Family - Dusty & Marlina

Family

April12th

No Comments

Dinner at Bret’s Table

Posted in: Family, Food, Fun Times

Last weekend we were in Minneapolis visiting Dusty’s dad, Dean and stepmom, Julie before I get overly busy with the end of the semester and Dusty gets inundated with last minute details for Big Omaha. Dean and Julie have some good friends, Bret and Jon who we have become close with, in part because they love food just as much as we do (if not more). Bret recently traveled to France and lead a culinary tour around the country, including Provence, where they went to the former home of Julia Child. He also runs private events and classes in the Minneapolis area as well as in his home.

It just happens that this past weekend Bret and Jon were having some friends over for a little day of cooking, eating, and drinking, and we got the privilege to attend. We got some excellent culinary lessons from Bret (who is an excellent teacher by the way) and then ate the beautiful masterpieces we had created. One of our prep jobs was to be in charge of choosing the wines to pair with each dish and I must say we did an excellent job. Minneapolis had this great wine shop, France 44, that had an excellent selection of French wines.

Here’s a look at the menu we prepared:

Aperitifs
Anchovy Tapenade with Crackers
Kir Royal (a popular French cocktail made with creme de cassis–black currant liqueur topped up with champagne)

Plat
Cuisses Poulet farci avec la saucisse avec jus (Stuffed Chicken Thighs)
Pomme de terre parisienne (Parisian Potatoes)
Steamed small carrots

Salad Vert
Fromage

Dessert
Tartelettes au chocolat individuels avec des framboises et crème à la pistache (Individual Chocolate Tarts with Raspberries and Pistachio Cream)
April9th

No Comments

Weekend in Oklahoma City

Posted in: Family

We spent the weekend visiting family in Oklahoma City. We drove down with my sister and her two kids, spent the weekend at the medievel festival and went to one of my niece’s softball games. Photos from our weekend adventures.

Top left: Nieces playing video games and watching movies on the iPad under the blankets. Others: Medievel Festival.
December1st

No Comments

Thanksgiving and Grandparent’s 60th Wedding Anniversary

Posted in: Family, Holidays

We spent Thanksgiving in Minneapolis with Dusty’s father, Dean, step mom, Julie, and some of his family. We had a great time seeing everyone and spending a relaxing weekend eating turkey. The Saturday after Thanksgiving we left Minneapolis to go to Waukon, IA to see my grandparents and help celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. We were so happy to be able see my family and to be a part of this great event. To see such a happy couple who have been together for 60 years is really momentous.

Picture of Grandpa & Grandma with the grandchildren.

Grandpa & Grandma with the great-grandchildren who stayed long enough for the picture to be taken.
July31st

No Comments

Summer With My Nieces

Posted in: Family

This summer I agreed to watch my two nieces a few times a month. I didn’t realize how exhausting those days were going to be. My mom and I took turns watching the girls once a week and sometimes we all did things together. We went swimming a few times, walked across the pedestrian bridge, and went down the slides in the Old Market. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the adventures we had.
January19th

No Comments

Ice Skating

Posted in: Family

For the past two years we’ve had an ice skating rink in the Old Market. This year we got the opportunity to go with my dad and the whole gang. Dusty and I actually got on the ice with Brandon, Bella, Gabby and Gracie. Everyone else came for morale support. We all went to dinner afterward. We took our new camera and got some really great shots. Hope you enjoy!!!
December21st

No Comments

Merry Christmas

Posted in: Family, Holidays
April16th

1 Comment

All Smiles

Posted in: Family, Wedding

This weekend another one of our flower girls got the chance to try on her dress for the wedding. Gracie is three years old and full of all kinds of energy. Before taking this picture I asked Gracie to smile, she instantly squinted her eyes, leaned to the side and gave me the biggest smile. She’s going to be a perfect flower girl, not only for her cute pictures but also for her great dancing moves. We are getting really excited for the wedding with it being a little over two months away. We’ve been busy these past few weeks getting things ready. We met with our pastor, ordered our invitations and scheduled our engagement pictures to just name a few things. Everyone has been so wonderful. We are so lucky to have such great family and friends. We can’t wait to see you all.
January27th

No Comments

Our Favorite Girls

Posted in: Family, Wedding

I found this picture and wanted to share it with everyone. It’s a picture of our five flowergirls from Christmas at our place. Dusty had taken some of the kids on a walk so I could clean the kitchen before we opened Christmas presents. One of the girls wanted hot chocolate when they got back and Dusty just couldn’t help himself, he made them homemade hot chocolate. Seeing this picture really gets me excited for the wedding.
January4th

No Comments

Christmas at Our House

Posted in: Family, Holidays

I have been waiting for Christmas since July. Over the past few years I’ve been collecting things to decorate for Christmas and finally have a place big enough to have it all out instead of rotating things every other year or so. Poor Dusty had to put up with me asking if I could decorate since before Thanksgiving. I finally got the chance after coming back from Thanksgiving at his father’s house.

Here is a great picture of some of the Christmas decorations. We have huge 14 ft. windows so everyone could see our tree from outside. Dusty was CEO of Curb Appeal and made sure that we had enough lights on the tree. We ended up going to Walmart one night at midnight to buy more white lights so I could start putting on decorations. Our big tree is decorated in silver and red. The two smaller ones in the living room are decorated in family ornaments and the other is Santa Clauses. Dusty’s grandma has given him an ornament every year since he was born and so one of our trees has all of those ornaments along with other ornaments I’ve gotten from my mom and from my grandma.

Dusty and I hosted Christmas at our place this year for my father and his family. My dad lives in Oklahoma with his wife Debbie along with my step sister and her family of six. We were lucky enough to have them home for Christmas again this year. My dad and Debbie stayed at our place while everyone else stayed with other family members. Christmas Day we had everyone over for a late dinner and the opening of presents.
August21st

No Comments

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Posted in: Family, Travel

After spending a few relaxing days in Vail we drove a couple hours to Colorado Springs to meet Dusty’s family. Dusty’s Aunt, Kristin, plays in the marine band and was able to reserve some cabins at a camping ground. There were almost twenty-five us, either members or friends of the Davidson’s, who stayed in two large cabins. The camp ground was wonderful. It is ran by the marines and meant for their families. It was very beautiful and high in the mountains. In fact, it was so high up in the mountains and so far from civilization that there was no cell phone service.

Here are some highlights… we went hiking in the woods around the cabins with the kids, paddle boating in the lake, trading off on cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner for everyone, white water rafting, cave of the winds, cards, quilting, a trip down the mountain for warm clothes and ice cream, and lots of popcorn.

During one of the lazy afternoons the kids found some little friends who wanted to come out and play… or at least the kids wanted them to come out and play. They found whatever food they could to get the little critters out of their hiding place.