Harry Potter 7 and Oma's 80th Birthday

Adam and I were super excited to get to go see the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  When you are going with Bellatrix Lestrange and Luna Lovegood who wouldn't be?  Adam had a late intramural soccer game (which his team won) and then we headed home and Adam dressed up as Harry and I tried to dress up - which meant I wore an England soccer jersey.  Whitney had been Bellatrix for Halloween and was set to display her wicked costume for the midnight showing.  Amanda even had radish earrings for her Luna costume which we would have loved to see, it is just too bad that we never made it to the theater. 

While heading north on I-15 in Lehi, all of a sudden a 4 foot long metal rod slammed into our car.  It sounded terrible so we got off at the next exit and decided to take a look.  As our car spewed and smoked we decided that making it to the movie was a little bit out of the realm of possibility.  Come to find out that a rod from road construction in Lehi had pelted our car and rammed up under our front bumper into our air condenser while stopping just short of our radiator - thank goodness.  

Luckily we weren't too far from home and were soon whisked off by my dad to escape the tragedy that had occurred.  We were bummed to miss the movie, but were thankful that we were safe and that the damage was not worse.     

With our car in the shop, the next day we headed up with my family into Salt Lake for a celebration.  Oma turned 80 on November 16th.  The family put on a surprise party for her on Friday the 19th of November.  It was so fun to get to celebrate with her and all of the family. 

Almost all of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren were able to be there, making it an extra special occasion.  Each grandchild took a turn paying tribute to Oma and giving her a flower.  Adam said that he was grateful that Oma was there to help take away some of the nerves when buying a diamond from grandpa Don! :)  It was fun to see what all of the little kids had to say about Oma.

All of the grandkids sang Because I Have Been Given Much which is Oma's favorite song.  Afterward we took a family picture.  It is easy to see that with this type of family all of us have been greatly blessed.  I know that Oma has had an amazing impact on each individual in her family and we couldn't be more grateful for her.



My mom and her sisters along with me and my sisters helped to get everything ready.  Aunt Jenny was in charge of centerpieces and needed some help putting them together.  She had gone out that morning and after getting permission from her neighbors, foraged for goods for the centerpieces.  Jessica and I had a great time putting them together, and they were for sure some of the most unique centerpieces that I have ever seen.  Curly willow, wheat, berries, pinecones, apples and other items created some fun color for the tables.  I'm just grateful we didn't end up with poison ivy or something...

All in all it was a tremendous success.  Although we were without a car and we still haven't seen Harry Potter, life is great and we couldn't be happier - even though Adam's face might not seem so sure, believe me, we're happy.