Thursday, December 18, 2008

Catching up

Wow. It has been a while since I posted. I am still here. I haven't had a computer for a while. But thanks to Willie and Britta and their wonderful Christmas present, we have a computer that works wonderfully and I can get back to life online.

I don't have any pictures to post. Although I should since it has been so long. My camera has stayed in the closet for the last few months. I have been very busy with cakes up until the beginning of December. I was lucky to have a break for a few weeks because I have had morning sickness pretty bad. Yes for those of you that don't know already I am pregnant. . . again. I'm not complaining I am happy to have another baby. I just really don't like being sick. Hopefully it will be over soon. I have some cakes coming up in the next couple of weeks and I need to be better.

My last cake that I did was a competition cake for The Grand Utah Wedding Cake Competition. I started getting the morning sickness halfway through that cake and I wasn't able to spend the time and effort on it that I would have liked. It turned out nice though and I entered the cake. I didn't win. I got an honorable mention though. It was a little disappointing after getting third place on a national level but you win some and you lose some. After that cake I have spent most of my time just trying not to get sick.

So, as for the pregnancy, I am about 10 weeks along now. Hoping that the end of the trimester is the end of the yuck. I have my first doctors appointment scheduled on New Year's Eve and my due date is July 17th. I'm hoping for a girl but I'll be happy with a boy too. Megan would be really happy to have a little sister. Even the boys think it should be a girl since Megan is so outnumbered. Besides, we have a name decided for a girl but not for a boy.

The kids are doing great. Evan has been so excited to know that there's a baby in mommy's tummy. He makes sure that he tells everybody. He's always asking when the baby is going to get here. He also can't stop talking about how BIG our family will be. Five kids! He asked me yesterday if we could have 18. I told him that that is physically impossible as far as I'm concerned.

Dalllin is the same as he's always been. Mischievous but loving. He's been sick for the past week. I think he's finally kicking it. It's about time. That little boy sure knows how to get sick. He's had croupe multiple times, pnemonia several times, RSV. . . you name it. He knows how to do sick.

Megan just moved into her own room. We decided that David is ready to move to a todler bed and Megan is ready to go downstairs. So, we made a cute little room downstairs next to the boys room. She loves her room and her bed. She's done really well downstairs too. I worried a little since she is only 3. But I think knowing that her brothers are there too makes her (and me) feel safe.

David is growing up too fast. I cut his hair yesterday and wanted to put it all back. He's got a little boy look and not a baby look. His favorite things to do are talk on the phone, eat, read books, and play with his brothers and sister. We haven't gotten him into the todler bed yet. We're waiting until I feel better so I can chase him down for that first week of him knowing he can get out of bed whenever he wants to.

Bobby is doing great. He's lined up to start classes at Utah State in a couple weeks. He's getting back to it, which I really am happy about. He's in St George right now. I guess some snow bunny wanted them to do some work in their winter home down there and he got picked to go. It's hard not having a husband around when you don't feel good. He'll be back tomorrow night though.

Wow, I could just about print that out and send it as a Christmas card letter. But I think I'm a little late for the cards. We missed last year too. Oh well, next year for sure. Right? If only it worked that way.

So, to all of you that read this, Merry Cristmas!! This is your "card".

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Evan the Little Poet

Evan was reading the label on a sock package and saw that there were six pairs of socks. He decided that he liked the sound of "six socks" and was inspired to write a poem. There is some misspelling but I thought it was really cute.

Translation for those that can't read it:

Six Socks

Six socks I have.
I wear them every day.
I am a camel.
Clever me.

My Little Girl

Last night Megan didn't want to go to bed when it was time. We sang a song and had family prayer, and then after hugs and kisses, all of the kids went and got in bed except for Megan. She insisted on telling me a story. So, I humored her by telling her that she could tell me a very short story. I'll tell the story the best that I can remember.

Once upon a time, there was a light bulb that fell and broke. Then there were two more lights. And then a giant came and ate them. Then the giant stepped on the house and smashed it. And there were dead people. Then the people ran away. And then the giant saw a fire and he got his feet in a fire and and he said "ow" and then he got dead. The end.


Where did that come from?? Shouldn't she be telling princess and fairy stories? Seriously! Giants and dead people. She's mostly such a girly girl. She loves pink and princess everything. Where that came from is beyond me.

Monday, October 13, 2008

My Cake World

It's been a while since I've posted. My website and the competition and media have taken up all of my time. In fact, I shouldn't be posting right now either. I should be making a cake for the teachers at Evan's elementary school. But I really want to catch up.

Just a warning; If you've read Vilate's or Lexie's blogs, I apologize for the use of the same pictures. Vilate was the photographer on this trip.



So, for those of you that haven't heard, I went to Tulsa, OK in the end of September for the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition. I entered a cake entitled Love Letters.



The theme for the competition was, "The Language of Flowers". I had to pick flowers that had the meaning that I wanted the cake to portray and then design a cake around that flower and the meaning that went with it.



I chose magnolias and oak leaves. The magnolia symbolizes perseverance and the oak leaf means strength.



I originally wanted to use the title Steel Magnolias but due to copyright issues, I decided to name it "Love Letters". The cake ended up being a tribute to my grandparents. I was able to copy some excerpts of their love letters that they wrote while my grandpa was in WWII.

I absolutely loved these letters. My grandparents were so sweet and romantic. And they fit so perfectly with what I was trying to accomplish. (the letters are sugar)



This was my inspiration piece that I used to show what I was trying to accomplish with the cake. I used the patterns on this needlework for the cake. Vilate worked so hard to make this for me and I appreciate her help so much.



These are the judges. They had a hard job. There were some extremely beautiful cakes there. I actually watched while they judged my cake. How unnerving. I couldn't hear anything they were saying. They just pointed a lot and whispered and pointed some more.



They spent a lot of time talking about my magnolias. That's one thing I did understand that they were talking about since they pulled out a flower handbook. They talked about how the flowers open and the way the flowers were colored. It seemed like an eternity.



This was Kerry Vincent handing me the Third Place Award!! I still can't believe I accomplished something so huge as to be one of the top 5 in the nation. I am honored to be a part of such an amazing group of master cake decorators.



Here's a picture of me and Kerry Vincent after the award ceremony. Ms Vincent is quite the woman. I love her candor. It's what makes her so respected in the cake world (that and the fact that she's extremely talented).



This is a picture of me with some of the judges after the award ceremony. I enjoyed getting to talk to them after the judging and hear what they had to say about my cake. And I really appreciated the scores they gave me. :)



This is Dianne Holgate. She won fourth place. What a fun person! I'm so glad I got a chance to get to know her. She's a fellow Mormon from the Four Corners area.



This is Edith. She had a lot of good advice for next competition (yes, I'm gonna do it again). She's a talented woman. I loved her cake.



While the competition was going on, James Rosselle, Marina Sousa and Dawn Nemec did some demonstrations. While they had some free time, Vilate and I asked them to take some pictures with us. They were fun to talk to and get to know. Can I tell you how 'celebrity shock' I was in throughout this competition?



This is Leanne. She was the one that jumped in to save all of the cakes that were in danger of spectators. She was a lot of fun and she had a beautful cake as well.



This is Mark, Cindy and Paul. Mark had the cake next to mine. His flowers were beautiful and the cake was grandiose. They were such a fun group to hang out with. Cindy was such a hoot.



This is Rebecca Sutterby. She won Grand prize. Her cake was absolutely perfect. I loved it. She's a really nice person also. All of these guys were so cool.



This is Kim Payne and her husband BJ. Kim won Second Place. She had a georgous cake and she was such a sweetheart. She was the first fellow cake decorator that I really got to know. She is so easy to talk to and such a great friend.



I actually had real fans. There were a bunch of people that came every day to see my cake and and me and to see how I did. It was so fun to get to know some of these people. They were so nice and had such nice things to say.



This was the cake that stole the show. Rebecca Sutterby- Grand Prize



I loved her bamboo. Loydene Barrett- First Place



Georgeous cake. Kim Payne- Second Place



The detail on her cake was amazing. Dianne Holgate- Fourth Place


Thanks for bearing with me through this long blog. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at this competition. And from all of this has come a few articles in news papers and even a segment on a news show. Now if I can translate all of this into money. :) I expect that I will stay busy. Things haven't started to slow own yet. And I don't imagine they will anytime soon.

If you want to see more of my cakes you can go to my website. It's looking pretty great thanks to Mike, Lexie and Tricia. Come check out Frosted Fantasy Cakes!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Jack Johnson and the First Day of School

On Monday, Bobby and I went to a Jack Johnson concert. We had fun being out on a date.



I snapped a picture while he was driving. Isn't he cute?




This is us at the concert. We got there really early so we could get good seats. The gates opened at 5:00 and the concert started at 7:00. Although, Jack Johnson didn't actually come on until about 9:00. So, really we waited for 4 hours to hear Jack Johnson.




I couldn't get a good picture. My camera doesn't function the way it should at concerts (probably operator error). But that's Jack Johnson.

It was fun for the first few songs and then people started pulling out their joints and lighting up. It wasn't fun after that. There was a group right behind us and I really worried that we'd end up high. So, instead of trying to hold our breath for the rest of the concert, we decided we'd be better off to just leave. I just can't believe that illegal substances are let into a public venue. And it wasn't just a couple people her and there. It was all over. I think USANA has a big problem and something needs to be done about it.


Ok. Off my pedestal and on to something exciting!

Evan started school today! First grade. He was happy to be back in school and excited to meet his new teacher and classmates.



This was the only picture I got. We were running out the door because I had to get all of the kids ready to go to take him to school. The only day that Bobby had to go to work early just happened to be today. So, it was a rush getting everyone up and ready to go. Then the traffic was so bad by the school because of construction. So, we parked a couple blocks away and walked. He was barely on time but there were others that ended up late for the same reason. We'll plan better for tomorrow and Bobby won't have to go to work early.

Beautiful Bloomington

This all happened almost a week ago. I'm a little slow. I have some catching up to do. There was a Findlay Family Reunion (for Bobby's mom's side of the family). So, we packed up and headed up the canyon to Bloomington, Idaho. We spent a few hours there.




The kids had fun playing with a bubble blowing toy Grandma and Grandpa brought up for them.




We had lunch and hung out with family. It was a lot of fun.




David's favorite thing to play with was Sprite. He soaked himself with every can he could get his hands on.


When the reunion wrapped up we headed further up the canyon to Bloomington Lake. As we loaded in the van I saw all of the kids faces and had to take pictures. They all had some Cake Bites that I had brought up to the reunion. So, they had chocolate all over their faces. So, this is cleanest to messiest.



Evan managed to be the cleanest. That's expected since he's the oldest.




Megan came in second place. This is also another given. She's younger than Dallin but. . .




we're talking about Dallin here. He's actually surprisingly clean.




And lastly is David. He really enjoyed his chocolate.




It was about a mile hike to the lake and then we played and hiked around the lake. The kids had a blast.




On the hike in, David had to get down on the ground and play in the trail. He saw a big sandbox and couldn't help himself.




When we got to the top of the trail, we took a little family picture. The scenery up there at Bloomington Lake is so beautiful.




The water was pretty cold. The kids didn't venture out very far. Dallin didn't get in at all. He sat on the bank and threw twigs and rocks and leaves into the water playing sink or float.




David spent the most time in the water. He loved it. Even cold.




The kids splashed around a bit and then we climbed around the rocks and cliffs for a little while. We went as far as I was comfortable taking the kids. Then we stopped for a few pictures and went back.








These are the rocks we had to climb over to get to the cliffs. Dallin "helped" me across them since he was too tough to let me help him.




Back at the start, Bobby took a few flips off of the rope swing. If you follow the picture of Bobby up the cliff about halfway, that's where we climbed to.




And while he did that, the kids played in the dirt some more. I'd say David won hands down with the messy this time with Dallin a close second. (No David is not wearing pants. That's all dirt.)




Along the trail we saw some creatures.




The local wildlife. . .


Overall it was a really fun day. The kids loved the hike and the water and they especially liked playing on the rocks.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Countdown

Evan is getting really excited for school. I told him today that there are 5 days left and he's super excited!

First grade here we come! All day school. I really can't wait for that. Not that I want him gone. . . but if he's got to be gone, give him a few more hours to learn something. Not to mention give me a few more hours to get something done. It'll be good for him to be back in school.

I am sad to see the summer coming to an end though. We've kept ourselves too busy. We still haven't gone camping. We'll go in a couple weeks but I want summer to last longer. Swimming has been fun. I don't want to give that up.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Is This Really Happening??

It really is happening. I am going to Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 25th through the 30th of September for the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show!! Anyone that follows cake decorating competitions knows that this is huge! This is the competition of all competitions and I'm going to enter a cake in it.

Wow!! I'm so excited! I have my cake designed and all planned out. I'm starting on it in the next few days. I love the idea of my cake and I think it has the technical skills that I need to get the wow factor. I just want to impress the judges and that's going to be really hard to do since one of them is Kerry Vincent.

Oh my goodness! I can't believe this is happening! Can you tell I'm excited?

Monday, August 11, 2008

Cake Contest




Yesterday was Evan's and my birthday and we had a wonderful one. Bobby gave me tickets for us to go see Jack Johnson next week! I'm so excited. We're big fans in this house. It'll be fun for Bobby and I to go on an actual date. Those are few and far between when you have four kids.

Evan got some fun presents and had Curtis and Tricia's kids over for cake and ice cream. Although the cake was store bought. :-0 I know! Me buying a store bought cake? It's almost unheard of. I did have a good excuse though. The first reason is that we are having a big family party for him in a couple weeks and I'll make a cake then. The other reason is that I made a cake for a competition in Salt Lake and I didn't have the time to make one for Evan.

So, this cake I made for the competition won a High Blue ribbon and Best In Show! I was so excited! This was my first time entering a cake competition but I don't think it will be my last. I want to find bigger and better competitions to enter. I did it mostly for the status though. Being able to say I'm an award winning cake decorator is a big thing. I just need to get the business on it's feet and this is a really good start. It was a really great birthday present too. :)