Where the Wind Comes Rushing Through The Plain...

I had that song stuck in my head the entire trip. How can you not really?

So after wandering through the sea of cakes, we sat down to hear our first demonstration. Pam was using royal icing to paint flowers on a cake. I was so excited because the piping gel didn't exactly work all that great, but this was beautiful. I was not able to get a better picture of the cake itself, but this is what I did get:


She had covered her cake board in fabric and had painted the cake to match the fabric. She said she uses this a lot for cakes for men, fall leaves, fishing scenes, etc. I think the fall leaves would be stunning! She used small disposable triangles to put each color in, and I have got to track those things down because I HATE parchment triangles! She didn't know where we could get them in the States, but I'm on a mission.

After this class I snapped some more photos of the cakes, I have so many and I'm not sure you want to see all of them but here are some really spectacular ones.



This is one by Glenda Galvez, she's won before and is famous for her bows. It really looked like this cake was draped in fabric, not fondant. Her inspiration was Marilyn Monroe's "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend."




This one is a bit much for my taste, but can you imagine all the work that went in to making this thing??? The theme for this particular cake was an actress I've never heard of whose name I don't recall.




A lot of people chose Audrey Hepburn as their inspiration, in particular "My Fair Lady", but this one was inspired by "Sabrina" and was one of my most favorite cakes. Those gloves, the mirror and the "paper" are all made from sugar. The string work was unbelievably beautiful and...


check out the back of the cake. Beautiful from every angle!




Here's another Audry-inspired cake. Again the hat and little umbrella are sugar.




Yet another Audry cake. This one you have to look at the dome on the top. They must have done royal icing on a balloon or something, it was amazing. And I was thrilled by my tiara! I love the drape on the bottom tier.




I promise this will be the last cake for this post. This one is obviously "The Wizard of Oz." I'm sure it didn't win anything, but I thought it was a lot of fun to look at.

Do you want to see more cakes? I have more. A lot more! I'm going to do one more post about Chef Meisner and his sugar work. Wait until you see it, you are going to die!!

Ooooook- lahoma! Part One

What a trip! And where to begin?? I am not what I would call and "adventurous" person by any stretch of the imagination. I lived in the same town, and even the same house in that town, for the first 18 years of my life, then moved a whopping 30 minutes away for the next three, then made the big move to Utah (ha ha!!) after that. I don't like driving in new cities because I have no sense of direction whatsover and always get lost, sometimes even in my own town! Oh the shame!! So what possessed me to fly across the country to meet complete strangers? I decided it's time for a change. So this trip was step one.
I flew from SLC to Dallas, TX in the first part of my flight. I get airsick and did not have a very enjoyable flight. No puking, but it came close. I was concerned I would not find my way to the connecting flight in Dallas and imagine my dismay when I get to the Dallas Airport and discovered my flight is 3 terminals away. But I made it, just barely!! I arrived in Tulsa without puking (hooray!!) and then it hits me, I know what flight my friend is arriving on, but I have only seen pictures of her. How am I going to find her?? I did track her down though and she was just as sweet in person as she is in her emails. We get to the car and she hands me the directions and says, "I hope you can read a map because I'm terrible with directions and I'm counting on you to get us to the hotel." I said, "Girl, we're in trouble!!" We did get lost a couple of times but we found the hotel in the end! Then I met Angela and her daughter, Maria. Later we picked up Robi from the airport. They are all Southerners and let me tell you, Southern hospitality really does exist. I have never been treated so kindly in all my life. People were just so respectful of others and kind while driving, I've never seen anything like it. I felt like I spent the weekend with the ladies from "Steel Magnolias."

From left to right, Angela (Mama Duck), Robi, and me getting ready to enter the fair.


I did not realize my trip to Tulsa would make me part of their cake group, but it did. I am thrilled because these ladies are amazingly talented decorators and the leader of the group, Angela, knows EVERYONE in cake decorating. I'm now well connected. :) What does being part of the group mean? I'm now invited to come to Angela's mansion in Kentucky every couple of months for a weekend packed with her teaching us all new cake decorating techniques. She houses and feeds us, all we have to do is get there. See what I mean by Southern Hospitality? Angela calls herself the Mama Duck and we are all her little ducklings, I'm Duck #4. :)

Can I just tell you the people of Oklahoma take their State Fair seriously? They have massive dedicated buildings for the fair. Massive!! The livestock building was unbelievable. I spent most of my time in the fine arts building though and it was just as impressive with two levels. The cakes took up a sizable corner of the building. The decorators were still setting up when we arrived. It was so great to watch them making last minuted adjustments. I could not believe how many cakes were there. I don't even know the final number. It was spectacular. They had set up two fully functioning kitchens at one end of the room for demonstrations. A lady from Australia, Pam Archibald, and the former executive chef of the White House, French Guy, were teaching. More on them in my next post. I'll track down his name too. :) Meisner is is last name!


We had to taste some of the food at the fair. I have not been to a state fair in probably a decade, so it was fun to see all the rides and vendors. My favorite fair food was the grilled corn and the lemonade, I have never ever ever had lemonade that good in my life and unless I go back to Tulsa I probably won't ever again. Yum!! From left to right it's my friend Narcy, me, and then Robi. These are the girls I shared a room with.


Just so you know I actually did see some cakes, here is one of my favoirtes. The theme was Hollywood Glitz and Glamour and this cake was based of Halle Berry's dress when she won the Oscar. If you see that burgundy lace looking stuff, for those non-decorators that is called string work, and you make it with size 000 (very very small diameter) round tip and it actually floats off the sides of the cake and looks like real lace. It's extremely difficult work. Those lines under the top tier are not actually touching cake, they are floating.

To Be Continued...

You Gotta See This!

Don't worry, my Oklahoma post is coming. I know you are all dying to hear about my trip. (Make sure you are reading this with sarcasm and self-doubt) I just had to share this clip, I was floored! As if I wasn't already feeling completely inadequate after seeing hundreds of amazing cakes at the show, then I tried to search to see what shows we had going on out here in the west and came across this clip from the UK. Not sure how it came up, but I'm glad it did. Enjoy!

Wedding Cake Photos Have Arrived!

I was so happy when I saw an email with these pictures in my inbox today. I was beginning to think they were angry with the way the cake turned out and thought it tasted awful or something. She said they were very impressed with how the cake turned out and she'd keep me in mind for future cake orders. Horray!!

So here is how the cake turned out. I wish you could see the rest of the reception center, they had it decorated so beautifully. I like the color combo of hot pink and green, but I never would have thought of them as wedding colors. Everything really was just so elegant and clean, just really stunning. I was pleasantly surprised. And really happy the cake turned out after all the trouble I had and even up to the last minute thinking there was no way this could come out nice enough for a wedding.

She also included pictures of herself and another of the bride and groom, but I thought I'd just share this last one of the bride and groom cutting in to the cake.

There were so many little kids running around all wanting to help with the cake, I was concerned it wouldn't make it through the night, but it looks like it did. Weddings really are just so much fun.

This weekend I will be traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show held at the Oklahoma State Fair (I think!). I'm meeting some people I met online that I've been emailing for about a year now. I'm excited to finally meet them in person and to see all the stunning cakes. They do little mini classes and my friends and I are going to try to teach each other some techniques at the hotel, so hopefully I will learn a lot as well as just having a great weekend away. I hope to take tons of pictures if I remember my camera! :)

"24"

Last weekend my brother, Matt (but we call him Matty), came to visit. He's married and has an 18-mo-old son named Logan who Sydni just adores. Logan has started talking more and went around the house calling, "oo-ahh" the whole time they were here, we kind of gathered that was his generic name for both of my girls. Almost as cute as Sydni calling my brother "Muincle Daddy." It's a nice change for him considering when Julia was Sydni's age, she burst into tears and wailed, "I want my Daddy, not Uncle Matty!! Go away!!" Anyway, they came in to town to celebrate his birthday by going to the BYU football game, football is so not my thing so we did not join them, but I made him a cake.

My brother loves the show "24" and I'd been thinking of a way to make a "24" cake for a while since my hubby loves it too. Unfortunately for Ja, his birthday (and my FILs!) fell during the time I was making the wedding cake and I didn't plan on the wedding cake giving me such a hard time, so both of them got the short end of the stick this year. Considering it's what Ja wanted and my in-laws are on a diet it worked out for the best anyway. My cakes are so not good for you! Not to mention I really needed Ja's help to make the cake. It's hard to surprise you family with a cake when I have no way to hide it from them. The surprise is half the fun! Ja really helped a lot with the planning and execution of this cake. If you watch "24" you know there are a few key elements to every season- some kind of kidnapping (usually a relative of Jack) and a bomb or two. I decided to make a bomb.

I had a hard time figuring out what kind of bomb to make and all the details, Ja helped me figure out the final design. My brother had requested Apple Crisp instead of cake, so I didn't have to worry about making a suitcase cake or anything like that. I made the sticks of dynamite from Rice Krispy treats and covered them in fondant. The electrical tape is also fondant and the timer is actually this great little scrapbooking gadget a friend gave me. It's a little recording device much like those found in cards or picture frames and with my wonderful hubby's help (again!!) he was able to record the countdown noise they play between commercial breaks. The wires are actual wires I painted with food coloring. I was going to do something edible, but why?

He loved it and I was very happy to be able to do something special for his birthday.

His little guy Logan was terrified by everything, but I'm told he likes the sound card now. Sydni loves blowing out candles and kept making us relight them all night. She should be lots of fun next month!

In other news, I thought I'd share a few quick pictures. This first one is of Julia on her first day of school. She started at a new elementary this year and couldn't be happier. I'm happy too, the classes are smaller and they have excellent music and reading programs that most elementaries in the area don't.

This is Sydni's best friend, Hannah. I recently started babysitting Hannah and her baby sister, Rachel. So three days a week I have three children under the age of three. And for those of you who are currently or who have lived through this my hat is off to you. It's doable for me only because I know it will end at 4 pm! If it were my actual life my house would never be clean and we'd be eating a lot of take out!!

A few more quick notes, I picked up my knitting needles again for the first time in quite a while. I've picked some scarf patterns and yarn for the "Red Scarf Project" but I'm starting out with a dishcloth or two so I make sure I didn't forget anything. Also, I'm currently reading "Eclipse" and wondering what I got myself into. I'm not a very patient person so I typically wait until all the books in a series are written before I start them and then just madly read them one after the other. I had been told the Twilight series was a trilogy and thought I was safe to start them. Then I heard that's not the case, imagine my horror when I visited her website. Now I have to wait with the rest of you!!

No!

Ahhh the joys of having a 2-yr-old in the home, how I missed them! Tantrums at the slightest disappointments, waking during the middle of the night, and the late late night, and the so very early morning, and 30 min before the alarm goes off, refusing to eat, refusing to dress, suddenly developing "hearing loss," the ability to make any room in the house look like a tornado has blown through in a mere 10 seconds, and my absolute favorite- when they answer every question with "NO!!"


I did not forget about potty training, this is the topic Sydni says "no!" to the most. I have waffled on which potty training technique to use and settled with the "no technique at all let them do it themselves" technique. I know a few people who have done it this way and had great success. The appeal is overwhelming- no sticker charts, no constant trips to the bathroom, no need to have goodies around the house all the time, you just wait until they are ready and they just suddenly start doing it one day. I introduced the whole potty scene when Sydni was a little over 2-yr-old. Just showed her the seat gave her the basics, no pressure. We read "No More Diapers" practically every night and Sydni tells me she wants to say good-bye to her diapers in the morning, but every morning when I ask if she's ready the reply is the same, "NO!!!" I just kept telling myself, no big deal! She's young, she'll show interest when she's ready. Sydni will be 3 in October, and she still has absolutely no desire to go potty. I'm not even sure she is truly aware of what goes on down there. She was excited about wearing panties and even went all day (twice) wearing them without an accident. She has never gone potty anywhere but in her diaper. She's hopped up on the toilet all excited about going, but then hops right off to wash her hands. I've really tried my best not to pressure her in to this because I didn't want a battle of wills, but am I being too relaxed? Where am I going wrong? I really didn't think it was possible to fail at this non-technique, but some how I have managed it. Maybe it's just the environment here, I started babysitting for my friend recently. She has two little girls one is 6 mo younger than Sydni and the other is 2 months old. The 2-yr-old Hannah, is potty trained, but won't go potty for me, even with the special Dora seat and chocolate rewards. Maybe it's me! I don't know. Potty training was a nightmare with Julia too. She wanted to at 17-mo though, so I thought this time around if the child were older it would be easier. Any potty experts out there? Any help at all??? I'm open to all advice/encouragement!

My first wedding cake!

The wedding cake is finished. Right now it is hopefully being eaten and enjoyed by all the wedding guests. The cake was massive, just massive. To me anyway. I'm sure professional bakers would not think anything of it, but it was massive to me. It was three tiers, 16"-12"-8", the largest cake I had made to date was a 10" diameter. I knew 16" was going to be a big cake, but honestly I did not appreciate how large that actually is. I was petrified when the pan came in the mail. My cake decorating friend in Texas reassured me that all would be just fine, it wasn't going to be as bad as I was anticipating. Oh how I wish that had been the case! Let just say I had a very difficult time with this one. In the end it all turned out and they were very happy with the cake. I was in such a hurry trying to get it there that I left my camera (and the spatula I use to transfer tiers yikes!! one of the many difficulties) at home. I am going to ask the bride if I can possibly get a picture from her. I hope they took one!

Two cakes down, one wedding to go!



I have been busy making more cakes this month. And I'm not even close to being finished for the month! I still have hubby's cake on Sunday, my FIL on the 22nd and then the the wedding cake on the 24th. Good thing I don't live close to my Mom or I'd be doing another for her on the the 23rd. Actually there is a good chance hubby is just going to get a pie (which he'd prefer anyway), but I do want to make my FIL's because I have the perfect idea!! And it's simple to make. I hope...

Anyway, on to the cakes. First up is the cake I made for a baby boy's 1st birthday. I really think these may be my favorite cakes to make! The client wanted a bath time theme, maybe something to do with rubber duckies. She wanted a 10" and an 8" tiered cake. One layer with chocolate cake and chocolate mousse filling and the other to be chocolate cake with bavarian creme filling. Yum yum! This is the finished product.



I also took close up pictures of the little duck and bubbles. Everything you see is edible.

This baby is made of Rice Krispy treats covered in modeling chocolate. He is so tasty! The ducks are made of gumpaste with chocolate bills. The bubbles are gumpaste as well.


This second cake is a cake I have been wanting to make for a very long time now. I actually made the royal icing tiara back in April, but my neighbor never had a party for her daughter. I ended up not really having the time I would have liked to spend on this cake, but it still turned out pretty cute. It is 8" and 6" tiers, one is lemon with lemon curd filling and the top is chocolate with chocolate mousse. Not the best of photos, but I was in a huge hurry!! Better luck next time.

Today I am off to Costco to get the ingredients to start baking the wedding cake. School starts Tuesday here, so I also have some school shopping left to do. Not to mention hubby's birthday. I don't think I will be posting or reading much of anything for at least a week, so I hope you all have a good one!

Good Mail Girls

I joined Melissa's "Good Mail Girls" group thinking it would be a great way to get over my hang up about actually putting something in the mail. I am seriously post0ffice impaired. It's really not that far from my house, the lines have never been too unbearably long, but for some reason unless I am under a major deadline I just can't seem to make it there. I purchased little goodies and have them sitting in envelopes all ready to go, well, they were until Julia ate the candy out of them. If I had mailed them right away it would not have been a problem. This obviously is not going to cure my problem, so after I send things off, I am going to ask Melissa to remove me from the group!

I thought I'd share pictures of goodies I have received:

First off, Jessica sent my yummy treats.



Then Melissa sent beautiful beaded earrings and a bracelet.



Then Andrea sent her fun summer picks.



Much to my shock Jessica, who obviously has no problem getting to the post office, sent ANOTHER cute set of goodies.



They sent fun things! I'm really hoping to get mine off in the mail by the end of the week before things get too crazy. Frankly, it's amazing I'm posting again so soon! I figured I could at least do this!!! Wish me luck!

Shayla tagged me, so here goes. I don't know that I really enjoyed this exercise. It was more work than my poor brain could handle at the moment. It's good to have something quick to post though!

Yourself: caring

Your partner: faithful

Your hair: ponytail

Your mother: busy

Your father: patient

Your favorite item: philosphy "hope in a tube"

Your dream last night: pregnancy (I'm blaming this one on you, Jenny!!)

Your favorite drink: water

Your dream car: Jeep

Dream home: owned

The room you are in: front

Your fear: alone

Where you want to be in 10 years:

Who you hung out with last night: family

You're not: confident

One of your wish list items: home

The last thing you did: dishwasher

You are wearing: clothes

Your favorite weather: overcast

Your favorite book: many

Last thing you ate: cracker

Your life: blessed

Your mood: tired

Your best friend: Ja

What are you thinking about right now: cake

Your car: van

What are you doing at the moment: repairing

Relationship status: eternity

What is on your t.v: off

When is the last time you laughed: morning

I'm tagging, who's left?? Julie? Kristie? If you want to??

10 Wonderful Years!

Yesterday was my 10th Wedding Anniversary. I don't feel that old. Some days it doesn't feel like that much time has passed. Much of the time it feels like I have known my husband all my life and that we have always been together. It's just how it is supposed to be.


My life has not gone the way I thought it would. If you had asked the girl in that picture where she thought she would be in 10 years, she'd probably told you living in the Northwest a block away from one of Jason's brothers, with four kids, the white picket fence, the 9-5 job, blissfully happy.



I may not be where I thought I would be, or have the things I thought I would by now, but I don't think I could be happier with my marriage or family. I didn't realize then that I would be able to love my husband more than I did that day. How could it possibly grow any bigger or deeper? I still feel that thrill of excitement when he walks through the door. I still have not tired of staring into his eyes, holding his hand, just being by him. He still makes me laugh. He still makes me feel cherished. I know my happiness means more to him than anything. What more could anyone possibly want?



We have two beautiful daughters. They have brought so much love and richness to our lives. I will never forget watching Jason hold them for the first time. I will never forget just laughing with joy the day our first daughter was born and the indescribable feeling of completeness the day our second daughter was born.



Where do I see myself in 5 more or 10 more years? I really don't know, but as long as I have Jason and my girls, I don't really care.

Happy Anniversary Ja!

Two posts in one day, the world has gone mad!

I guess it's not technically the same day since it's 12:12 as I type. I just had to share the exciting news! I'm doing a wedding cake next month!! Yeah!

People keep asking me for business cards and web addresses etc, and I think I'm really going to take the plunge. This may actually be a worthwhile business for me, and I need your help. I cannot think of business name. Julia wants me to be "Queen of Cakes" I wanted "Sweet Nothings" but it's taken, Jason suggested "Ivey Icings." Really people, I NEED HELP!!! Please leave any and all suggestions. And please excuse my overuse of exclamation points. If I were a superhero, that would be my fatal flaw. And the fact that I can no longer run even a mile... woe is me!

Cake Madness!!!

I honestly don't know how this has happened, but I have been making cakes like a madwoman lately. My house and children are complete disasters because of it. Don't get me wrong, I love making all these cakes, but it's really beginning to take it's toll. I am definitely feeling the need to get this business up and running as well. People keep asking for business cards and web address and all I can say is, "I thought this was a hobby..."

On to the cakes! First up is the "Luau Theme Cake." This one was such a learning experience for me. Aren't they all though? :) I had never made gumpaste flowers before, and had ordered a book and cutters from Nicholas Lodge to help teach me what to do. Unfortunately for me, they were closed over the 3rd & 4th of July, so my order did not make it in time. Wouldn't you know it arrived the day after I made my flowers.


What I ended up doing was using a 6 petal cutter I already own, and cut out the extra petal and then just shaped it the best I could. They are not perfect or anatomically correct, but it was for a 5-yr-old's birthday, not the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show.


The purple flowers are supposed to be a hibiscus. I think they look nice, but they are not "correct."


The pink and white and the yellow flowers are plumerias. These are the flowers you often see in hawaiian jewelry (I have a ring myself) and in leis. I LOVE them!


The hula dancer is a chocolate figure of course. It was trickier working with a darker skin tone. I was not expecting that. I also had never done a standing figure. All I can say is I'm glad she's wearing a grass skirt!


I tried to make the fondant on the cake look like the ocean. It's also how they do the "marbled" look if you've seen that before. It was actually fairly simple to do. You just squirt dots of color on the fondant and knead a couple of times, then roll it out. I think I'll be doing more marbled cakes. I like the effect and it hides many flaws! :)


The sand is graham cracker crumbs. I thought I was being wise by waiting until I delivered it to put it on, but it made a huge mess and it didn't stick to the side of the "island" so I had to use royal icing and then get the crumbs on and well I'm sure I looked pretty amusing to the people who bought the cake! The cake is Triple Chocolate Fudge with Fresh Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Icing. Yummy combo!


I was very excited to use my edible image printer to do the writing for me, I don't really enjoy doing that.

This second cake was also due the same day as the Luau cake. I don't think I'll be doing that again, that was a bit more than I could handle right now! This was for my niece, Ally's, friend.


I really like this one. I like the color combination and I think I may actually be getting the hang on scroll work! This chocolate icing was much easier to work with than the royal icing on Sleeping Beauty's cake. This is a Triple Chocolate Fudge cake with caramel filling and chocolate icing covered in fondant with a gumpaste bow.

I asked a friend of mine if I could use her glue gun to put the ribbon around the edge of the Hula cake, and when she brought it over and saw what I was doing she asked if I'd make one for her big extended family birthday party on Monday. At that point I hadn't assembled either cake and thought I'd have left over flowers and bow loops so it wouldn't be a big deal to slap something together for her. I was wrong wrong wrong wrong. I used all but one flower and every last bow loop. Somehow I managed to get this one together in time for her though! I really really like this one!


She is the one that ordered the lady bug cake. And she absolutely loves my cheesecake filling, so this is a white cake with strawberry cheesecake filling and the most diving vanilla icing I have ever worked with! and covered in fondant with chocolate icing dots and border and gumpaste bow and flowers.

Would you believe I still have another cake to make this month?? I'll post about that in another week or so. We have company coming so I'll warn you right now I'm going to drop off the face of the earth for a week and a half. Hope you all have a great time!

Had to join in the fun!

I saw this on Jessica's blog, and had to give it a try.

You Are Dr. Pepper

You're very unique and funky, yet you still have a bit of traditionalism to you. People who like you think they have great taste... and they usually do. Your best soda match: Root Beer Stay away from: 7 Up

What Kind of Soda Are You?

Looks like we can't be friends Jessica! :) Back to the cakes...

Happy Birthday Big Sis!

Today is my sister, Kristie's birthday. For those of you who have not been to her blog, she is an amazingly talented knitter. You really should go look at some of the socks she has done recently, and the gorgeous lace work she is doing. She is also so generous about her knitting. She is constantly knitting things for other people and donating tons to various charities. I just can't say enough good things about her!

She sent me pictures of the cake, or rather cupcakes, she wants and I just had to share the link because they are too cute! http://veganyumyum.com/2007/06/knit-night-cupcakes/#comment-1984

This week I am making 2 cakes for complete and total strangers and wishing I could have figured out some way to send one to my sister. I did attempt sending a royal icing tiara I made to my niece in Pittsburgh. We'll see how that goes! I really need to get back to those cakes, can you tell I'm trying to avoid the endless amount of work still to go???

Where I've Been Part 2

The following pictures are not something that kept me from blogging necessarily, they are just really cute pictures of my girls and I had to share!

Playing dress up! My older sister, Debi, was telling me how her daughter, Sophie, loves to treat her younger sister, Eva, like a doll. She dresses her up and puts make up on her and does her hair and carts her around basically torturing the poor thing, but Eva does not seem to mind. I mentioned this to Julia, not the torture part, and suddenly playing with Sydni is no longer such a bad thing.



They went through several looks, starting with Tinkerbell. You can't tell from the photo, but she actually has her hair up just like Tinks. Very cute!


Next they both dressed up like Belle and Belle must have a rose. I know they aren't red or magical, but it's still a rose.


One last dress up picture of Sydni. She does this little smile every time you tell her you are going to take her picture. Also not a great shot of the hair, but it was hilarious. She even put a bell in her hair. It was kind of nice, she couldn't sneak up on me like she loves to do!


Now we get to what really kept me from blogging. The Sleeping Beauty Birthday Cake. I made this cake for a lady who works at my dentist's office little girl, Paizley. I brought part of my Tinkerbell cake to the office since I practically live there and I had to get the cake out of my house! She loved it and I got a job!
I love love love Sleeping Beauty so this one was especially fun for me. Here's a close up of Beauty. Once again she is made of modeling chocolate and the dress is gumpaste. It's all edible! And I posted her on Cake Central and I am shamelessly bragging here- I was "Popular Cake Photo Added Today" again!! :)

Where I've Been... Part 1

I really did not intend to totally drop off the face of the earth like that, I promise! Things just got crazy around here with visitors and cake making. I have so many things to share, I'm not sure where to begin...
First of all we had unexpected by very welcome visitors, my hubby's brother, wife and kids. They used to live by us and we have kids close in age, so it was so wonderful to see them. I really miss hanging out with them, but alas they have been sucked into the Albuquerque hole (no offense Shay) with the rest of my husband's family and since moving there just isn't really an option for us, seeing them on holidays will have to do.


Here's all the kids being their true selves- absolutely nuts! Starting from the top and going left to right we have baby Brooke (1), Danica (7), my Sydni (2), Bridger (3), Morgan (5) and my Julia (8). I really wish they could live two doors down from me and the kids could hang out every day, they had sooooo much fun! I miss them.

Here's another shot of the girls before we went to the mall, Laura (my SIL) and I are kind of a bad combo in that when we get together we like to shop. She is very stylish and I don't feel like such a moron going into stores I used to shop in when I was younger but usually feel like too much of a Mom to go into now.


The next round of visitors was my sister Angie, her hubby Ken and their kids Kati and Michael. They were on their way back from Vegas and it was Michael's birthday so he just had to have a cake! I got to use my printer!!! He wanted a Star Wars cake, and I thought doing the lava and the big fight at the end of the 3rd one would be fun. My niece got to stay at our house for a few days after that. We had a lot of fun, but I didn't take pictures. I so suck... I also got to see a couple of friends from high school while my niece was here. We went to my friend Aaron and his wife's home in West Jordan and my other friend Julie and her hubby came. We hung out and played Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. Now that was funny. Once again, no camera. It was so great to see them again, and to see all their adoreable little children. Both of them have a set of twins. Too cute!! Here's the cake though:


After that, my parents came to visit for my daughter Julia's dance recital. Sydni FINALLY warmed up to my parents and even loved Grandpa to tickle her. The older girls were running away from Grandpa so he couldn't tickle them, but she kept running up to him and holding out her little foot so he could tickle her. Very cute!



Here's a picture of Julia and her friend Bailey before they danced. The ballet this year was "Over the Rainbow" based on "Wizard of Oz." That's all for now!