We LOVED having Jim's mom and my mom to visit for Jacob's baptism. Kathryn reading a book she gifted to Diana. Sweet Grandma time!
We took the kids bowling-only Nicole ever remembers bowling, so it was a fun adventure. Bumper lanes were awesome. Katy loved using the ramp and they had so much fun planning their moves. Of course, the ball prettymuch went wherever, but they were totally into it.
Diana took turns coloring and bowling. She got a lot of strikes and spares and we couldn't believe it!
Eventually we discovered the heavier balls knock more down so they were all using my ball.
I bowled with John on one hip, it was quite interesting. Then he finally fell asleep and the kids took my turns. I love precious time like this snuggling with my baby. There are few things as sweet as a baby sleeping all cuddled up and peaceful.
Michael watching his ball and hoping things go according to calculation. :)
I made a s'mores cake for Jake's baptism. Four layers of alternating chocolate and graham cake, with toasted marshmallow frosting and chocolate ganache.
My mom came out as well and we had fun going to the park with her- she even took a turn on the swing!
We met up with Marian and all the kids rode their bikes. Only John doesn't have a bike yet. My kids' school carpool lanes snake back and forth- perfect for bike riding!
The oldest girls went with Mom to paint turtles together!
Kathryn and I had a lot of fun trying some fun recipes- this one is cholla bread, lightly sweet and delicate. Diana was there to help any way she could!
John loving time with his Grandma! We were all seriously in heaven with so much love in the house from the Moms!
Jake's big day! He is such a good-hearted boy, so obedient and hard-working. I enjoyed seeing him take this step and feel the Spirit be welcomed into his life. He had his 8 year old dr checkup and is 47 lbs (8th%) and is 49 in tall (50th%).
We had a lot of fun eating the cake after!!
Playing piano for the Grandmas!
We managed to get a family picture!
Kathryn and Diana playing one of many games together. Diana really loved this time.
Jim putting the girls to sleep with some stories.
My mom said my brother Josh got all of his humor from only reading Calvin and Hobbes. My kids have sure enjoyed these books!
Mike tried to make a blanket look like him during scripture study so he could slip away undetected. No question where that idea was from!
We took a family hike when the weather finally was great on Saturday! There was a graveyard in the middle of this protected forest land.
I had John walk as much as possible of the trail. He did great, and only after a mile did he decide he wanted to play with rocks more than he wanted to run ahead.
Walking sticks are essential to every hike.
We spent some time playing in a stream and coming up with a family band name.
While thinking of a name, I though about how the kids get up sometimes before 5am on Saturdays, right when the day is breaking and it's barely light! So we are The Daybreakers, Facebook page and all. Our band has 2 dates at the farmers market, a neighborhood concert we will do after school is out, and we'll also play at Jim's charity race.
Katy getting ready to throw a big rock in the water! She had her yearly dr visit and we have big news- She's finally ON the growth chart for her BMI lol! She's 30lbs and 40in tall. She gave herself a haircut a month ago in front and it made the perfect little bangs in front. I didn't even have to touch it up. It curls just right and looks darling. She's a feisty sweet girl who loves cuddles and ponies.
I made her a unicorn cake. Or as she says a "Oona-corn" cake.
She's been asking for this cake for months- which is eternity to her!
She helped me pour in sprinkles to the frosting in between all the cake layers. It was a tall, delicious cake!
The kids all made honor roll for 3rd quarter as well. They all got straight A's except Diana was literally .1 away from getting an A in math. It was just sad. But she still got honor roll. We always tell the kids that good grades are nice, but working hard is more important no matter what the outcome.
Nicole also got the media specials award and that was sweet!
I'm making a wedding cake and tried out one of the layers and a new piping technique. Worked great and I think it will turn out awesome.
This layer is Chocolate Cake with Nutella Frosting.
For my birthday, I asked if we could have a family bike ride. I had a wonderful time with everyone biking on the Tobacco trail. Mike and Nicole were miles ahead so Jim chased after them, and I stayed with Katy on a slow and steady pace. She just learned how to pedal a short while ago, so it was fun to see her enjoy the ride.
I made sugar cookies for her preschool class. Sprinkles and gold sparkles were the most important part!
Katy went with me when I took Nicole to her orthodontist appointment. Katy loved the monkey with braces lol. Nicole will be getting braces at Thanksgiving!
Jake took a picture of his Katy-Cave.
Katy took a picture of me icing a cake. I seriously love doing this.
I made Neapolitan Cake- Three cake and frosting flavors- Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry. I asked friends and everyone loved the rose swirls more than the dot border. Which is great because the roses are so much easier and less time-consuming!
The cake was delicious! We sent it in to Jim's work so we didn't pig out on it, and then he took the other to a doctor's office he works with.
For Jim's birthday I made a galaxy mirror glaze cake over a vanilla and strawberry cake.
So pretty and was not too hard. The hardest part was that the glaze does it's own thing and you have to hope the colors turn out like you want.
Jim and the kids!
I made a crème brulee cake for one of Jim's good friends.
Vanilla cake, fresh vanilla custard, homemade caramel buttercream, and sugar work on top.
My final wedding cake practice round. Lemonlicious- lemon cake, fresh lemon curd and lemon cream cheese frosting with candied lemons as a garnish.
Jim said it's his new favorite cake. The lemon curd is amazing.
We harvested a bunch of strawberries from our garden. We've let it run wild for a few years and what started out as maybe 9 plants is now a garden brimming with berries.
I went to say goodnight to John and found him like this with Jim. So cute to see him fluffing Jim's hair while quieting down for the night.
I made a cake for teacher appreciation at the school. I made chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. I figure I couldn't go wrong with a classic. The words and logo are piping I did with royal icing on parchment paper, let dry and then painted edible gold dust on it and transferred it to the cake before the buttercream set.
I tried some watercolor-type frosting design on the sides of the cake.
And then I walked this the half mile to school while holding it on a sturdy cake board. Mike kept asking if he could eat the parts that didn't touch the sidewalk if I tripped. lol. The cake made it and I had fun saying thank you with cake :)
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