Somebunny Loves Easter...Guess Who?

Here is my Easter table and a few other pictures. I didn't get everything out this year because my good friend passed away the day I was set to do it.....and I just didn't feel like it. It seemed so trivial and unnecessary. After a few days, I got the gumption to get it all out. I know Sam would say carry on and do what makes you happy. Normally it does, but this year was a little different.

I do love bunnies and spring and all the Easter decor just for a change.

Easter Dresses Spring 2010

Somebunny loves these dresses. I do.

Wonderful Samantha Moore is Gone !

I have been waiting to finally feel like I could post this on my blog. I hope Sam will be ok with it.

She was such a great friend to everybody. This is what was in the paper.

"MOORE, Samantha, 43, of Richmond, passed away March 29, 2010. She is survived by her husband, Kenneth; two sons, Tyler Eric Moore and Jeremy Howard Moore; and two daughters, Alexandra Moore and Elaine Moore. Samantha's favorite quote to her children was "Who loves you more than me?" She is also survived by her parents, Eric and Lucile Eastman; five brothers, Matthew Eastman and his wife, Kim, Alex Eastman and his wife, Sarah, Heber Eastman and his wife, Carly, Luke Eastman, and Jed Eastman and his wife, Heather; and one sister, Rach Johnson and her husband, Jeff. The family will be receiving friends between 6 and 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, 2010, at the Bennett Funeral Home West Chapel, 11020 W. Broad Street Road, Glen Allen, Va. The funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, April 2, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2500 Pump Road, Richmond 23233, followed by interment at Greenwood Memorial Gardens."

We were all so shocked and saddened to learn of her passing. I was just with her and didn't even know she was sick.

It was a beautiful viewing , funeral and graveside service. I made some scrapbook pages for my journal so I can remember it all. Many friends flew in from out of town and it was a great reunion but very sad for all of us to be gathering for this reason.

Our RS is doing a tribute book for her family. I wrote an entry. This is what it said:

" My memories of Samantha

I have had a 100 thoughts of times I spent with Sam or witnessed something great and wonderful about her. And yet it is so hard to put them all into words.

But I will try to capture a few.

Samantha was so unique. She was so smart and yet so down to earth. She was very humble and unassuming She was so dry and funny but always kind and thoughtful. That is hard to do.

One of the things that makes us love her so much is that she was involved in the details of our life. The simple things that meet basic human needs. She was always there doing the jobs that people really needed. And she was never to good or too busy to figure out what there were. Like one time when she came over just to help me figure out my phone.

She was one of those people that was just everywhere serving and doing something good in her quiet way. I would see her green car all over town and feel all was well with the world

Because she was meeting someone's needs. When they got the van, I didn't know where she was.

She was either playing the piano for everyone and everything, holding someone's baby, serving in YW and camp, or primary, playing big booty, babysitting someone's kids ( including my grandkids), making muffin heads for something, celebrating sports,texting the world and helping everyone else figure how to text, tutoring math, substituting as an institute teacher, sewing baby bibs for new babies,bearing her testimony, reading a great, great book and on and on.

Samantha made you feel like you were her best friend. She was very accepting. And let you be who you were. She has a thousand good friends because she was a good friend to everybody.

I love that she was honest. She wasn't too pollyanna but called things they way they were, You weren't afraid to share your opinion. She wouldn't judge you harshly.

She was fun and had a great sense of humor. She has a sense of humor like my husband Greg. That must be why he liked her so much . He mentioned to me on more thanone occasion that she was one of his favorite people.

Samantha is one of those people who you feel like you could call at a moments notice and she would try to find away to help you. She was always serving.

I loved having book club and journal class with her. She always brought some cool perspective to the discussion. And she would call it cool.

She always said things were neat or cool. And yet she could have used a thousand vocabulary words and have known what they meant.

Samantha loved her family. Both the family she grew up in as well as her own immediate family.She spoke lovingly of them all the time.

She told me the story of getting engaged to Kenneth and knowing she made the right decision. She was always saying something nice he did or made at the house.

Samantha had a great and valiant testimony. She knew the scriptures well and was a wonderful teacher. I could listen to her all day long. No fanfare just rich content.

I love to think of the day I met her when they moved to town. I was RS president and took banana bread to welcome her into the ward. She was pregnant and sick and wearing these funny swimming shoes. She tried to get her sister-in law ( that was helping her move) to pretend she was her. We laughed about it for years.

Samantha loved our ward more than anyone I know. She always said " we were her family" . I pray we will all be able to help her family that is left behind. We all feel a huge loss but I can't imagine the personal loss for all of them. I hope we continue to love and serve each other like Samantha did.

The thing about Samantha is that she didn't love things; she loved people, especially children. I think she is probably in heaven with the babies and kids getting them ready to come to earth.

When I think of Samantha, I love to think of this poem.

" One hundred years from now, it won't matter what kind of car she drove, what kind of house she lived in, how much money she had in her bank account, nor what her clothes looked like. But the world may be a little better because she was important in the life of a child"

I had a one on one conversation about life with her a few days ago after journal class. We talked about alot of things we all worry about..

I am glad she won't have to worry about them now but will be in heaven as an angel helping us all get through life . I know she will do all she can for her family .

I love that I have that as my last memory.

I will miss her terribly. She leaves a huge hole for everybody.

We learned so much from her and the life she lived will be an inspiration to us forever.

I love you Samantha. Until we meet again.

Suzie "

We will all miss her so much. And want to help her family however we can.

I have talked to her mom a few times over the phone these past 2 weeks and it is like talking to her.

I know we must carry on and she would want us to be happy but we miss her so much.

We will make her favorite recipe occassioanlly... she brought these to many things and we all loved them. Here is the recipe:

Muffinheads

3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

8 slices bacon, cooked & chopped

1/4 c. mayonnaise

1/3 c. Italian cheese

1 can FLAKY grand biscuits

Peel biscuits into three layers each so you'll have 24.

Arrange in mini muffin pan. Fill. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

Sweet Ellie

Look what I found my granddaughter Ellie doing?

I went on her family blog and found this fun little piece of news.

Her mom says" she has always looked out and befriended everyone at school. Last night she made these flowers for a girl in her class. I don't even know how she made them. She did it all on her own."

Here we go with more artistic genes in this family. I think she gets them from her Grandpa Greg on our side. And I am sure there are some artists and crafters on the other side. I know her Grandma Rita is an amazing quilter. Not to mention her talented parents.

Way to go Ellie. You are awesome. 143 xoxoxo

Chloe and Felix Won the " Diversity" Art Contest

I added these pictures from the ceremony the evening they went to be recognized and get their prize.

Got this exciting piece of news from Chelsea today:

We're very excited that Chloe and Felix won their contest. Chloe's best in show won over all age groups (K-12). She also won best in show for the Visual Art Exchange.

Subject: Chloe and Felix Wood: First Place Winners at YWCA Creative Tribute to Diversity Art Contest]

Dear Wood family,

We are pleased to inform you that Felix Wood won first place for K-2 (and
a $25 gift) and Chloe Wood won Best in Show overall ($100 prize) in the
2nd annual YWCA Creative Tribute to Diversity art contest.

We warmly invite you to attend the awards ceremony this Saturday, April 17from 4-6 pm at Meredith College in the Oak Room of the Wainwright
Conference Suites, (campus map attached). Please NOTE that this locationis different from the originally scheduled location of the Rotunda.

Each participant will have the chance to briefly describe their artwork if
they choose to do so.

We are happy that your children and Salem Elementary participated in this important annual event and we look forward to working with you again in future years.

Congratulations!

Bridgette Burge
YWCA Greater Triangle

Here are the descriptions of their paintings:

The Colors of My Rainbow

Chloe Jane Wood

Age 9

Female

Painting (mixed media)

Artist Statement:

This painting represents the diversity I see in my part of the world. I enjoyed studying what makes each person’s face unique, but when I see everyone together like this I can also see what makes us all the same. I chose the background color because it looks like the sky just after a storm, just when you might see a rainbow. The children are the rainbow.

Details of the children:

On the far left is my friend, Kenya, who died a few months ago. I loved the braids in her hair and her beautiful lips that were much fuller than mine. The boy with red hair is my neighbor, Gustav, who moved here from Sweden. I am in the middle, painted the way I look in the summer, and I am happy surrounded by all my friends. Behind me is my Indian friend, Suraj. Peeking up in the corner is my mischievous little brother, Felix, who is always trying to get in on the action. Far right is my friend, Shaina, who has large

expressive eyes like her Jewish father. Shaina’s body is shaped like the top of a heart because she is so kind. (Her words) **The second paragraph is obviously more than 5 sentences, so if it has to be eliminated, Chloe understands.

Felix Alexander Wood

Age 7

Male

Painting (mixed media)

My World

My world is filled with people of all different colors and beliefs. My dad is half Mexican,

so I have some different ingredients than some of my friends. I made this picture extra

colorful to show that friends of all different colors and sizes make the world more

interesting. I hope we can all learn to be nice to everyone, no matter what they look

like.

I little bit about the contest:

YWCA Greater Triangle

The Creative Tribute to Diversity is brought to you by the YWCA in partnership with

sponsor Meredith College. Together we work at a grassroots level to improve race

relations in our community, establishing these types of programs to promote peace,

justice, freedom and dignity for all people.

We are so proud of them.

Sisterly Love

Chloe and Evie love to hangout and dress alike. Coco gets Evie ready and sometimes does her hair. She is a good big sister. And they will be great friends all their lives, I hope. They are 4 years apart which is usually a good gap to prevent sibling rivalry. They are good to Felix too. But there is something special about sisters.

I always wished I had a sister. I have daughters and great friends that are like sisters to me.......but nobody got me ready or did my hair. I guess my mom did for a little while. But that will maybe be coming in my more advanced years. Yeah!

Someone to change my diapers...just what I always wanted. :)

They are cute, aren't they? Luckily for me, Chelsea sends me lots of pictures and explanations so I know what is going on when I am not there or they are not here.

Teddy Bear Parade

Today at preschool Evie's teddy bear will be in a transportation parade. Chloe and Dana helped Evie make a special old fashioned plane over the last two nights. Evie is so excited and loves the way it turned out. Can't wait to hear how the day went.

Chloe and Leo- little actresses

Chloe and Leo love to hang out. And they really like to do plays when they are together. Leo spent the night with Coco at grandma's and they planned a play on Pinnochio. They made him out of paper and then put on a play for Grandpa, Me, Chelsea and Denton on Saturday morning.

They may be famous one day. And they sure are cute.

Rocky turns 3!

We celebrated Rocky's 3rd birthday a week early on Easter because Denton is going to be in Austria for work for 2 weeks. We had it at our home and made him a chocolate cake ( his request)

We had a hamburger cookout. He liked eating his cake and opening his presents on the deck.

He loved all his presents but especially his little cars. He is a riot and makes us laugh all day.

Tess turns 2!

Jordan and Melissa's youngest girl, Tess , turned 2 end of March. She shares a birthday with her mom. Isn't she cute? We haven't seen her for awhile but we hear she is a little ham. This is her birthday party. She celebrated her birthday with Princess *Elmo* Dora party( at her request),

a playdate, out to dinner and presents. She got a big girl bed and new bedding from her parents (ok, that may have been a little bit for her mom....who is really not really in a huge rush to get her out of her crib yet.

We are planning to go visit this summer. We miss all these little grandkids. We had an adult reunion this March so won't have the whole group together until next year.

Happy Birthday Tess! We love you. xoxoxo