baby shower cake

I had the privilege this week of doing a cake for a baby shower (for a friend of a co-worker of Kevin's) I was told that the colors were going to be chocolate brown and sage with a polka dot theme. This is the design I came up with.



This is the final product.

Obviously a bit different than the notes in the margin but a good looking cake in the end.

I havent figured out why I make fondant different everytime but this was the most difficult to work with yet, but also the most tasty. In my opinion anyway.

I hope the mother to be was happy with it and thank you to Alexis for letting me ba a part of the day and geting to something fun that wasnt a wedding cake or a birthday cake.

This was my first shower cake but I will be doing another one this year for Kevin's sister, Heather, who is expecting her first this Aug.

new wave

There is a new (or maybe old one and it just got to me) wave of lists going around Facebook. I promise I wont post them all. :) I just have to say that I really enjoy reading the things that people decide to share in the world of Facebook. So far I have filled out three and I know of two or three more among my friends.
What an amazing thing this site is, we can find out how our friends are feeling and what they are doing all with out even talking to them! I am not complaining, I love that in one swoop I can tell 147 people that I had an awful day or that my kids are fighting, loving or just not home. I especially love that I can feel a little like I am shouting good news from the mountain top!
I think it is great that I can look at all the pics that my friends comment on. I couldn't see them otherwise (you have to be friends to see a profile which includes any pic you upload)
I enjoy that I have gotten closer to my sister, Christina. Facebook has been a big help, I know it sounds silly but I have felt more connected to her since we have been able to chat (usually on wall to wall) No awkward pauses for me... at least ones that she can hear :) only the occasional typo (and Freudian slip)
I have caught up with more friends since I last blogged about Facebook and also gotten sucked in to more apps/games. I havent figured out what it says about me that I get WAY excited when someone finally requests me as a friend.
This has gone on longer than planned and was going to just be about the lists... oh well, that is me. Any of my Facebook friends who take their important facebook time to come see my blog, thank you and feel free to keep the lists coming, I love learning more about all of you!

Andrea's 25

Andrea's 25 Random things

1. I love the people who tagged me for this and really enjoyed reading their lists.
2. My greatest joy is being a mom and I am really glad that I had boys because I like playing in the dirt and catching bugs.
3. I love P!nk the artist and pink the color.
4. I have fallen so much that when anything falls down the stairs at my house, everyone immediately asks if I am ok.
5. I met my husband when we were teenagers working at a fast food restaurant together (15 years ago).
6. My friend, Paula, has been my BFF since we were in middle school and we plan on being ornery old ladies complaining to each other about everything some day. For now, we just enjoy laughing at ourselves.
7. I really love the kids that I babysit, we have a lot of fun. Thinking about them makes me smile.
8. I have a bachelor's degree in accounting and am one semester away from a second bachelor's degree in consumer studies. I am thinking about starting over and doing something completely different.
9. I can't stand the smell of fish.
10. I had both hips totally replaced 2 years ago and now I can walk past my mailbox, yeah!
11. I am going to hike to Angel's Landing in Zion this year.
12. I talk to my mom at least once a day, my sister almost every day,and my dad a few times a week.
13. I am a daddy's girl. Yes, I still call him "Daddy."
14. One of my favorite places in the world is my patio swing where I can relax and watch my kids play.
15. If I could live on Diet Dr Pepper and chocolate, I would never eat anything else.
16. I love rain, especially when it is sunny and raining at the same time.
17. My parents gave me a new vacuum for Christmas and I love it. I vacuum every day, but my house is never clean.
18. I love that my husband sends me flowers "just because."
19. I am spoiled by my family, especially my husband and parents.
20. I love the internet and think it is a great way to stay in touch. I love to read blogs and chat on Facebook.
21. I am very protective of my friends and of all children. I feel very strongly that it is the responsibility of all adults to step in when a child is being abused/neglected.
22. I am not afraid of heights, just stairs. I hate going down stairs, especially when you can see under them (like bleachers).
23. I love to be in the mountains -hiking, camping, or just being there.
24. I have really great friends that have helped me through a lot of challenges. They let me be my crazy self, ranting and being nuts, and accept that it's just me being me.
25. I am grateful for every day that I get to live and for every mistake and challenge that have made me stronger.

I haven't known Andrea as long as my sisters. (obviously) This list was fun to read and learn more about her.
#4 made me laugh and cry at the same time. I have noticed a theme in a lot of the lists I have read and that is spending time on Facebook.
The things I knew about Andrea are #2 #5 part of #8 #10 #20 and #21. so to those who are counting that leaves 19 things I had the pleasure to learn about her. Some I could have guessed and others not so much.
Andrea, I think you are a good person who tries to be true to yourself and I am glad you and my brother are good together. I enjoy the times we get to chat and catch up even if it isn't often, as life has a way of getting in the way of... well, life. :) Thank you.

christina's 25

Christina's 25 random things

1. I am lucky to have a close extended family- when I was growing up we often spent holidays with my dad’s cousins and their families.
2. I also feel very fortunate that not only do I have the most wonderful grandparents, they are all still living.
3. I lived in a small town in Wyoming from ages 6-10 and thought it was great- especially catching horny toads and collecting rocks in our yard.
4. In elementary school I played the lead role in two musicals. I obviously grew in to my shyness!
5. I don’t have any children but I absolutely love being an aunt.
6. I like to take long drives just for fun or when I need to think.
7. I like to drive with the windows down in my car. I will do this even in the winter with the heater on.
8. When I am driving alone I always turn the music up in my car and sing along.
9. I love dancing even though I’m not necessarily good at it.
10. One of my nicknames is CBB- I don’t have a middle name but when I moved to MA the DMV mistakenly listed my name as Christina B. Breitling on my drivers license. So now this is the name I have to use on legal documents (until I go fix it..)
11. I love sunshine and am happy doing almost anything outdoors on a sunny day.
12. I love diet coke with LOTS of extra ice. I think McDonald’s diet coke somehow tastes the best.
13. One of my favorite simple pleasures is a hot bath and a good book.
14. When I was younger I went by Christy, until a teacher in middle school kept mixing my homework up with Christie Johnson. I made a great friend and started going by Christina.
15. My family still calls me Christy but if anyone else does it doesn’t sound right to me.
16. I started working in HR by chance- when I resigned from my awful job as a telemarketer when I was 19, they asked me if I would be their first HR employee instead.
17. When I first moved to MA I decided to take a spontaneous road trip to Vermont to see the foliage. I ended up spending the night in my car at a truck stop, after finding out you can’t find a hotel room at the last minute in Vermont in October.
18. One of my dreams is to travel all around the world- I love to visit new places.
19. I drive a Jeep Liberty named Phillipe- yep, Phillipe the Jeep!
20. My favorite song ever is “We Close Our Eyes” by Oingo Boingo. I am still a big fan of 80’s alternative music, like Depeche Mode, Erasure, Oingo Boingo and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
21. One of my favorite things is my iPod- it goes everywhere with me and I would feel lost without it.
22. I love water- the ocean, lakes, swimming pools, waterfalls, etc.
23. I am definitely a night owl. I love to stay up late and have a really hard time getting up early.
24. I have a lifelong love of reading. I secretly think it would be fun to be a librarian.
25. As a child I truly believed I would be an author someday, and I still think it would be a great accomplishment to write a book.

Just like Lisa's 25 I learned new things (I either didn't know or forgot) about Christina, Obviously #1 and #2, also #7... I have memories of riding in the car with her this way (do you still put your left foot on the dash board too?)

I could have guessed part of #24, but being a librarian... and #25, well, I would love to read a book by you. What a great story in #17!

I am so proud to call you my sister. You are the best big sister ever, even if you gave me a hard time when we were kids. :) I have always looked up to you and wanted to be cool in your eyes. I think you are one great aunt. You have lots of nieces and nephews who adore you. Thank you for your list and letting us get to know you better through it.

Lisa's 25

Lisa's 25 random things

1. I had braces from 4th grade till 8th grade
2. I took viola, violin, and cello lessons.... Don't know how to play any of them any more though.
3. I have a blue card although I have never been hunting
4. I leave for boot camp in 12 days
5. I never learned how to swim
6. I own a bow and arrow
7. The first pet I had was a hamster named Whiskers
8. I married my best friend
9. I play the piano.... want to learn to play it a lot better
10. I type 73 words per minute
11. I am addicted to blogging
12. I have a guardian angle named Carolyn
13. My favorite movie is Count of Monte Cristo
14. I also plan on having a book published someday
15. When I was five and my big sister Christina was 10, if she kneeled down and I stood up we were exactly the same height
16. I lied for my sister Linda about breaking a window with her and helped her earn it back
17. My dad taught us a few key phrases in Japanese, such as Aho Deska? (I don't know how to spell it)
18. I spent a summer in Europe when I was 16 and visited 9 different countries
19. My first friend was Kelli Burgess in Wyoming. I would love to find out how she has been
20. I learned how to wiggle my ears in kindergarten
21. My blood type is O+
22. I worked at Convergys for almost 10 years
23. The first time I went to the Circus was on my 27th birthday (Thanks again my love!!)
24. I am licensed massage therapist
25. I am the youngest of 4 children

I am amazed at the things I never knew about my own sister, oh some are obvious... #11and #25 for example. Some I learned while reading this, #3, #14, and #21. Others I knew if I thought about them, #1, #2 and #18 and one Lisa wont let me forget, #... well I bet anyone can guess which one that is. :)

Anyway I hope you can enjoy reading these things about my sister as much as I did!!!

Lisa I am really happy to have you as my bestest little sister ever!!! I think you are a great friend and sister. Good luck in the coming months at boot camp and in all your future adventures. I love you!!!

I tinhk tihs is itenrsniteg

Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Who'd have thunk! :)

I thought of doing a whole blog in this way but just the title made smoke come out of my nose and crackling sounds in my ears. It is way easier to read than write this way. Thanks to Seth, who posted it in his 25 random things on facebook.

just for fun here are my 25 things (I think it would be fun to post my sisters so let me know if I can...thanks)

1- My family moved when I was a Junior in high school, from West Jordan to South Jordan
2- If not for that move I may never have met my husband (I met his sister at school)
3- I have four kids and cant believe I am old enough to have a 10.5 year old.
4- I got married on valentines day
5- I love to make cakes and hope to have a bakery some day
6- My best friend is 11 years younger than me. Who would have guessed.
7- I cant have two of the same colors when I take Tums
8- I am not going to drink any coke (and maybe all soda) while Megan is on her mission. 18 months... I wonder if I can make it.
9- Moves Tv and music are my escape from reality... oh books too :)
10- I love to plan and host parties, the crazier the better.
11- I enjoy facebook way too much :)
12- my mom and I didnt get along when I was a teenager at all, but now I dont know what I would do with out her
13- I have almost always enjoyed my relationship with my dad, I say almost cause he can be a (perfect) pain.
14- I love the outdoors but havent had the oppertunity to be outdoors much the last few years.
15- I have lived in my home for 7 years the second longest time i have spent living in one place.
16- I have been to Hawaii but didnt enjoy it for various reasons so I want to go back... well I would want to go back anyway.
17- I love blogging but get so caught up on facebook that I go too long between blogs. sorry to those who read it.
18- I have come to realize that I have two amazing sisters and one awesome brother!!!!
19- I get to see wicked in April.
20- I once went an entire year without eating ice cream... my sisters might remember differently :)
21- I only took 2 collage classes.. one with my sister at UVSC (world history, I failed) and one with a high school friend at SLCC (computer class, got a b)
22- I am still in touch with my first best friend (since second grade) but wish we talked a little more often.
23- I am very easily annoyed by repetitious movement and odd smells.
24- I LOVE playing board games and card games! I cant belive I married someone who dosent... thankfully he will compromise sometimes (and the kids ARE growing up)
25-I think I may be a bit empathic, if I see a movie with some one who dosent like it, I dont like it as much even if I loved it the time before and the time after. :)

AMAZING GIVEAWAY!

Lucky you!The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Good luck!

cookie kit

For Christmas I needed to not spend too much on gifts but I like to give each of my neices and nephews a gift. I decided to make them each a sugar cookie kit. These can be kept in the freezer to be used at a later date.




they each had 3 pre-rolled sugar cookie sheets and 3 frosting bags. Just use their own cookie cutters and 7 to 8 min later you have cookies!


I think these came out really cute and were as much a gift to the moms as the kids... no work!
Again I found the boxes at Gygi. (I love that store)

gumball anyone?

Our family has a talent show every year at our christmas party and after years of trying to sing and play an instrument I decided it was futile. My talent lay elsewhere.... the first year felt like a disaster I was going for peti fours (how ever you spell them) and ended up with mini cupcakes. They still ended up being a big hit and a tradition was born. Since then I have made eclairs, sugar cookie houses, peti fours (the right way) and even sucker characters (knid of like the gumballs below) This year was the year to do gumball creatures. The base they are on is homemade marshmallow covered in chocolate and I found the boxes at my favorite store of all time, Orson Gygi. I thought they really finished off the over all look.

snowflake wedding

So far this has to be one of my favorite cakes to make and thankfully the most uneventful (not to many bad surprises)



I got a phone call from some one who used to be in my ward (we were split in august) asking me if I would be interested in making her sister in law's wedding cake. Of course I said yes!!! I never actually met the bride, I worked through her sister and email, I eventually was given two pics to merge together.



I was so exited to make the snowflakes!!! They are royal frosting and quite fragile and I made like... a hundred :) a lot anyway. All the ones on the table were extras I decided would look nice as decoration.
The scariest part was the delivery, it needed to get to Ogden 40 miles away. Every bump made my heart skip! Almost all the snow flakes made it and the few that broke we were able to fix.



I got some amazing compliments from the family and still never got to see the bride. :) One of those compliments was that I did a better job on that cake than one the mother of the bride bought from Mikes Amazing Cakes. His cakes are... well, amazing. :)



I want to give a huge thank you to Megan who is my sidekick on a lot of the cakes I make and I will look forward to her coming home from her mission ready to take up that job again!
Also to Audrey who more often than not is the one left with the kids so I can make those deliveries.