Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and it was a good one. :) The kids brought home some papers from primary today that talked about their mommy and what they think I like and what they like about me. I thought they were so cute! And knowing me and my lack of organizational skills, I decided I should type out the things they wrote so when I eventually lose these cute little papers, I'll still have the memory. So here is what they wrote about me:

EVAN

I love when my mother helps me.

I love my mother because she's nice.

My mother likes to make cakes.

My mother is happy when I do something good.

The funnest thing I ever did with my mother was her helping me.

My mother is sad when she doesn't see me.

The funnest thing I ever saw my mother do was go to a concert.

The color my mom likes best is a rainbow.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a card.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is make breakfast.

I like when my mother when she wakes me up for me.

I like to draw for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is Potato Salad.

My mother does not like to eat olives on sandwiches.

My mother works at Frosted Fantasy Cakes.

The color of my mother's hair is blonde.

My mother is 78 years old.

My mothers shoe size is 50.

DALLIN

I love when my mother makes cookies.

I love my mother because she makes food.

My mother likes to watch me on computer.

My mother is happy when she had a baby boy.

The funniest thing I ever did with my mother was when she tickles me.

My mother is sad when she is hot.

The funniest thing I ever saw my mother do was tickle me.

The color my mom likes best is pink.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a drink.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is hop.

I like when my mother makes pancakes for me.

I like to clean up for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is cereal.

My mother does not like to eat coffee.

My mother works at making cakes.

The color of my mother's hair is blonde.

My mother is 8 years old.

My mothers shoe size is 9.

MEGAN

I love when my mother makes me clean up.

I love my mother because she's my mommy.

My mother likes to do the dishes.

My mother is happy when she gives me a birthday dress.

The funniest thing I ever did with my mother was play 'ring around the rosy' fast.

My mother is sad when she falls.

The funniest thing I ever saw my mother do was tickle me.

The color my mom likes best is purple and pink.

If I could give my mother anything I would give her a hug.

The first thing my mother does when she wakes up is gets the blankie off.

I like when my mother makes a picture with dots for me.

I like to keep my brother safe for my mother.

My mother's favorite food is ice cream.

My mother does not like to eat garbage.

My mother works at home with Daddy.

The color of my mother's hair is black.

My mother is 5 years old.

My mothers shoe size is big.

And David was too little to do one. It was so fun to read them. I love the idea of it. It's a piece of their personality and thoughts that I can keep forever! So fun.

Happy Mother's Day Grandma Dastrup and Grandma Carbine!! We love you!

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".

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.

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!