Michigan Revisited

At the end of June, as soon as the school year ended (literally less than 24 hours after the bell rang on the last day of school) the kids and I boarded a plane for the U.S.A.  We decided that we should begin our trip home with a few days in Michigan.  Luckily, my sister Jodi and her family are still there, so we were able to stay with them and visit our good - make that great - friends in MI.

Fortunately, our visit coincided with the youth conference weekend at our old stake.  Jessica was able to join the youth conference on Friday night and participate all day Saturday.  When Jess and I drove into the stake center parking lot, where the youth conference dance was taking place, we were welcomed by some of the teenagers from our ward who were on the lawn watching for her to come.  It was such a great welcome!  Inside the church, Jess quickly ditched me to go find all of her church friends, and I got to see a bunch of my friends too, who were there chaperoning or whatever at the youth conference.  I just loved seeing the faces that have starring roles in my memories of our time in Michigan!

As I was caught up in greeting and hugging, my friend Brian caught my attention and gestured over to the center of the gym, where Jessica was standing in the middle of the dance holding hands with three of her friends as they swung their arms in time to the music.  Seeing Jess surrounded by those girls she has known for years, and obviously feeling like she "belonged", made me immediately want to break down and cry.  Our move to Germany has been very hard for Jessica, especially at church.  She went from being a part of an exceptional group of young women in our Michigan ward to feeling like an outsider in a very small, German-speaking Young Women group.  She told me once that every time the girls in our Germany ward speak German to each other, she feels like they are talking about her because she can't understand.  While my 40-year-old brain knows that is ridiculous, I remember how fragile a 13-year-old brain is, and I can understand her insecurities.  It breaks my heart now to see how miserable she is at the youth activities in Berlin, when she used to enjoy them so much in Michigan.  So, seeing her restored to her "comfort place" among her friends in MI was very emotional for me.  As I left the stake center that night, winding my way through groups of my old seminary students and friends, all smiling and glad to be together, I kept thinking we were absolutely CRAZY to ever leave this place!

That thought replayed over and over again over the next three days as I had the chance to visit friends, go to the good old Clarkston ward, and just drive around our old stompin' grounds.  I loved meeting friends over Diet Cokes and Mexican food to catch up on all the events that have happened in the year since we left.  It was great to sit in sacrament meeting and look around the chapel at everyone I'd grown to love in the six years we'd lived there.  I was even surprised to see how natural my friend Matt looked in his new seat as the bishop.  I especially loved sitting in Relief Society and yelling - reverently, of course - the answers to the game of Password that was part of the lesson that day. 

After church on Sunday, we drove to our Waterford house (how many thousands of times did we make that drive?) and the kids and I kept exclaiming over the little things we passed along the way - the phone store we watched get built and wondered what it would be, the ice cream shop that is never open, Pepper's old preschool, the road to Jessica's middle school, the airport, the restaurant that always goes out of business, the paved road that used to be dirt - and everything seemed way more magical than it ever had when we lived there.  When we got to our house, I was a little nervous to go inside.  It felt weird to stand on the porch and ring the doorbell.  There is a cute family renting our house while we are in Germany, and I'd asked them if we could come over to get some things out of our boxes in the basement.  Erin was nice enough to let us walk through the house and look around.  It was strange how unfamiliar it felt now that it is another family's home.  But, we had many great moments in those walls, and I am glad to see another family adding to them.

Being so soon off the plane from Germany, I was struck over and over again by how much SPACE there is in America.  The area where we lived in Michigan is pretty spread out, and it is common to drive along neighborhoods with what seems like miles of green lawn surrounding the houses.  And it is all so open!  Big, wide roads with plenty of room for both directions of traffic - what a luxury!  Driveways and front yards that are not closed off by gates - so friendly!  Parking lots that allow for more than six inches between cars - brilliant!  I kept thinking I felt like I could BREATHE again! 

Like I said, during our four days in Michigan, I kept thinking how crazy we were to leave.  Being there again, among some of the best friends I will ever have, felt like heaven on earth.  It occurred to me on this visit that I never truly appreciated what a blessing it was to be there.  I spent a good part of our time living there wishing we could be "home" in Utah, and now after a year away, I would give my right arm to be "home" in Michigan. 

As I thought this, I told myself that next time I move, I will be better at appreciating where we are.  Then I remembered that I have moved, and I'm doing a lousy job at appreciating Berlin.  Sometimes I think I am just biding my time until our "Germany phase" is done, and then I will be happy again.  Dumb, I know.  Hopefully, now that I've had my little epiphany, I can try to change my attitude.  I have a feeling it will take some prayer, but I can do that.

I am so glad that we took a few days to revisit Michigan before we headed off to Utah for the summer.  Thank you to Jeff and Jodi for spoiling us rotten and introducing me to Rock Band and unleashing the "Sister Spice" in me.  I am sad to think I'll never pull up to your Grand Blanc house again. 

Michigan is a magical, magical place.

Mom and Dad in Berlin!

This post originally included photos, but through my own stupidity, I accidentally deleted them. Despite repeated attempts to retrieve them, they are permanently gone. My heart is broken.

OK, so I already mentioned that my mother is a saint and offered to come stay with our kids so Brad and I could escape Germany for a while and go on the cruise to Alaska.  No really, my mom is seriously going straight to heaven.  She doesn't speak a word of German, yet she came and braved this crazy place and took care of my crazy kids.  She even took them downtown on the train to watch a movie (the movie was in English, but she got them all there)!  Pretty great!

After Brad and I returned, my dad flew in and joined us for a week of partying in Berlin.  I have to hand it to him, too, because after a 12ish hour flight (which included 2 hours 45 minutes of waiting in the plane to be able to take off), he was willing to come to my kids' school to watch the elementary Spring Pops Concert.  I had a hard time staying awake at times, so I don't know how he managed to keep his eyes open.  But, he was a good sport, and my kids were thrilled to look into the audience and see Grandma and Grandpa Larson there cheering them on.

One of the things my parents wanted to see was the castles in Potsdam.  So, one day when the kids were at school, my mom, dad, and I drove to Sanssouci to check out Frederick the Great's old digs.  The weather was perfect for walking around palace grounds, and we learned more about Frederick the Great than I think we really wanted to know. 

Mom and I outside the main Sanssouci residence.  It was surprisingly small, and a big deal was made of the fact that Voltaire lived here for 3 years.  Frederick the Great was apparently a big fan of French culture, but he never actually set foot in France.  Faker.

After a day spent roaming through Sanssouci, we were kind of Palaced-Out.  I had sick kids for a couple of days, so Mom and Dad used that time to ride the train into Berlin and take a bus tour and just wander at their leisure.  They came back smiling, so I assume they enjoyed themselves.  They have now seen more of the Berlin sights than I have, so I feel a little sheepish.

My mom was really interested in seeing Prague, which is only a 3ish hour drive from Berlin, so we used some of Brad's Marriott points (all that travel does have its perks), and spent the weekend in the Czech Republic.  When we were driving there on Friday night, there was construction on the highway, so we got detoured through some amazing countryside just inside the Czech border.  For once, we were all glad for road construction, as the detour afforded us the most picturesque part of our road trip.

As we were driving, this little castle just popped up on a hill beside the river.  We don't know anything about it.  Apparently, it is just a friendly neighborhood ancient hill-top castle.  Doesn't every town have one?

Saturday morning, we got up and took a day tour of Prague.  It was the exact same tour I went on last October when Brad's family was here - same guide, in fact - and it was every bit as delightful as I remembered.  Brad wasn't with us the last time we were in Prague, but he has had to listen to us imitate the guide's accent ever since October.  The first time our guide said "Wenceslas Squee-uhr", Brad turned to me with wide eyes and a huge grin on his face.  He finally got what we've been saying all this time! 

What's not to like about a boat tour?  You sit on a shady boat, enjoy a lovely beverage, and calmly float down a river looking at beautiful buildings that have been there for hundreds of years.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

After the boat tour, the guide took us to the Jewish Quarter of Prague, where we saw this old cemetary.  You have to look closely to see the grave stones; they are 12+  feet up behind that iron fence on the left.  This was the only cemetary for Jewish people for hundreds of years, so they had to get creative about fitting all the dead people into it.  People are buried in layers - up to 12 layers in places - so that is why it is so high above street level.

After a day of walking around Prague, we were pretty tired and hungry.  We found a stand selling Turtlenecks (no, that's not what they're really called, but it is something similar in Czech that sounds like "turtleneck", and they kind of look like turtlenecks, so that's what we called them).  They are like bread dough wrapped around a thick wooden stick and baked, then rolled in cinnamon, sugar, and chopped almonds.  Yes, they are fantastic.  Mom, Dad, and I had ice cream from a nearby stand that was absolutely To Die For.  I think the food was our favorite part of Prague Castle.  Bag all that art and architecture...

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed having my parents here to visit.  They are such great visitors because they are game for just about anything and so easy to hang out with.  It was hard to see them leave, but I was consoled somewhat with the knowledge that the kids and I would be seeing them in Utah in only about 3 weeks!  Yay!  Summer is almost here!

Alaska, baby!

Last week, Brad and I got to join his parents, siblings, and their spouses on a cruise to Alaska.  It was truly delightful! 

The nicest thing about this trip was, of course, the company. I loved just sitting around with Brad's family and chatting, playing cards, or rocking at Team Trivia. It was nice because it was all adults (except for John and Lili's baby, who is nursing, so she couldn't be left at home), so we were able to relax and enjoy each other without being interupted/worrying about kids.

And, of course I loved spending time with my Favorite Mann.

Look at us dancing at the club - how very Love Boat of us!

We traveled with Holland America Lines, and I must say, we were impressed with this cruise line.  We have taken two other cruises (brag, brag, I know), and this was by far the best cruise as far as clean entertainment goes.  Because Alaska is so big, we spent a lot more time on the boat than we have on other cruises, so we were very glad that the on-board entertainment was as good as it was.  There were shows after dinner everynight, and they were all completely within our standards.  There was no cringing at dirty jokes or covering Brad's eyes at the dancers' costumes, so that was a pleasant surprise.

Part of the entertainment was a karaoke competition that Brad's sister Becky took part in.  They set up judges like American Idol, and guests performed on stage for the passengers.  Becky was truly groovalicious singing "Cowboy, Take Me Away" from the Dixie Chicks.

And she won!  Yay Becky!

Another night, they did this trivia game show.  Haley got chosen to be a contestant, and she almost won (with Becky's help from the audience, mouthing the answers as big as she could).

Juneau, AK

The first port we stopped at was Juneau.  We all went on an excursion that took us to the Mendenhall Glacier and then whale watching.

Brad, Dave, and Cameron by Mendenhall Glacier.

Casey, Becky, and me by the waterfall.

On board the boat ready to watch some whales.

We saw this batch of sea lions sunbathing on a rock island.

A humpback whale disappears into the water.

We even got lucky and saw some orca.

Glacier Bay, AK

The next day we sailed through Glacier Bay on the cruise ship. I think that may have been my favorite day. We all just hung out, talked, played 5 Crowns, and drank Diet Coke while we were surrounded by beautiful scenery.

After all the whale-watching the day before, Dave favored us with his Whale Breaching Imitation.  It was stunning.

Sitka, AK

In Sitka, Brad and I joined Becky and Dave on a 4X4 Adventure that took us through a rainforest to a black sand beach on a little island.  It was awesome!

Dave and Becky in their rhino.

This is what we saw as we drove through the rain forest.  I wish the picture did it justice - it was really beautiful.

Stopping for a quick (and cold) break on a bridge over looking a river and meadow.  We saw some brown bear cubs playing in that meadow a few minutes later.

My favorite part of the ride was the time we spent on the black sand beach.  It was completely deserted, and we felt like we were the only people in that little corner of the world.

Ketchikan, AK

In Ketchikan, Brad went deep water fishing with his dad and brothers while the rest of us went on a zip-line course. If you think strapping yourself to a cable hundreds of feet above the ground and zipping along the top of a rainforest sounds fun, well, you are RIGHT! It was scary at first, but by the time we were finished with our morning of zipping thru a rainforest, we didn't want to be done. I loved it!

Lois and me on the ride up to the zip line.

Haley, Katie, Lois, Cam, and Casey getting ready to zip.

 The zip-line course was a series of cables strung through the top of a rain forest. I think we zipped along 10 or 12 different lines. So fun!
 

I didn't even know my picture was being taken - that silly grin is genuine.

Proudly wearing our zip-line medals.

Yay me!

 
Victoria, British Columbia

On Thursday, we finished up the cruise with a night-time stop in Victoria, British Columbia. Unfortunately, knowing that the cruise was almost over and we'd be returning to Berlin the next day kind of soured the whole evening. Oh well.

We only had a couple of hours in Victoria, and we weren't really in a shopping mood, so we went to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum.

We learned that Madame Tussaud got her start making wax molds from severed heads of executed people (yeah, gross).  They had a wax mold on display that she made from the head of Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII's ill-fated wives.  So, I'm guessing this display of all six of his wives is pretty accurate as far as showing what they really looked like.

We were surprised and delighted to see Brigham Young included in this display of prominant religious figures.

We owe my mom BIG TIME for coming to scary Berlin to stay with the kids while we went.  For a long time, we didn't know if we'd be able to go because we didn't know who we could ask here to watch the kids.  Mom saved the day by offering to come and brave the German-speaking world so we could go remember how it feels to speak English in America.  Thanks Mom!

And, of course, thanks to Mark and Lois for organizing the trip and giving us the cruise tickets for Christmas.  I loved every minute of it, and I am so glad we could go!  Alaska rocks!

Good-bye Grandma

This morning, my dad called and told me that my Grandma Darrington had passed away.  I knew this was coming; when I phoned her on Mother's Day, it was clear she wasn't doing well.  And apparently, she continued to decline this week until she finally left this life surrounded by family and those who loved her. 

Grandma and Grandpa Darrington, mid 1970's

I have so many great memories of this woman.  She was a major presence in my life.  Grandma had a gift for making anyone she was around feel like the cleverest, most important person in the world.  I can remember when I was about 3 years old, driving in the car with her and singing Primary songs at her request.  After every off-key, three-year-old rendition, she would squeal with delight and ask for another.  I was sure I was the best singer in the world.  That squeal/laugh/scream could be heard anytime any of us grandkids sang a song, recited a poem, read a story, or gave her a "message" (3 taps on her forearm, meaning "I love you"). 

Besides her squealing, I have many other happy memories starring Grandma.  Here are just a few:

• the way her house smelled when we walked thru her front door (always like roast beef and home-made rolls)
• when she and Grandpa surprised me on Grandparents' Day at my elementary school in Flagstaff, AZ
• swinging under the willow tree in her backyard
• General Conference in her family room that could easily seat 50
• hiding with her in the kitchen with wooden spoons and pots and pans, waiting for the microwave clock to say 12:00, so we could "surprise" the moms and dads on New Years Eve
• wishing I could be as tan as Grandma at Bear Lake
• twisties
• sheer wonderment at the variety of Sugar Cereals in her cupboard
• freezing with her at Rendezvous Beach at the crack of dawn so we could get the best spot
• Grandma hiding an alarm clock set for 5:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve so my bah-humbug Dad would have to get up early with us
• Grandma mouthing the words to the Spanish Christmas carol my siblings and I were singing at the Spencer Family Party, even though she doesn't know Spanish
• when she gave me a pair of green high heels that she had "grown out of" (I was eleven and sure they were the most glamourous shoes ever made)
• Grandma scaring the TAR out of some poor trick-or-treater when she opened the front door and let out her pitch-perfect witch's cackle
• spending the day at Grandma's school - leaving well before sun-up, eating the ginormous lunch she packed me (complete with Sweetie-Pie), grading stacks of math papers, and ending the day trying to dig an orange crayon out of the pencil sharpener - and feeling like the Queen of Everything the whole time
• doing her hair for her when she came to visit, because she had it done every week at the hairdresser and claimed she didn't know how to use a curling iron
• hearing her exclaim "My Gads!" and wondering if that was a bad word
• singing my elementary school fight song for her over and over again so she could memorize it and adapt it for her 2nd grade class
• talking on the phone with her about the struggles Pepper was having in school, and then receiving a big packet of her best learning materials about a week later in the mail
• seeing her smiling, animated face at every baby blessing, baptism, shower, concert, marriage, and event-big-or-small that she could possibly attend

Grandma and Grandpa playing "Three Bears" with us in St. Paul, MN, 1975ish

My kids and I at Grandma & Grandpa's house in Brigham, 2005.  They didn't let us leave without a pile of cucumbers from their garden.

Visiting Grandpa and Grandma, July 2007

Grandma gave Pep a ride on her walker through the halls of the care center.  Don't tell HER she's an old lady!

Celebrating Grandma's birthday, September 2008

I think the thing that I will remember most about Grandma is just how great it felt to be around her.  When I talked, she listened with her whole self.  When I did something good, she blatantly rejoiced.  When I did something normal, she thought it was wonderful.  I remember once, when I was about 8 years old, wondering what it would be like to have Grandma mad at me.  At first, I couldn't imagine it, and then it occurred to me that it would be absolutely devastating to have the woman I thought of as My #1 Fan disappointed in me.  Later, when I was a teenager, I consciously thought that I had better make good choices because I didn't ever want to let Grandma down. 

I feel so lucky to have this woman in my life.  In my last phone conversation with her, the day before she died, I was struggling to hold myself together as I told her I love her.  She told me she loves me too, and promised that she would see me again.  I'm sure I will, and I look forward to hearing her squeal of delight when that time comes. 

I still don't want to let Grandma down.

Mother's Day

My morning consisted of a yummy breakfast prepared by Brad and the boys, opening delightful gifts, and listening to my 13 year-old daughter admit in her sacrament meeting talk that she loves me.

My afternoon consisted of trying to ignore the dirty dishes in the kitchen from the dinner I had to prepare because Brad is sick in bed.  The kids kept telling me they were going to clean up the kitchen, but as the hours wore on, I had my doubts.

My evening consisted of feeling sorry for myself because I can't be home celebrating Mother's Day with my own mother and family.  The Pity Party continued as I finally succumbed and cleaned up the dishes, which after 6 hours of sitting, had a crusty layer that required some soaking.

Ah, Mother's Day.

Burglary in Berlin

Yesterday, I was herding the children out to the car for church (actually on time, for once), and this is what I saw when I opened the passenger side door to our car:

It took a minute for me to register what I was looking at, but when Brad came outside, I was able to tell him that somebody had broken into the car.  On closer inspection, we saw that the robbers had also broken a rear window to get in.

At least they were kind enough to break the smaller window.

Well, so much for church.  Brad called the police, and they had us bring the car to the station so they could take pictures and collect any evidence.  As we were pulling up to the police station, we saw another black Mercedes finishing up with a police officer.  The rear window was shattered just like ours, and obviously the navigation system had been stolen from that car, too.  As he drove away, the driver of the other Mercedes gestured at our car and we shared a bonding moment over our common injuries.

We found out from the police that they'd had many reports that morning of stolen navigation systems in our neighborhood.  They believe a band of professional thieves came through the area and snatched as many navi systems as they could.  The police officer dusted the inside of our car for prints (I felt very "Law & Order" as I typed that), but she said these kinds of robbers usually wear gloves and they don't expect they will be able to catch them. 

Well, that's why we have insurance, right?  The nice thing about having a company car is that Brad just has to take it into the car guy at work and he will take care of getting it all fixed.  Brad says that Mercedes vehicles are notorious for navigation system theft, because something about the way they are installed in the dashboard makes it easy for thieves to steal them.  Many of the people Brad works with here in Berlin have had this happen.  In fact, when he told a co-worker about the theft, the co-worker just said, "Oh, so it finally happened to you!" 

I am just thankful that this happened when it did.  Brad got home on Saturday afternoon from a 3-week-long business trip to Brazil, and the car was broken into on that same night.  While Brad was gone, I prayed daily that nothing would happen in his absence that I couldn't handle.  So, if nothing else, the robbers were sensitive to the Holy Ghost and waited until Brad was home to break into our car.  If this had happened while Brad was gone, I think I would have lost it.  I love prayer.

Soccer, baby!

Since we've been here, we have been introduced big time to SOCCER!  It is truly the biggest sport in this part of the world, and my boys are getting caught up in the obsession.  Pepper especially loves it.  There is a park up the street with a soccer court (court, field, whatever it's called...) and Pepper would live there if I let him.  There are nearly always some boys there playing soccer, and Pepper will just show up and join the game, whether they speak English or not.  He likes to wear his winter gloves to protect his hands when he plays goalie, and they are now in shreds thanks to all the soccer wear.

Brad just got back from a three-week business trip to Brazil, and he brought the boys back these Brazilian soccer jerseys.  Lukie was very excited to have his own soccer ensemble, and Pepper barely let me snap a photo before he was off to the park to play soccer in his new shirt.  Pepper loves to "dress the part" for anything he does, so I'm sure he's in heaven today.