The Cakes (Wilton Course 1)

I have been taking a Wilton cake decorating class at Michael's (the most fun thing I have ever done). Here are some pictures.

This one says "BABIES!" because I took it to work. There were 6 or 7 ladies at my work who were or still are pregnant (some have delivered since then).

These cupcakes were for my friend Karla who moved to Chile.

These cupcakes were practice for lots of different little things.

This was the finale cake. The icing has tons of crumbs in it and the roses are jaggedy looking because my icing was too stiff, but at the same time I kind of like the way they look. Overall I was glad with the way it turned out.

Some Things I Been Making

Here are some cards I've made recently.

Soon to follow: my first attempts at cake decorating...

Who you gonna call?

We got a backpack vacuum. It is great for doing the stairs, plus the cord is long enough that I can do the whole condo without unplugging. It is SO much better than our old vacuum, which would suck things up and kick it back on my feet. It is powerful and easy to clean and actually comfortable to wear. And as an added bonus, it looks cool. Cooper, however, does not like the new vacuum and tries to bite the wand whenever we pause.

Spring Break 2010

While Christy was on Spring Break this year, James took a few days off work as well to enjoy a little of the Spring Breaking.

On Wednesday, we went to Castlewood Canyon, which is south of Denver near Castle Rock. We hiked a loop around the canyon that was a little over 4 miles. We were pretty tired afterwards, but not as tired as Cooper who had just experienced his first hike! He did great and kept up. He didn't like the gaps between the boulders that we sometimes had to cross, but as it turns out, neither does Christy.

On Thursday James had to work on his 3rd out of 4 papers for his English class that he's taking at Metro State College of Denver. No pictures of that.

Then on Friday we wanted to go to the Science Museum until we realized that Bodyworlds was there and everyone and their school bus was THERE. So instead we ate at Garbanzo (not all that great, Falafel King is way better), walked the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver and went to the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art (WEIRD!).

We topped the week off with General Conference and Easter dinner with Jen, Travis (Jen's boyfriend) and Mike. It was a good week.

With this post we have officially surpassed our blog post record for last year. Whew! See you in 2011! Just kidding...hopefully.

Queen for a Day (Or a Weekend)

This past weekend James planned our date and he sure planned a winner! We went to Falafel King for dinner, which we both love! We probably go there 1 out of every 7 dates. If you are in the Denver area you should try it. It's kind of like a mediterranean Chipotle, you order your food and take it to your seat. Their falafel is very delicious.

After dinner we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and saw an IMAX movie, which was pretty good. Between dinner and the movie we had some extra time so we were walking around Home Depot and decided to buy the sink we have been eyeing for several months. This is what makes me feel like a queen! Its so much deeper and nicer than our old, standard, original furnishing, stainless steel sink. My brother Mike helped install it.

Why I Love Sunday/Things I'm Grateful For

I wake up every Sunday feeling so good! It is the only day we don't wake up to an alarm and I love it! We have church at 1pm this year, so there is time on Sunday to shave my legs (if I feel so inclined), to sit and write in my journal and read my scriptures. There is time to reconcile our bank account and eat breakfast together. Cooper doesn't get locked up in his crate right away.

There are several things I have felt grateful for lately. I will make a list:

1. Family-We have my parents close by which is really nice to be able to spend time with them on Sunday afternoons/evenings. We usually go over for dinner and last week they treated James to some of his favorites because James got a promotion at work. Also, they have given us some of their hand-me-downs that we really appreciate! (dishwasher, washer and dryer, keyboard)

2. Temple-We work at the temple every Saturday and I'm especially grateful for the associations we have with the great people that work there. There are so many good examples and we feel like they are like an extra Ward Family.

3. Jobs- James and I both have steady jobs which is a big deal in this economy. James works for Cigna and I am a full-time substitute.

4. Tax Returns!- We used our tax returns for such exciting things as paying off our credit card, putting money toward our car loan, a new suit for James (his first in a LONG time), some well-needed tires and a long overdue haircut for me.

5. Scrapbooking/Card Making- I have been taking some time for the creative juices to flow and it is my escape. Even if I can't get the kids to do what I want them to, at least I can make the paper do what I want it to.

Superbowl Weekend

James and I went to Utah for Superbowl Weekend. We had found some cheap plane tickets and James' friend had invited us for a Superbowl Party, plus it has been a while since we have seen Laura and Jeff. We got there Thursday night and the first thing we did was go to In N Out Burger, just to see what all the fuss was about. It was good. So good, in fact, that we also went there Saturday night for dinner.

James and I spent Friday at the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. We were also planning to do a session at the Draper Temple, but it was closed for cleaning, which we didn't realize until we got up there, so we just took a picture of it.

Friday night we went to see Avatar in 3D. I have to admit, it was really good.

Saturday night Laura, Jeff, James and I decided to take some pictures of how it would look if we were getting engagement pictures taken at the Provo temple. Engagement pictures have changed just in the past couple years, have you noticed? No one is looking at each other anymore.

Sunday night we went and watched the Superbowl with Ryan, Erin, baby Logan, Nathan, Laura, and Jeff. Go Patriots! Also, I ate so much I thought I might throw up.

Monday we went to the Provo temple, and then headed back to Denver.