Day at the Beach, cake #3

Happy Birthday Jenna!! My sister is coming into town for a few days and because she just had her birthday I though it was a perfect excuse to try another cake.

I love the beach so this cake is near and dear to me. The beach umbrella was a mess so I had to "cover up" the original strip work. Not as clean as I would like but will do for family :)
Top is strawberry cake with vanilla pastry cream and fresh strawberries for filling. Bottom is Devils food cake with cookies and cream filling.

We've got Croup

So Saturday evening Jamison spiked a pretty righteous fever and by Sunday morning we were in the Urgent Care trying to see if our predictions were correct. Yep, Croup. And as you will see below apparently his little buddies, Moose and Bear have contracted the same medical condition. I assume that the others, cast off to the side, haven't been fully diagnosed as they have been shun from the comforts only "blankie" can provide a child in misery. :)

Hopefully for once the doctors will be right and this will only last about 5 days, because I know we could all use sleep again. Plus what parent can stomach seeing their child feeling so bad. Poor guy.

Croup sucks!!!

This Is The Place, Heritage Park 5/16,2009

We love Heritage Park. It is such a great place to go to and "get away" from it all for a little while.

Jamison and Terry watching a bunny run around.

Wow did Jamison love smelling the Lilacs.

This is the hot spot. It is so fun to play with all the animals. And this time of year is extra special because you also get to enjoy all the babies.

They also have the coolest " Town" play area for the kids. There are awesome little stores and houses and a super fun train to climb all over. And with Jamison having recently developed a love of trains, he was in heaven.

Jamison pastimes

I thought I would do a little catch up with some random pictures I've had. Jamison how is it you are about to turn 2. I just can't believe it has been that long already. It literally feels like just yesterday I found out I was pregnant with you. Time is going to fast!! I am continually amazed each day at the things you do, you are learning so much so fast. Love ya bud!!




We have potted some plants, vegetables, and herbs out front and Jamison LOVES to help take care of them.

Terry and I so busted Jamison one day. We were talking in the living room and thought Jamison was playing in his room and then realized it was to quiet. Just helping daddy get caught up on some work.

He seriously will throw a major fit if he finds out I have started laundry and didn't let him help

And I have to say he is so good at cleaning up after himself. Here he is "vacuuming" his room

I love to watch him play cars, especially while he is so precisely lining them up.

Just relaxing with a book. It is not uncommon for Jamison to all the sudden stop what he is doing go grab a book and blankie and take a break on the couch.

Tools are a new favorite of Jamison's. But these tools are extra special because they double as hair styling implements. He makes sure to use each one as he fixes our hair at the end of the day, :)

He always makes sure his buds are well taken care of.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today Terry and I celebrate 3 years of marriage..... "Mawage is what bwings us togeva today" (Princess Bride) :)

So I thought since I am in the cake practicing mood this was a perfect opportunity to try out a new one. I was feeling a bit hurried so I wasn't able to relax and smooth out the butter cream like I would have liked, or let the cake sit in the fridge between frosting's, etc. Also I ran out of black dye gel so the piping work and the rest of the fondant circles didn't make their debut.
All things considered I am some what pleased. I mainly wanted to try a bow. They are so much easier than I though. I watched a quick demo on You Tube and went for it. I also am sooo happy because I think I've found a butter cream recipe I like. This is another Devils Food cake mix this time with a cup of dark chocolate pudding mixed in to the batter, I'm hopping it will add to an even moister cake. And a cookies and cream butter cream filling. Yummy!!

Well it has been a busy 3 years. It was s struggle the first little bit but I think we are starting to hit a nice stride. We are very happy living in Bountiful with Jamison and are very very happy to be spending more time with Zach. In fact he's coming out to visit us here in Utah in a couple weeks. Thrilled about that!!!

So there it is Happy Anniversary, LOVE YA LOTS!!

Second try

This is a second try at the previously posted cake. Terry had me making this for a birthday/going away party at his work.

Anyhow, same cake flavor and filling as first one, slightly different decor on top. I think my dots are slightly improved. But considering this was decorated at five in the morning after only 4 hours sleep, it came out OK. I have tried several butter creams and have not figured out a texture I am happy with yet. I think I need to mix slower and longer. We'll see. My next attempt will be coming up in a few weeks. I think I have definitely found a new hobby. And I think I need to find a good cake decorating class to get me started in the right direction.

Let Them Eat Cake

So this is my first ever attempt at a real "decorated" cake. You know the kind that uses frosting bags and tips and stuff like that. A far cry from the 9x13 pan with some sprinkles tossed on top. I have to say that for my first time I think I did OK. There are several flaws with the decorating that I am going to try let go of and just be happy with the final result. Now I do have to give a shout out to my sister JoAnna, after all this is not an original design. I took inspiration from a cake she did at her shop in LA. Thanks JoJo :) This cake is for my niece's 12th birthday and her only requests were chocolate cake and her favorite colors are pink and purple. So I went with 4 layers of devils food cake with a strawberry flavored butter cream ( because whats better than strawberries and chocolate), In between each layer is butter cream and fresh sliced strawberries. I hope it tastes as good as I thought it would in my mind. I am wary because most times my ideas are better in my head then real life :) Now we just need to survive the transport to Clearfield.