public IEnumerable <CustomerDisplayViewModel> GetCustomers() { using (var context = new DataContext()) { List <Customer> customers = new List <Customer>(); //this works //customers = context.Customers.AsNoTracking() // .Include(x => x.Country) // .Include(x => x.Region) // .ToList(); customers = context.Customers.AsNoTracking() .Include(x => x.Country) .Include(x => x.Region) .OrderByDescending(d => d.InsertTS) .ToList(); if (customers != null) { List <CustomerDisplayViewModel> cutomersDisplay = new List <CustomerDisplayViewModel>(); foreach (var x in customers) { var customerDisplay = new CustomerDisplayViewModel() { CustomerID = x.CustomerID, CustomerName = x.CustomerName, CountryName = x.Country.CountryNameEnglish, RegionName = x.Region.RegionNameEnglish }; cutomersDisplay.Add(customerDisplay); } return(cutomersDisplay); } return(null); } }