belated post on Grant's visit home

The boys are so cute. Jackson all fancy and Grant in his uniform.

This is a very belated post. I meant to post in July..oops! Grant came home from Norfolk, VA to visit July 1st-12th and it was the first time we had seen him since September of last year. It was awesome to him and every time we see him we of course forgot how tall he is. He is like a giant. Katie is tall and he towers over her.

On his last night, we went to a nice dinner to celebrate both Katie and Grant's birthdays since Grant would not be home for his birthday this year.

We all miss Grant a lot, but we are excited because he will now be an a air craft carrier that will soon be stationed in San Diego...just a couple hour plane flight away.

Jackson's 9th Birthday Party

The kids scrambled to get the candy from the pinata

Jackson's friends

Jackson in his cool pinata hat

Jackson taking a swat at the pinata

Today was Jackson's birthday party and these are some of the pictures from the party. We had a good time and it was fun to meet some of Jackson's friends from school and the neighborhood. The pinata was a huge hit. I guess I forgot how much kids like pinatas. I will have to remember that. The cake was as good as I thought it would be. I made a mistake of taking it outside and it started to melt, so I had to rush it inside and put it into the fridge...oops. I guess I learned my cakes are not meant for outside.

Jackson's Birthday Cake

My first frozon buttercream transfer (FBCT). I thought this came out cute. The picture isn't so great, but it looks much better in person. The birthday boy requested chocolate cake with chocolate icing..hehe. I hope he likes it. He just started playing football as shown in the previous post so hence the theme of the cake and I put his jersey number on it too.

Jackson's First Football Game

Today was my little brother Jackson's 9th birthday and his first football game. It was so cute to watch him. I didn't realize what a big deal football is. It was just like going to high school games with the announcer and everything. He looks especially cute in his uniform I think. It will be fun to watch the rest of his games this season.

Visit to Stacy's in Reno

A wild stallion...right off the side of the road!

Stacy's Backyard...look at that view!

The Chollar Mine Tour

Dinner at the Basque Restaurant

City of Stateline right at the Gondola

The Beach at Lake Tahoe

I visited by best friend, Stacy, at her new place in Minden, NV right near Tahoe and Reno. I had such a good time visiting with her. We went up to the beach at lake Tahoe, went to Stateline at the border of Nevada and California and walked the shops and got pedicures, ate a Basque Restaurant and then went to Virginia City, a old mining town that is like you have stepped back in time. I can't wait to visit her again.

Chelsey's Birthday

Today was Chelsey's 24th Birthday. We went to Typhoon for dinner with Val, Lauren and Barb and then had cake at Barb's afterwards. Poor Chelsey was not feeling well. We hope she feels better soon :)

First Soccer Ball Cake

This is my first soccer ball cake and thought it turned out well. It is for Chelsey's 24th Birthday today. I think she will like it. Inside is chocolate fudge cake filled with raspberry italian buttercream and cake is decorated with vanilla italian buttercream. The black icing was a new recipe taken from www.cakecentral.com. and it is called Delicious Dark Black Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Black is a very hard color to make, so I was happy the color came out well and it tasted good too.

I am excited for Jackson's birthday coming up in two weeks...I have a very special cake in store for him.

Barb's Birthday Cake!

It's been a while since I have made a cake and I finally got to make a belated birthday cake for Chris's Mom. I really am pleased with the design and how smooth I was able to get the icing with this one. The cake is a chocolate fudge, filled with raspberry italian meringue buttercream and then the outside is italian meringue buttercream flavored with khalua and creme de cocao liquors. I think it will complement the chocolate perfectly. I think it is funny that my hand writing looks better on cakes then it does on paper..hehe.