Danka Oma!

Thank you to our German Grandma- Oma Lucy! Thomas's family from Germany is here for a visit. Thomas wanted his Oma (Now our Oma) to cook for him while she was here. Oma brought her own special spices and cooking tools from Germany to cook for us. Here (the above picture) she is making potato dumplings. Made from cooked potatoes, mashed in the press, potato starch and a touch of potato water. Oma Lucy brought her own potato press all the way from Germany, it was her Grandmothers. The girls said it reminded them of their "Playdough" press that they had when they were younger. We were all amazed at how quickly she prepared a meal for 12. Here Oma tells Thomas how to cook the potato dumplings. She had us all hopping around the kitchen to get things done. She would say things in detail to me in German, and I some how understood what she wanted and was able to get her what she needed. Women in the kitchen speak the same language!

Here Cameron, Thomas and Gert, Thomas's father cut the roasted chicken into parts then Oma put a seasoned baste on the chicken and placed it back in the oven. The baste made the chicken skin roast crisper. Cameron loved the favor. Now he has some serious competition in the kitchen!

Thomas and his sister Natalie enjoy Oma's cooking. Thomas ate more than we had ever seen him eat. There were alot of leftovers, so Thomas will eat well this week. The meal consisted of roasted chicken, potato dumplings, red cabbage with apples from Germany that Oma snuck in her luggage, leeks in cream sauce, cucumber and tomato salad and for dessert we had raspberry cake. Ohh we were in heaven!Here is Thomas's family. Opa,Thomas,Oma, Natalie and Gert.

All of us after the delicious meal. We love our new Oma and Opa! Thank you for such a wonderful meal and a fun night! By the way, Oma an Opa have been married 50 years this year, don't they look great!

The Blueberry

If you haven't heard yet I will be the first to tell you the news. You remember about a month ago when I told you about the car accident I was in? Well after a week and a half of calling the insurance all the time and going back and forth to the auto body shop the news finally came back that my car was totaled. Great huh! Well it actually was great because my old car was kind of crappy. The best news is that while I paid $5,000 for the car the insurance gave me $6,000 for it!!!!!! So two weekends ago I went to home to go car shopping. Boy was that a long day, I had to carry $6,000 with me all day because the banks were closing that was so was weird.

I had to give away all of the money the insurance had given me but before I did I had my mom take a picture of me fanning myself with it because I had never held that much money before in my entire life. And if I look a little stressed that's because I am, that is a day I never ever want to relive.

This is the person I bought the car from, he thought we were crazy because we made him take pictures with us so I could post them on the blog, but he went along with it anyways, probably because I had the money. But after he took the picture with me I let him have the money. :(And just like that all my money was gone, but I got a good car out of it so I guess it was worth it.

Now about the name. So you know that part in the first Willy Wonka when Violet Beauregarde eats the piece of gum that turns her into a giant blueberry? Well if you don't you're missing out and if you do you'll understand why I named my car the blueberry.

Well there you go, I know that took a while, but atleast there were a ton of pictures!
P.S. Thanks mom for helping me that day and for driving me over a 100 miles to look at all the cars. I still owe you a batch of cookies for that!

Holy Crap! Look at the SNOW!

It has snowed 11 yes 11 inches today in Cedar City, so far today, this means it is till snowing!!!!! I thought you might like the snow on the bike!!!

The white truck is my neighbors truck that he hasn't moved all day and this is how it looks. I'm not even kidding about getting 11 inches of snow today. it looks like Edward Scissor hands gone wild! So after finally driving through the treacherous streets I came home and made a snow angel in the back yard as per my mom's request.
Let's just say that I got a little snowy while I made it and I had to go inside and get all of the snow out of my pants!! Well I hope that it's not this snowy where you are and if it is I hope that you go make a snow angel.
Have a great day!!!! Courtney

A Tribute to Kallie..Our faithful puppy of 14 years

Well, it's been three weeks ago tomorrow that we made the decision to have Kallie put down. She hadn't eaten or had anything to drink in over a week, so we all felt it was the right thing to do. Those that know our dog, know how faithful she was. She was Cameron's 5th Birthday gift, after we swore we would never get a dog. He begged, and we broke down and got a dog. She was a "Pound Puppy", so they weren't sure of her age. She was diffinitely Cameron's dog. He named her after his favorite babysitter "Kelly". She was his life guard when we lived in Las Vegas, she would bark her head off if he put his head in the water while swimming in the pool. She was so good, that we didn't have to put up a safety gate, because when the kids were in the pool she would let us know. When she was a puppy, we would take her to the deseret, and let her out of the car, then she would run after the car to get us. This was the only way we could get a good work out for her since she was too strong for the kids to hold onto to take for a walk. Kandace and I just went and saw "Marley and Me" on Saturday. This story followed almost the exact same story as our dog, we were crying like babies when we walked out. When she was around 2-years old, Steve even got rid of her, she barked so much in the day, and he was working nights that one day he took her back to the pound. I had to go retrieve her, since the kids cried horriably for 2-days. I had to take a "Owner Turn In" class to learn how to train my dog from barking. Steve was in hot water, and Kallie still barked, but she never left our side. The whole experience changed her, she hated other dogs because she was hurt in the pound. She was always the first to greet anyone when they arrived at our house. She was an excellent guard dog too. Like the movie, she hated the thunder and really hated the 4th of July. She had a scar from trying to kill a fire cracker in the street one year. We all were a bunch of ball Babies the day we put her down, but believe she is in a better place and out of all the pain she was in. We sure did love this puppy, and will never be able to replace her. Here's to you Kallie dog! We love you!

The curse of the car

So I promised my mom that I would try and write on the blog and take pictures of the interesting things that happen, and I think this is really interesting. I want to tell you first of all that I am ok.
Now the story of my car. It starts about a week and a half ago when I finally got the electrical system fixed for $550.00. Then I got it registered and ready to go and so I felt on top of things, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. Yesterday when I was driving to work, minding my own business a car hit me. This is what my car looks like now. Yep it's not my week. So needless to say I can't even drive my freshly fixed car. Well I'll keep you updated on what happens with my car and I wish you all luck with your cars.
P.S. Pray for my car.

Happy 21st Anniversary of my 29th Birthday Celebration...With bonus pictures!

So, Saturday, January 3rd, the best day ever, started out as a regular day, get up, get dressed, shovel the snow, go shopping, go to the movies with my handsome husband. Then let the fun begin. As we are driving home we get a call from Courtney and she wants us to go to RedBox on the way home to pick up a movie. Weird, we got 7-movies for Christmas, what else does she want to watch. So Steve calls her back and she proceeds to tell him that Cameron had a little accident while we were at the movies, he cut off the tip of his finger. Weird again, why didn't she call us at the movie. Then Courtney calls again and says the door in the garage to the house broke and we need to come in the front door. Okay, what is up, too many weird things happening. So we walk in the front door, to....you guessed it..."Surprise"! Steve and the kids threw me a "Happy 21st Anniversary of your 29th Birthday" party. It was great to see all my friends and family there. Me very surprised!

Opening presents.After getting my fake GPS, a map of Utah with my favorite places to visit circled in red, I opened my real GPS, "Chickie Doodle" I love it!!!!Blowing out birthday candles with Ross, it was his 40th Birthday, poor guy I always thought he was younger than me! Hee.....hee...
I'm going to get even with you for this! But I love it!

Kandace and Courtney having fun with the black frosting...funny guys!Okay, so the part of Cameron cutting his finger off was true. Courtney bumped him while he was cutting some bacon, and he sliced off the tip of his finger. Blood was everywhere, and Cameron almost passed out on Courtney. She was able to call in her older siblings for back up. Kandace and her friend took Cameron to the Dr. while everyone else carried on with the party preparations. When I walked in the house, everything was so together, I almost forgot about the call that Cameron had hurt his finger. He went back to the Dr. yesterday, no infection, but he wanted me to post the picture on the blog for all to see. If you get squimish....don't look. The Dr. said he will eventually grow the tip of his finger back. He has had a bad couple of weeks, so things are bound to get better for him now. Thanks to the greatest family ever for throwing me such a fun party!

Merry Christmas One and All.....

This Year instead of "Grandpa Claus" stopping by our Family Christmas Party, we had "Cameron Claus" a close descendant. He did a wonderful job, and brought lots of Christmas Cheer. We look forward to our Family Chrismas Party every year. Due to the snow storm, it was just us this year, but we still had such a fun time eatting, playing games, singing and having a special visitor.Steve sitting on Santa's lap. Look a the resemblance.Courtney discovering who Santa is......oh my

Having fun with Santa. What a crazy bunch of kids!Our exchange student Thomas gave us the present of music on Christmas Eve and played the guitar while we sang. He even sang to us in German, it was a magical wonderful night.
Christmas Eve in new PJ's that Courtney sewed, everyone thought they were the hottest!Chrismas morning unwraping presents, Cameron and Courtney shared opening their new cameras.Courtney and Cameron in their new Christmas coats. Courtney loves her green "Jon and Kate" coat that she requested.
Kandace and Courtney in their new hats, ahh don't they look so cute! We all had a wonderful Christmas and we were so glad to be inside safe and WARM while we got 2-feet of snow outside. That is a whole different story!