Cakes

A couple people have asked me about the cake so I thought I'd post some pictures of other cakes I have made. I'm really not that creative but I'm good at researching and taking my own spin on things.

Treasure map for my son's pirate party

Another shot of the same cake

Pizza cakes for the pizza party birthday

The requested pirate ship cakes for my nephew's bday

And yet another pirate party for another nephew

I have others I have done but can't seem to find the photos. 

It is fun to do- wish I had more time to experiment with cake decorating.

A cake walk on the beach

My sister and her family visited Utah during the month of June and part of July. While here her youngest daughter had her birthday and they asked me to make a cake with dolphins somewhere on it. This is what I came up with...

A day at the beach

Sydney- one of the cutest birthday girls ever!

It turned out pretty cute and she loved it.

Camping

We haven't had much of a chance to do anything this summer since Lars has been teaching summer school so last week we decided to go camping. We packed up the tent trailer and headed up the mountain. I wanted to try somewhere new. I did an online search and found this place, pretty close to home but far enough to be away. ;) It was really nice. Our campsite was next to a small stream so I fell asleep each night to the gentle, soothing sounds of a babbling brooke. It was heavenly. 
While there we found out that you can borrow a GPS from the parks visitor's center (for free!) and geocache. The park itself has two locations. It was a fun treasure hunt, the kids are now hoping for a family GPS so we can do it some more. If you don't know what geocaching is check it out. 

The campground is near this resort. It is home to what is called “The Crater”.  It is a 55-foot tall, beehive-shaped limestone rock that is naturally hallow and has warm mineral water. (Again this is all natural. They only man-made part is the entrance.) It is really amazing.

If you are ever up near the Heber/Midway area in Utah you should check it out. 


It was nice to get away, cook camping type foods, roast marshmallows with my kids, and just spend time with my family. (Don't love the bug bites but I get those at home anyhow.) 

Mission Call

Just had to share the news...My nephew just got his mission call to San Jose, California. We are so proud of him for making the decision to serve a mission for the Lord. He is the first ever to serve a mission on my side of the family, we are so grateful for the example he is setting for the younger cousins.

Good luck Rob! We love you!

My latest dream job

Yesterday I had the pleasure of a visit from my wonderful friend, Jeannine. I have known Jay since I was 11, and she is one my favorite people in this world! Anyhow, she and her girls are in Utah visiting and they came to spend the day with us in Salt Lake. We had tons o' fun bowling & eating. Then we decided to go downtown to temple square. My family opted to bow out of this activity, I guess they feel like they go there enough. Anyhow, Jay's mom had joined us so it was us three and Jay's 2 sweet girls.

At the end of our day we decided to take a  horse drawn carriage ride around the city. The girls were in heaven, and I knew my own girls would be sad they decided not to come, but that's what you get for thinking the same old thing is boring. ;) We were talking to the driver and we discovered that she and the Jones family actually have a couple connections, in fact her brother is best friends with Jeannine's brother-in-law, they both just left for Iraq. Anyhow, it was one of those "It's a small world" moments.

During the course of our ride, though, she was talking about how long she had been driving and why she started doing it and how much fun it is. It is something I always thought would be fun, she said she didn't have any driving experience, with horses that is, until she started. I thought "Wow, I could actually do this too!"

So this is my dream job right now. Check out the carriage rides when you are downtown in Salt Lake City, and keep an eye out, you may just seeing me driving one of the carriages someday! :)

The caribbean

Sometimes I wish I could hire a photographer to follow me around to take pictures of my wonderful family when I am just too busy enjoying and being a part of their lives.

My darling 9 year old boy, Henry, came to me earlier this week and told me he was having a party Thursday night. Hmmm, well okay it sounded fun so I rolled with it.
Now, this wasn't just any party. This was a Wizards of Waverly place Caribbean party. I understand that some people may not know what that is. ;) Wizards of Waverly place is a Disney Channel show about a family of...Wizards, right! Then came the movie where they vacation to...anyone? The caribbean, right again! This is one of Henry's favorite shows because it has his two favorite things, magic and Selena Gomez. Major crush going on there, but at least he has good taste, she is cute and seems really sweet.

Now that you are all caught up here's what we did.

Henry had it all planned out down to the entertainment and food. First we would eat and we spent the morning making the menu. On the menu was:

Magical fruit potion (watermelon/cranberry slushies)
Secretspell balls (Rolls)
Pigs in a magic carpet (aka, pigs in a blanket)
Wizard wraps (SUPER yummy wraps made with ground beef and pork)

Plus a few last minute things that didn't get names.
I went shopping and then I spent the day cooking while the kids cleaned and decorated the house. They did a great job and we had a lot of fun.

For entertainment they were to go outside on the water-slide. This means that the hose is hooked up to the swing-set so that it sprays down the slide. The kids love it. This was the waterfall slide.

Then a treasure hunt and finally to top off the evening...watching Wizards of Waverly Place the movie!

We had 9 or 10 cousins show up and we ate, which I must say the food turned out great! They had great fun on the water-slide and the treasure hunt. Not everyone was into watching the movie but they did have fun. It was a great party and just what we all needed. I love to have parties and Henry really planned a great one. (Plus the chef he hired was just awesome!) ;)

So I really do wish I had pictures of the preparations and the party, but I enjoyed being a part of it so much more.