Preschool Graduation

Lindsay and Zane had their Preschool Graduation last week on May 22nd. It was short and sweet. They were so cute. Grandma Tracey and Josh were able to come and see them. I can't believe Lindsay will be in Kindergarten this fall!

Zane is in the front row, third from the right and Lindsay is right behind him.

Zane receiving his diploma

Lindsay receiving her diploma

Gma Tracey and Josh

Miss Nicole

Girl's Night

Last week we had a Girl's Night to watch the finale of American Idol. It was so much fun. We had TONS of food and karaoke. We laughed so hard. We were also teaching our moms some hot dance moves! One things for sure, we know how to party! Thanks for the memories girls!

Shauna's baby trying to be like his mommy


Teaching Marianne and Deb how to dance



Jenae, me and Amanda singing Britney

Me, Jenny, Amanda and Crystal singing more Britney
Debbie, Kelsie, Shauna and Charris

Shauna and Deb

American Idol, David Cook won, but David Archuleta was better!

Missy and Shelby singing "Loathing" from Wicked


The whole gang!

Jenny, Shauna and Amanda singing "Like a Virgin"








Karen singing "No Good Deed" from Wicked










Amanda and me singing Reba, "Does He Love You?"







Me and Karen singing Shania, "Man, I Feel Like a Woman!"

More than meets the eye!

Zane watched the movie "Transformers" for the first time about a week ago. He's become obsessed with it. He thinks he is a Transformer and will bend down and slowly transform into whatever he decides that day. A couple of days ago, he asked me to take pictures of him transforming and then of Gavin fighting him. Zane was the bad Transformer and Gavin was the good one. They crack me up!

13(ish) Going on 30

I can't believe I am now the BIG 30! I seriously thought this day would never come. 30 seems so grown up and mature to me and I am far from that! I still think of myself as a 21 year old. But I hardly look it. I've never had a big party thrown for me and I love surprises, so about 6 months ago I told Dan that I wanted a surprise party for my 30th birthday. He laughed and said, "well, it won't be a surprise if you know about it." I just thought I'd let him know and he could work it out. Anyways, May 16th was the day and it was fabulous thanks to my sweet hubby and friends and family. It sarted off a week early. On May 9th, we went to my mom's house to what I thought was a surprise party for my new bro-in-law, Jeff, whose birthday was that day. Well it was a surprise for him and ME! It really did surprise me. I walked in the door (we were a few minutes late and they had already surprised Jeff) and my family all yeled "SURPRISE" and they sprayed me with silly string. I said, "oh, you guys are funny," thinking they were just being crazy. It wasn't until I'd walked up the stairs and noticed a banner that read, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF AND HEATHER!" I had an ice cream cake (that was to die for) from Coldstone that I'd requested in my not so subtle hints to Dan a few months early ~ "Honey, IF you throw me a surprise party for my birthday, could you get an ice cream cake from Coldstone?" Well, he took the hint. Then he sent me on a little treasure hunt that led me out to my parent's shed where there was headboard and footboard for our bedroom! Thanks honey! The following day we celebrated my birthday at the Doney's where I got Gift Cards to Ross, Walmart (so I could buy National Treasure 2 when it came out) and to the Movies. Thanks Doney's! So fastforward a week to May 16th. Dan told me we were going to McGrath's Fishhouse with some friends and family. So off we went. When I got out to the car after we dropped the kids off at his parent's, there was a necklace with some small diamonds in it. So beautiful! Dinner was so good and the company was even better. Then towards the end of the meal, Dan said, "we've gotta go now." So we left and drove home. He parked in the driveway instead of the garage (odd) then as we were walking up to the front door I noticed it was unlocked and he just walked in. Right then I saw my living room full of people and then "SURPRISE!" followed by the "HAPPY BIRTDHAY!" song. Dan had thrown the first party to try and throw me off so that I'd think that was it and not suspect anything. Well it worked! He had bought the decorations a few weeks earlier and dropped them off at my neighbors, the Dean's. So while we were at dinner, they came over and decorated! It was so fun to see everyone. Thanks so much for coming! After everyone left, Dan told me he had some emails from people who couldn't make it. Thanks for the emails. One of my dearest friends, Debbie, couldn't come because she was in No. Dakota so she emailed me a poem. It made me laugh! Thanks Deb, I love it! So my birthday was awesome! Thank you Dan for making my transition into the 30's an easy one! I love you!

The poem Debbie (Campbell) Brown wrote me:

Our history takes us back a bit, to 1988
When I moved from Idaho, to this, the greatest state.

On the first day of school, you knocked on my door, a friend I needed, surely.
But I was a geek and had already left- "I had better be there early!"

In 6th grade, my secret boyfriend, only you knew who's heart I carried,
But who would guess that after high school, it was YOU he married!!!!!

Through the years and through the kids (and through the husbands if you're me)
We pee our pants, and roll pumpkins, and yes we like BRITNEY!

We can still act 12 and get away with it, it's Emo's grave we disturb,
But when you're laughing with a bunch of girls....you better find a curb!

And when we visit Hobbit-ville, just watch Heather fidget-
Nothing puts fear into her, like a bunch of evil midgets!

When I turned 30 I laughed and cried, hee hee hee ha ha
little did I know that meant, I'd become an old GRANDMA!!!!

When they sing to you today, how I wish I was there to hear it,
Just think of me, and remember to pee- because I am here in SPIRIT!

Don't ever think that as we age, we will get old and grey,
Until our dying day we'll be FOREVER YOUNG AND GAY!

Love you to peices! Have a great 30th.
Love,

Deb-T
Campbell
Brown

Gavin and Pyrex and Smith's-OH MY!

So last week I stopped by Smith's to grab a few things because I was making enchilada's for a neighbor who had just had a baby. I normally don't take my kids grocery shopping, but it was just for a few items. I had Gavin in the front of cart, buckled in and Lindsay and Zane were following behind me. I decided to buy the disposable containers to put the food in so my neighbor wouldn't have to return any dishes to me. So there I was on aisle 16, trying to pick out the right size of container. Gavin was bored, so he threw my purse out of the cart. Then he grabbed the Honeycomb (it was on sale, 4 for $4, just so you know I was smart shopping) and threw that out of the cart. Then he kept trying to grab things off the shelf, so I moved the cart away but apparently not far enough. The next thing I see is Gavin grabbing 2 Blue Pyrex Glass Pans and throwing them to the ground! BLUE glass shattered EVERYWHERE!!!! I'm surprised I didn't swear, or maybe I did but I don't remember. I pulled the cart away and tapped/smacked the top of Gavin's hand and said very angrily into his ear "we don't pull things off the shelves!!!!" He knew he was in big trouble! Just then, at the other end of the aisle, Rachel, a girl from my ward came walking down and she started laughing. I said, "Yes, that was my child," pointing to the glass. The sound was so loud I was surprised that none of the workers had come running to see what had happened. Rachel said, "you're handling this very well," and I said, "it's because I'm in public. What should I do?" She said, "I don't know. I would have booked it by now!" We laughed, which made me feel better. Lindsay was freaked out! She kept saying, "Mom, they are going to kick us out. What should we do?" She makes me laugh! Finally some teenage boy that worked there, came walking by and saw the mess. I asked him if he could get someone to come clean it up. He kinda nodded. Do-do head! But no one ever came back, so I continued my shopping, still shaking. I noticed there were cameras hanging from the ceiling and I told Rachel, "Great" pointing to the ceiling, "you'll probably see me on the news tonight for child abuse because I smacked Gavin's hand!" We laughed again. At least I could find some humor in all of this. So then I went to the Self Checkout to buy my stuff and realized I had forgotten my wallet in the car. I told the guy behind me that he could go ahead because I had to go get my wallet. He said he'd watch my stuff and I could go get it, well to me that meant my kids too. I was not about to haul my cart and 3 children back out to the car. So off I ran out of the store, to my car, grabbed my wallet and ran back in. It took me less than 30 seconds but the whole time I had visions of that man abducting my children, but then decided that if he did he'd probably bring them back because Gavin is naughty! I got back inside, kids were still there, (they didn't even notice that I'd run out of the store because they were playing with some stuffed animals). I'll probably be on the news for abandoning my children too! I hurried and checked out my stuff and noticed a lady that lives in my neighborhood was working the self checkout stands. I wanted to be honest about the whole Pyrex ordeal and pay for them. So I told her about it and she put her arm around me and told me not to worry about it. Phew! When I got home I realized I'd forgotten the sour cream! And one of my bags of lettuce was rotten! So much for trying to serve someone! Lessons learned 1-Don't take my kids to the grocery store, 2-Don't let Gavin anywhere near the shelves 3-Forget disposable containers and just take your own dishes and 4-Don't smack your child's hand and leave them in the checkout line or you just might be on the news for child abuse (thank heavens I haven't seen anything yet!)

Mother's Day 2008

Mother's Day was this last week and it would have been a really nice day if I wasn't sick and if my boys would have been nice during Sacrament meeting. We spent most of Saturday with Dan's family because we weren't going to be able to see them on Sunday. Our church doesn't get out until 4:00 and they went to see Dan's grandma down in Salem. So on Saturday, we went to Wheeler Farm with Dan's parents. It happened to be May Day (we didn't previously know this) so admission was free. YEA! The kids loved seeing the animals and Lindsay and Zane were both brave enough for a pony ride. It was so cute. Then we went to Dan's parents for dinner and celebrated Mother's Day and all the May birthdays (mine, Ma Doney's and Travis'). Josh and his 2 friends bought some little ducklings a few weeks ago so they brought them out to show the kids. They loved them. We just had to watch Gavin because he would squeeze them too hard when he'd hold them!

That night I started getting light headed and jittery (is that even a word?). It continued into Sunday and I my stomach kind of ached but I never threw up. But it it came out the other end quite frequently (pla!). I was so weak all day long. Dan gave me flowers and made me pancakes (which is pretty much all I ate all day) and the kids sent me on a small treasure hunt to find my present. It was some digital scrapbooking software (hence the page with pictures above). Lindsay and Zane also gave me flower pots with a cute poem on them with a flower in them that they had made in Preschool. So sweet. I decided to go to Sacrament Meeting so I could hear the nice talks and maybe get a flower or something from the Elder's Quorum. Well, I was so weak and ill and Zane and Gavin were so naughty during the meeting that I didn't hear one dang thing the speakers had to say. AND we didn't get anything nice from the Elder's Quorum probably because our ward is so flippin' BIG. So I left early in tears with Gavin. Dang Mother's Day! I slept for a couple of hours, then when Dan and the kids got home we went to the Skousen's. I pretty much just lay around (which is what I should be doing on Mother's Day anyway). My little sis, Amy, who is on a mission called from Texas to chat with the fam. She is doing awesome and LOVES her mission. It was so good to talk to her. My mom gave each of us girls a book by Jane Clayson called "I am a Mother". We came home and I went straight to bed. So it was a good day, I just wish I felt better. Thanks Dan, for being so sweet to me, not just on Mother's Day, but everyday! Thanks Mom and Ma Doney for everything that you've done and still do for us. Your love and support means so much to us! WE LOVE YOU BOTH!!!!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Last Thursday, May 1st, we had Oma's (my mom's mother) viewing at the Stake Center where she used to live (in Sugarhouse). We went and drove past her and Opa's house while we were up there. She sold it about 3 years ago when she got sick the first time and she moved in with my aunt Gerlinda and uncle Richard. I haven't driven by the house since it was sold and when we did the other day, I almost started crying. All of the fond memories of that house and Oma and Opa came flooding back. The house looked a lot different. Even the church that was on the corner by her house is gone! They tore it down. So, then we drove to the stake center which is all remodeled and when we went into the Relief Society Room where Oma was I started bawling. She looked beautiful! And then Gavin kept say "OMA!" in his high voice and waving at her. That made me cry more. Zane and Lindsay were asking all sorts of questions like "is she with Opa now?"(Lindsay) and "do we get to see them bury her?" (Zane, that one made me laugh). The viewing was really nice. Friday was a beautiful day. We had a small viewing before the funeral and then the family prayer. That was the hardest part. Saying our last goodbyes before they closed the casket. Zane kept asking me, "what's those things falling off your face?" They were tears and he'd never seen me cry that hard. Her funeral service was short and sweet. I got to play one of her favorite songs on the piano "Somewhere My Love". I screwed up the beginning of the song and started over, but was able to get through the rest of the song. I get so nervous that my hands shake and are ice cold. Oh well. We went up to the cemetery where my dad dedicated the grave. I didn't think I'd be so emotionally drained from this but I was and after we got home all I wanted to do was sleep!

I am so grateful to be a part of the Blietschau family. My Opa and Oma sacrificed so much to come to America. I wish I could tell you all their amazing stories of how Opa fought in the War and how Oma had to escape from the Russians in East Germany. Also the story of how they met and Opa converted her to the church. We need to right a book on all of it (Karen...). I'm so grateful for the knowledge that we have that we WILL see them again and that Oma is in the arms of Opa and our Savior! Ich liede dich Oma! Auf Wiedersehen!

Dan was an Honorary Pallbearer

My parents, brother and sisters. My brother Matt was able to drive with his wife, Lauren, from California to be there.

We all had a flower to put on the casket.

Anneliese Blietschau

Anneliese Blietschau "Oma" 1927 ~ 2008 Beloved wife, mother, Oma, Ur-Oma and friend, Anneliese Grabowsky Blietschau, returned to her Heavenly Father and eternal sweetheart on April 28, 2008 at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City Utah. At 81, she died ultimately from kidney failure.She was born on January 9, 1927 in Koenigsberg, East Prussia, Germany to Karl August and Anna Elise Kluike Grabowsky. She was taught the gospel by her future husband and baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January 1949. Days later, Annelie and her mother narrowly escaped from East Germany. Her strong faith and determination spared her life. Annelie married Fritz Blietschau on November 11, 1949 in Stuttgart, Germany. Then together they left their homeland to begin a new life together in America and Salt Lake City, Utah. They were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in 1950. She was a hard worker and learned new skills quickly. She enjoyed working for the LDS Genealogical Society, Auerbach's Department Store, and the Utah CV Federal Credit Union. She later found happiness working in the food services department at the University of Utah and retired as a supervisor after 31 years of service. As a faithful member of the Church, Annelie found joy in serving in various organizations in the German Speaking Ward in Salt Lake. She served on the activities committee, a teacher of various ages, Junior Sunday School coordinator, and Young Women's president - among many other positions. She shared her testimony of Jesus Christ with everyone. She had a friendly personality, loved her garden and crocheted beautiful afghans for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She enjoyed collecting elegant crystal and German Hummels. She also loved decorating her lovely home with delightful items from her German heritage. Annelie was a wonderful hostess and was excited to entertain and spoil her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Annelie loved the theater and her acting skills were very versatile. She found great satisfaction in performing. She could be serious one moment and a true comedian the next. She also enjoyed writing and reading poetry. As a member of various performing groups, she showed her talents as a narrator and master of ceremonies. She is survived by her four children: Annemaria (Harold) Skousen; Christiana (Jack) Peterson; Gerlinda (Richard) Williams; Andree (Moana) Blietschau; 20 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren who all love her and will miss her very much. Preceded in death by her husband of 51 years (Fritz), her parents, four older brothers and one sister. Funeral services will be held on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 1 p.m. in the Imperial Ward Chapel, 2700 S. Filmore Street (1520 East), Salt Lake City, Utah. A viewing for friends will be held Thursday evening May 1, 2008 from 6-8 p.m. at the Imperial Ward building, and also at 12 noon prior to the funeral. Funeral services provided by Mountain View Memorial, 3115 East 7800 South, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Burial at Mountain View Memorial Cemetery, Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Special thanks to Gerlinda and Richard Williams in whose care Annelie lived during these past three years.

Oma

Early this morning, my Oma (my German grandma) peacefully passed away at St. Mark's Hospital. Even though we are sad and will miss her dearly, we are so grateful she is not sick or hurting anymore and now she is finally reunited with my Opa. Opa died a little over 7 years ago and she has had a broken heart ever since. Then 3 years ago, we thought we were going to lose Oma when my aunt, Gerlinda, found her lying facedown in her home. She was in a coma for a short while (they're not quite sure what the problem was), we all said our goodbyes, but for some reason, only the Lord knows why, she was able to stay with us for a little bit longer. She's struggled with some other illnesses and a broken heart. She really wanted to be with Opa. This past weekend, after being sick all week, they discovered she had cancer in all over her lungs and kidneys. Her kidneys started shutting down and so did everything else. We were able to go up to the hospital yesterday, knowing it would probably be the last time we were able to see her. She looked so tired and sick. She was awake, but seemed a little confused. She started talking to Dan in German. We took one last picture with her before we left. Then my mom called this morning to stay she'd passed away. We are going to miss her but I know she is so HAPPY to be with Opa, her parents and her brothers and sister. Oma, you have been an amazing example of strength and courage to us. We love you so much! God be with you 'til we meet again!

This was taken this past Christmas.

Our kids colored these pictures to give to Oma yesterday at the hospital. Lindsay's is the top portion. It is a picture of Oma and Opa coming to America in a boat and the green person is the Statue of Liberty. She came up with this idea all by herself. She told me she wanted to color a picture of something a long time ago, like when Oma and Opa came to America. That girl doesn't forget anything! Zane's is the middle picture. He drew a flower and on the right side is a treehouse and boat for Oma. Gavin's is the bottom which is just a bunch a cute scribbles.


This is the our last picture with Oma yesterday. She was so tired and sick, but I'm glad we got to see her.

We have a magician in the family!

Tonight we had a Talent Show/Ice cream social with our ward. Zane has totally been into magic lately and it's all because of my dad, Grandpa Harry. Zane thinks Grandpa is really magic and now thinks he's magic. My dad has always loved to do little, silly magic tricks since I was really little and now loves to show them to the grandkids. Lindsay is always trying to figure out how he really did it, but Zane is always amazed and tries them out himself. Some of his favorites are pulling off his thumb, pulling off his head, and taking his eyeballs out, putting them in his mouth and then swallowing them. The other day he was able to get our pantry door open with the childproof knob on it and he said he'd used his magic to open it. A couple of weeks ago he was trying to do something (I can't remember what) and he said, "my magic must not be working today." He also likes to say he can disappear into walls. Well, I thought what a perfect chance for him to show off his magic tricks at our ward talent show. He was awesome! Lindsay was supposed to do it with him, but got nervous and sat back down. Zane stole the show! He wasn't nervous, he did everything like we practiced and really got into it. The bunny trick at the end of this video is a new one we were trying out. He did it perfect! The only thing Dan missed recording while trying to video tape and control our background music was the very beginning when Zane first made his thumbs disappear and when he bowed at the very end. What a stud you are Zaners! P.S. The Spiderman costume was his idea.
Make sure you pause the music at the bottom of our blog before you watch this

Life has been a little busy...

I hate when I slack on my blogging. It causes me to stress a little when I think of blogging almost 3 weeks worth of stuff. So I've finally updated things for now. I still need to add some video footage and a few more pictures at Heidi's wedding, but at least I'm mostly caught up!

7 years bad luck!

Yesterday was kind of a bad day. Nothing horrible or tragic happened (thank goodness) but it was a bunch of little things that just made me grumpy. First, the kids woke up a lot earlier than normal and my sore throat that I've been fighting for over a week was worse. Then I went to go get our Winder food out of the cooler on the front porch and there was a note saying that they couldn't redeem the coupon I had in there for the organic Frosted Flakes I thought I ordered because apparently it wasn't on my order, neither were the apples. I guess I didn't click the right button on their website. While the kids were eating breakfast, I hurried and got in the shower but Lindsay kept knocking on the door telling me that Gavin had his hands in his cereal and was throwing it. So that ended my shower very quickly. I came out and cleaned that up (and made Gavin help me) then took Lindsay to Preschool. I made a doctor's appt. to see if I had strep, so I was trying to hurry to finish getting ready for the day so we could leave. My bangs were not working. They looked so ugly! While trying to put on my mascara, Gavin sat down next to my full length mirror in my bedroom and somehow managed to shatter it all over him and the floor! Panicked, I threw my mascara brush into the sink, getting mascara all over the sink, and ran over to Gavin. I wasn't mad, just worried. But I think he thought he was in big trouble. I picked him up, shook him off, checked for cuts or bleeding and sat him on my bed. He only had a tiny a cut on his thumb that wasn't even really bleeding. I told him to stay on the bed and I ran to put on rubber gloves and to get a box to throw it all in. He just sat on my bed for about 10 minutes staring at me with this guilty look while cleaned it all up. I vacuumed about 20 times to make sure I got all the tiny pieces of glass off the floor. I am very grateful Gavin was not hurt. Then off to the doctor's we went, ugly bangs and all. Strep test was negative. If my throat is still very sore in a week from now, they want me to come back to test for Mono. Great! When I got home and got the mail, there was a bill in the mail from Dixie Hospital for over $400 for Gavin's trip to the emergency room in St. George. I don't know why the insurance didn't cover more of it. I called and they think there's a mistake with the bill and our deductable. So hopefully it will end up being less. So I guess things could have been worse, that's for sure. I am grateful that we're all still alive and nothing more happened. I think that Gavin is the one with 7 years bad luck, not me, since he's the one who broke the mirror, right?

I still don't know how he shattered it!

This is how he sat on my bed for about 10 minutes, looking so guilty. But he's still so cute!

PB and J

A couple of days ago, Lindsay and Zane decided they wanted to make their own sandwiches for lunch. So with a little supervision and Gavin trying to make his own (I let him help me spread the jam) they did a pretty good job. Zane asked me to take his picture with his and put it on our blog. They make me laugh!