball off the tee, then having no idea what to do next.  The coaches got quite a workout running around the field trying to show the players where to go and what to do, and those of us watching got a good laugh.  

At one point, after Luke had hit the ball, he ran to first base, started running to second, changed his mind half-way there, and just walked back to the dug out.  Since every player on the opposing team was chasing the ball, which was somewhere in right field, no one noticed that Luke had left the field.  No worries - the next batter approached the plate and the game continued.   I don't need to tell you that the final score was 0-0.

Adam's game this afternoon was very different.  He has moved up a level since last year, and it is a whole new ballgame.  At this level, the players can steal bases, so every single second chasing a missed catch or wild pitch is fraught with tension.  Adam got one hit, but was out at first, and then he struck out.  It was a close game throughout, but luckily we won 4-3.  Adam has the same coach as last year, who is quite competitive while still being very encouraging and patient, so we anticipate a very exciting season.

And, I had a concession stand hamburger.  Still a major event.

 Luke disappeared into the bathroom this afternoon and emerged looking like this. He was sooooo proud of his cool hairdo.

You know who I immediately thought of, don't you?

Even after 25ish years, this guy from Flock of Seagulls still wins the Stupidest-Hair-I've-Ever-Seen award.  And now my son is unknowingly emulating him.

I'm not comfortable with this.

It's baseball season again!

I seriously love baseball season.  Last year, we found this awesome American baseball league here in Berlin, and we had the best time spending our Saturdays at the ball park watching Adam play.  This year, Adam is playing again and Lukie is also playing tee-ball, so we'll get to spend twice as much time cheering on our little sluggers.  I may be singing a different tune come June, but for now, I am super excited!

The first games aren't until Saturday, but Adam's team has been practicing for three weeks now.  He's moved up a level, so his baseball world may be rocked now that he's playing with the bigger boys, but I cannot wait!

And, how's that for an amazing catch?!

Yes, this is my bathroom scale.  And let me tell you, I really wish I had had it this morning at my visiting teaching appointment.

My partner Antje and I went to visit Sis. S for the first time.  Sis. S is a single lady in her 50's that speaks a little English, but not much, so our visit was happening in German.  I can usually follow most of what is said as long as I concentrate really hard, so I was sitting there using every one of my brain cells to understand the get-to-know-you chit-chat of a typical first visit.

Suddenly, out of the blue, Sis. S stops talking, looks me full in the face and asks, in English, "Jill, what do you weigh?"  I sat there and sputtered for a bit, both in shock at being abruptly addressed in English and at the audacity of the question.  Still in shock, I responded with my approximate weight in pounds. 

 "No," she said, "in kilos!"

Well, I don't know my weight in kilos, and I'm not smart enough to do the conversion when my brain is already tired from trying to understand German.  So, I told her I don't know.  This did not satisfy Sis. S, and she briskly motioned for me to stand up from my chair.  Thinking she wanted to look at me and make a ball park guess, I hesitantly stood up and faced her.

The next thing I know, Sis. S has swooped in and wrapped her arms around me.  Then, she PICKED ME UP, set me down, and positively announced my weight in kilos.  I couldn't do anything but stand there and blink, while my partner Antje sat there and laughed and laughed.

I think this qualifies as the weirdest visiting teaching visit I've ever made.

Breakfast of champions!

This may or may not have been my second glass of Coke Zero this morning...

Tonight, we had a party to celebrate James' and Denise's birthdays.  We played Cranium, which is usually a bad idea with these people because they are all brilliant, so Brad and I end up feeling like the charity-case, dumb friends.  But, tonight, we got a bunch of easy questions, so we won!  Yay!

The view from my kitchen window.

Someday, my dream is to see the Rocky Mountains from my kitchen window.  Since that isn't possible right now, I guess I'll have to enjoy whatever this pink blossomy tree is.

This car belongs to one of my neighbors, and every time I pass it on the street, I chuckle a little to myself.

Tonight, I dug up some video tapes (yes, video tapes - I'm that old) from my dancing days at BYU.  I had a good ole time waltzing down memory lane as I watched our tour show in Bangkok, Thailand from May 1993.  Since it is on video tape, I can't share it with you here, but I do have a few of my dance videos on DVD, thanks to Brad who had some transferred to DVDs a few years ago for my birthday.

Here is a highlight from my dance video library.  In the winter of 1994, I girded up my loins and decided to do a Theater Arts number for the International Ball competition in April.  I had always ooohhed and aaaahhed at the cabarets in previous competitions, but I was kind of intimidated to do one myself.  Luckily, when I finally decided to try it, I was able to hook up with Brent, who turned out to be a fantastic partner in every way.  He had this fabulous music in mind for our cabaret and Linda Wakefield choreographed it for us.  After many, many hours of practice (including learning the lifts in a swimming pool - thank you Dirty Dancing), Brent and I were thrilled to take first place at the competition.  

Of course, it's not perfect.  After years of watching So You Think You Can Dance and smugly considering myself a judge of good dancing, I can see every little mistake and cringe-worthy moment.  But, this routine marks one of my best dancing experiences because I did something I wasn't sure I could do, I loved every minute of it, and we won.  It's always funnest to win.

(And now, it's fun to look back on a time when I could wear a dress like that and not have to suck in my tummy the whole time.  Sigh.)

The youtube address is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYoxI44w7k8.

Do you see the shame written all over this face? 

This is the little boy who, after being told NOT to bounce the basketball in the living room, bounced said basketball in said living room and broke the light fixture.  

Dead Meat.

Tonight, it was Adam's dish night and I told Pepper and Luke they had to clean up the pig-sty playroom.  About an hour later, this motley crew appeared in my living room:

Yes, Adam and Luke are soaking wet.  They proudly announced that they had done the dishes together.  I don't have high hopes for what I will find in the kitchen.  

Pepper is wearing his heavy coat, gloves, and boots.  Apparently there was a bee in the playroom.

 Spring Break House

Braedyn was doodling on our white board tonight and she told me this is what she does on her German teacher's white board at her high school.  She says this teacher doesn't like her, so Braedyn writes subliminal messages about how great she is.

There is no need for Braedyn to try to convince us to like her.  We already agree with all the statements on the board.

This year, the Easter Bunny kept things pretty simple: a few pre-packaged chocolates and one gift per child.  After last year, I think the Easter Bunny knew he'd set the bar pretty low, so there wasn't much point in doing anything too fancy.

We did have a nice Easter dinner, though.

But, this was my favorite part of the whole day:

In February, Brad was asked to go do a little service project.  Sis. W, an older lady in our ward, is moving from her apartment and needed help getting her apartment ready to leave.  So, Brad dragged Pepper and Adam away from the Xbox and computer games to go peel old, I mean really old, wallpaper.  It took all day (side note: this was the Saturday I spent in bed reading my book.  You can see who is going to get this family into heaven).

Since that day, Sister W has decided my boys are the best boys in the world.  She tearfully thanked me at church the next day, and has checked with me nearly every Sunday to see how Pepper is doing with his diabetes.  And today, she had these gigantic chocolate eggs to give to the boys for Easter (she checked with me beforehand to make sure it was something Pepper could have).

I should tell you that prior to this, Sis. W scared the bajeesus out of me.  She came to church every Sunday, leaning on her cane with a decidedly harrumph! look on her face, and pretty much glowered at everyone who looked at her.  She's the one who told me, after we'd been here a year, that I should be ashamed of myself for not speaking German.  So, it's safe to say that I never would have expected her to be my sons' BFF.

But now, I can't think of her in any way except tenderly.  Why am I finding out how nice everyone is just before we have to move?

Braedyn can't come to Germany without seeing at least one castle, so today Jess and I took her to Charlottenburg Schloss.

It was awesome!

Nothing strikes terror in my heart more than when one of my children rushes in, super excited, and invites me to come watch their show.  I know there is no way I can refuse, so I am pretty much roped into watching, and cheering for, a "show" that at my house usually consists of one or more boys strumming toy guitars while they "sing" along to hard rock songs that sound to me like the sound my TV used to make when the channel wasn't coming in well.

Yep.

So, apparently there is this thing the "kids these days" do called Photo Bombing.  It's where they see somebody obviously taking a picture and they get in the background and pull some awful face.

 Jess and Braedyn were telling me about it at dinner and laughing so hard about their Photo Bombing faces.  They even offered to show me a picture they took of themselves practicing their most hideous faces in the mirror last night as they were removing their make-up.

Pretty bad, right?

(Let the record show that they gave me this photo and gave full consent to post it on my blog.)

Today, the older kids and I visited Sachsenhausen, a former concentration camp north of Berlin.  Braedyn had expressed an interest, and I thought it was something the kids should see.  Sachsenhausen was primarily a men's camp, although there were some women and children brought here.  It was a work camp, not one of the horrific death camps, but it was still awful.  I've been here twice, and both times the weather was bitter and grey.  It seems appropriate.

We felt the Awful as soon as we reached the front gate.  

After an hour or so, we were all sufficiently depressed and ready to go.  

I can't walk out of that place without thinking of the people who never did.

WARNING:  this post contains adult content and, um, bread.

This photo is destined become a classic!

I went to the mall this morning with Susanne and Denise, and we had lunch in this bakery.  We were marveling at the wall art, wondering what on earth possessed the owners of the shop to hang these pictures of booty-licious women with various baked goods.  

Well, since I had my camera, I insisted that Susanne and Denise imitate the poses.  I love having friends who are game to be booty-licious AND fully-clothed!

Jess and Braedyn spent their afternoon hanging out by the Brandenburg Gate and flirting/taking pictures with the random people there.  Yes, this guy was totally pandering for tips, but that didn't lessen the fun.

I took photos for Saturday and Sunday on Brad's camera, which is currently with him in Dallas, TX.  I will fill in these missing days when Brad returns.