Food, family and fun

Andrew Glazer

COSTA MESA -- After Easter services on Sunday, the pastor of La Vina

Church stripped down to his tank top and khaki shorts, plopped onto a

sagging lawn chair in his backyard and talked politics.

Meanwhile, Pastor Jose Coronado’s wife, Mary, flipped burgers and

pineapple slices on a grill. His daughter, Crystal, 10, quietly sang a

song for her family before stopping to chase her toddling niece, Emily,

around the yard.

Crystal froze in midpursuit and pointed to a green splotch in the bushes.

“I see an egg,” she said, inadvertently starting the Easter egg hunt 15

minutes ahead of schedule.

Jose Coronado said Easter -- the day Christians believe Jesus was

resurrected -- should be festive. His service featured the booming drums

and crashing symbols or a five-piece band. People showed up wearing pale

yellow, pink, lavender and blue dresses and ties. Matching flowers

adorned the stage.

“It’s a proclamation of victory over death,” he said, “and a celebration

of unity and family.’

“We always celebrate with a barbecue,” Mary Coronado said as she passed

around second helpings of burgers, chili and macaroni salad.

“You want a double?” she asked her husband. Before he could answer, she

stacked two burgers on a bun and dropped them onto his plate.

During the lunch, Rene Coronado, 20 -- the pastor’s son and father of

Emily -- watched the Lakers trounce the Sacramento Kings. His arm was

around his wife, Ivette, 19.

“Easter is time for the whole family to have fun together,” he said.

The glass door separating the yard from the den was open, and Emily, who

was born on Easter Sunday last year, stumbled into her mother’s arms.

“It’s a lot more relaxing than last Easter,” Ivette Coronado said.