Happy 21st Birthday, Courtney!

Courtney turns 21 today! This lucky girl gets to spend her 21st birthday in Preston, England because she is on a BYU European Study Tour. The trip is 5 weeks and she gets to visit Scotland (Edinburgh), England (Preston, Birmingham, London), Netherlands (Amsterdam), France (Paris), Switzerland (Bern, Gruyere, Wengen), Germany (Munich), Austria (Vienna), Italy (Padova, Parma, Florence, Perugia, Pescara and Rome.) Doesn't that sound awesome?

Since the tour is through the Marriott Business Department at BYU they get to visit various companies while they are over there such as: The Scottish Microelectronics Center, Kraft Foods Cadbury World, Flower Auction in Amsterdam, Mercer, Brinks, La Maison Du Gruyere Cheese Factory, BMW and KPMG, United Nations in Vienna, Barilla Pasta Factory, Perugia Chocolate Factory, Ducati Factory, Brioni Factory and Tailoring School, etc.

I am just so excited for her and all the things she will get to experience. I can't wait to hear about it. One of the chaperones is keeping a blog and I have added that link to my blog list so be sure to check it out if you are interested.

How do I possibly pay tribute to the 21 years that Courtney has graced our family? It's impossible to express how much joy and happiness she brings into our lives so I won't even try. Courtney is just an awesome girl. When she was little, Kylie (19 months younger) always hogged the attention and Courtney good-naturedly let her have it. I think Courtney was wise beyond her years and knew that Kylie had a need for the spotlight and Courtney didn't. Courtney was content to wait her turn. Kylie was always like, "Watch me dance" or "Listen to my song" etc. and then she would perform and it was usually pretty darn good or at least highly entertaining. Courtney never demanded attention, we usually had to beg her to do things so it was always surprising that she did them well. I think that's why to this day we are always blown away whenever Courtney performs because she is so good yet so humble. I guess it took us a while to figure out that just because Kylie told us she was going to do something spectacular and Courtney didn't, did not necessarily make it so! Ha ha!!

Courtney is just so humble about her talents and doesn't toot her own horn like some of the other members of our family. (I'm afraid it's true - Kylie is not the only child in our family who often spoke very highly of herself... cough... Kristy.) In all fairness, in our family you kind of have to be vocal or you get left at Dairy Queen or IHOP! Suffice it to say that Courtney has always been very quiet and unassuming and humble about her talents and abilities and she constantly surprises us and amazes us with what she can do. She is so multi-talented and everything is just more fun when Courtney's around!

I am attaching some recent videos so you can get a little insight into how fun it is to get to watch Courtney perform in whatever she does.

Here are just a few highlights from Dansport 2011. Courtney is on the BYU Backup Ballroom Team (2nd highest ballroom team at BYU.) She has auditioned for the BYU Touring Team (highest team) and will find out in a few weeks if she made it. It's such an honor to be selected for that team and there are so few spots. We are all crossing our fingers.

Some of the ballroom video is not that great - a little blurry and some of the sound is distorted. (I did my best but won't use that camera again. It's such a sacrifice to video because I just want to sit and enjoy it and then the darn camera doesn't cooperate. Ugh!) It's not too bad, though, and you get the idea. Courtney's partner is Tim Colvin and he is a great guy in so many ways. We are so glad that she has a good partner she can depend on because they go through a lot together. We love you, Tim! These dances are from the most recent Dansport Nationals at BYU in March 2011 where Courtney and Tim were the Prechamp Smooth National Champions! It was so exciting!!!

I think you can tell which one Courtney is. She has a red dress with gold that she wears for her Standard dances and a pink dress with a black bow on the back that she wears for her Smooth Dances. When they couples are paraded in for opening ceremonies, that is only for Amateur events which is the highest level at Dansport. This was the first year that Courtney got to participate in that. I just love watching her. I wish all her friends and family could be there because you would love it. I'm so glad Cali, Ashley, Kaelynn and Brooklyn got to come!











Last Christmas, when our cruise was postponed we spent the holiday together in California. Kacey decided that we would have a family talent show (probably mostly because she wanted Rhode and Scarlet to perform.) Well, I was highly doubtful that everyone would be willing to participate because, let's be honest, no matter how good your talent is it just won't compare to anything that the adorable grandchildren do. Right? But when Kacey gives an edict... people snap to attention... including me and David! (Some would call it being a good leader but we just call it being bossy!)

So the true boss of our family organized a talent show and there was a punishment for not participating but I can't remember what it was. Maybe dishes for the entire trip? Whatever it was, it was bad enough that everyone participated. Permission was granted to team up. Here is Courtney and Kylie's talent show entry, an original version of "Gold Digger" by two BYU co-eds. We loved it!



I know everyone is wanting to see the other talent show entries from the fam. I have been keeping you in suspense for months now just so you will truly appreciate it when they are posted (and because it takes me forever to get from camera to computer to blog - but I'm getting better!)

So it's easy to see why we love having Courtney in our family. She is smart and funny and talented and kind and generous and just an all around gem! Did I mention she's beautiful too? She doesn't think she is but she is! And she's even more beautiful on the inside!!



Courtney, we are your biggest fans. We look forward to any time that we get to spend with you. Thanks for all that you do to contribute to our family dynamic. Eternity is going to be a blast! Have a spectacular time on your trip. We miss you but we are so happy that you get this experience. Treasure it!

Happy 21st Birthday! We love you!!