More Easter

After the kids finished hunting for eggs in the neighborhood, we came back inside the house and colored some real eggs.

I boiled a dozen eggs for each kid to color, which makes a LOT of egg salad afterwards (needless to say, I threw about 1/2 of it out - don't tell the starving children in China). The important thing was that the kids had fun coloring eggs.

I had to laugh at this egg. Pepper was experimenting with dipping his eggs in 2 colors - first half in one color, then half in another. This egg ended up with a little white showing, as you can see. He showed it to me just like this, and said, "This egg looks like a fat lady." I think he meant it looks like the back end of a fat person whose pants and shirt don't quite meet - especially when she bends over. For those of you who don't know Pepper, he doesn't have a mean, judgemental bone in his body. He just calls thing like he sees them - a simple observation. I chuckled about this all afternoon - he was right!

The next morning, the kids were delighted to see that the Easter Bunny had come...

Luke especially couldn't believe his luck - there was candy everywhere! A two-year-old boy's dream come true.

That evening, we had Easter dinner up at Jeff and Jodi's house. Once Erik and Luke found their way outside, we couldn't drag them back in the house. These two little boys just LOVE each other! They call each other "Geeker" and "Owek", and I have never seen two-year-olds play together as well as they do.

A lovely Easter, although we missed Brad all day. Sigh...

Happy Hunting

Every year, my neighbor Michelle organizes an Easter egg hunt in our circle. This year, Michelle had the brilliant idea to have the older kids hide all the eggs the night before, so us fuddy-duddy grown-ups didn't have to leave our warm houses after dark to go hide hundreds of eggs. It was magical for me to walk out this morning and see that all the eggs were just waiting for us!

Here are all the kids ready to start hunting. The snow was mostly gone, but it was still pretty cold this morning.

This was Luke's first year to hunt eggs, so he was a little confused at first. Once he figured out the rules (you know, see an egg, put it in your basket), he had a great time.

As an eight-year-old, Adam is a seasoned egg-hunting professional. He went for it hard core.

Pepper was also all-business. When you're ten, you know that it is all about getting the maximum number of eggs in the minimum amount of time.

Now that Jess is 12, she is officially "too old" for stuff like this. But it is still fun to be the big sister and help Luke.

Happy Easter!

Grumpy Spring Break

OK, so after a too-short visit, Brad left last night to return to work in Germany. And then, as if to kick me when I'm down, this is what I woke up to this morning:

Just be warned, Jill is grumpy today!

Buddies

Yesterday we had a house full of friends here to watch General Conference, and it was a great day. Brad and I both grew up in families that get together to eat massive amounts of food while we watch conference. Since we've lived here, we have been lucky to find friends that enjoy the same tradition.

This year, we invited some friends to our home for the Sunday morning session, and Luke was in heaven because his favorite buddy Landon was here to play with all day. I couldn't resist taking a couple of photos of these two cute little buddies.

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!