Kate's Party

So I realize she's only one, but it is her first birthday! I enjoyed throwing a big party for Danny on his first birthday, so I wanted to do the same for Kate. And I have been having a lot of fun with cakes, so this is an original Rebecka creation.

I made two cakes in cookie sheet pans, made a delicious pudding-y icing for the center, then cut the cakes into the shape of a one. Then I frosted it with a homemade butter cream icing. For the blocks and letters, I colored fondant and rolled it out, then cut out the shapes I wanted. Just to cover up my icing "issues" I placed Skittles around the perimeter of the cake. If I were to do it again, I don't think I would have used the Skittles. I don't know if it needed anything around it, but I definitely would do something different in the future.

I love this picture, because Kate had three of her cousins AND her brother, all 2 and 3, desperately wanting to help open her gifts. They were so excited they couldn't help but rip the paper every once in a while. Or a lot in some cases.

One happy birthday girl.

Danny's birthday

So Danny's birthday was on October 5th, a long time ago I know, but one of the reasons I have been putting off posting about it is because I wanted to post a video of him blowing out his birthday candles, but I didn't know how to do it. But I think I finally learned, so take a look. We got such a kick out of it.


And since Danny is obsessed with Elmo, my mom helped me make him an Elmo cake. He loved it! We tinted fondant and used that for the eyes and nose so it would be nice and smooth and then I just tried to make the red icing look like fur. Since Danny's birthday was over conference, we used this cake for the party we had later in the week.
Danny is such a happy and loving little boy. He has such excitement and enthusiasm for life, I love being around him. He's very affectionate and one of his sweet little hugs and a kiss just melts my heart.

My Daddy's Bread

One of the things I acquired on my trip home LAST year was the wheat grinder/mixer that my great grandma left for me. It's gotta be 40 years old or so, but my Grandma kept it in perfect condition and it works great!However, it was only this latest trip that I really practiced with my dad on how to make his most delicious bread. These pictures are of my first attempt without my dad's supervision. And I think I passed! It doesn't take that long and it is so much better than store bought bread--we love it!