Cakes!

For my parents' anniversary, I made them a mini wedding cake. I used real buttercream, and it was so hot that afternoon that it started to melt. If you look closely you can see a rose in the steadily melting swirls. The cake was chocolate, made from a recipe from my GramE. I call it Norwegian Chocolate cake because the recipe calls for strong coffee and sour milk as ingredients. I used vanilla biscotti coffee and it turned out delicious. Paired with that buttercream, this cake was pretty awesome. Except for the melty parts of course.
My friend had a baby girl this month. For her baby shower, I made this fondant teddy bear cake with royal icing drop flowers. Her shower ran late tonight and Cailin was fussy so we had to leave before sampling it. Hope it was yummy!

Our 1st Anniversary

Today is our first wedding anniversary. Last year we tied the knot in front of our friends, family and 8 week old daughter. It was a blurry and rushed day that went too fast. It was the only cold day of the entire summer (good for the gents wearing suits and jackets, not so good for the ladies in sleeveless dresses). I got to wear my beautiful gown for a whole 4 hours because nursing the baby through the satin and sequins was not an option.

It was a wonderful day filled with love, friends, family and grandparents. Our nieces were the only ones in our wedding party and they completely stole the show with their cuteness. We had a BBQ after and everything was super relaxed. Thank you to everyone who made our day happen and for traveling so far to make our day so special!

To celebrate our anniversary we were going to drop Cailin off with my parents and go for dinner and a movie (first time alone by ourselves since she was born and Cailin's first night away from us ever). Ha ha ha. The second we made plans, the sore tummy I'd had for a few days manifested itself into a righteous flu bug. I spent most of our anniversary whining on the couch. So much for date night. Sigh.

Cailin and The Orange

While playing at Nana and Papa's house, Cailin found an orange. A plastic play food orange. The Orange. It fits perfectly in her hand, looks exactly like a real orange and now it never leaves her hand for more than a few minutes at a time.

Cailin takes The Orange to bed with her. It's in her hand when you pick her out of the crib in the morning. It sits on her tray while she eats. It waits with her pajamas while she's in the tub. The Orange accompanies her on treks around the house. She takes it in the car. She takes it to restaurants. The Orange is with us wherever we go.

The first few days it was a funny novelty. Now The Orange is a fixture. We are all constantly saying, "Has she got her Orange?" to each other, making sure it's in her hand or at least nearby. We're not sure how long this will last. We're sure she will drop The Orange for something more exciting when she's bored with it. But until then, we'll indulge her with including The Orange in our plans.

Cailin - An Update

Cailin is almost 14 months old now. Time sure does fly! I can't believe last year at this time we were frantically trying to throw together our wedding (hello procrastination!) and getting to know our 7 week old baby. One year sure makes a huge difference in our lives.

Now Cailin:

- has 5 teeth, two on top, three on bottom (and more on the way)

- is 21lbs and 30" tall

- can pull herself up with ease and cruise along furniture, walls, bathtubs or cabinets

- can now reach the taller drawers and empties them in mere seconds

- climbs up the stairs all by herself

- stands by herself for a few seconds before realizing that she's not touching anything

- says lots of words and talks constantly

- laughs a lot and is very happy most of the time

- loves to eat, and eats a huge variety of food

- sleeps really well

- is extremely attached to her blanket

She is an amazing little person and we're so blessed to have her. Everyday she learns something new and exciting. Watching her grow and learn and become a sweet little person has been an amazing journey for us.

The Raspberry Facial

Cailin has decided that raspberries are about the best thing you could ever eat. She loves them, eats them for snacks and at meal times. This morning I plunked a bunch on her tray and continued to wash dishes. When I looked back at her, she had a big handful of squished up raspberries in her hand. Then she got a huge grin on her face, looked right at me and smeared those raspberries through her hair, all over her face, on the highchair and countertop. Then proceeded to belly laugh about it. Should I point out her light colored clothes? No need? Okay then.When I posted the pic on Facebook, some friends immediately thought she had hurt herself and was bleeding! I was horrified! So, just to recap, that's raspberries all over my kid, not injury!

And Another One! VICTORY!

Cailin got another front top tooth! Wonder why she always waits until we're away from home to pop those ouchy teeth out??

The Memorial at Charlie Lake

The sky was unreal one night with a lightning storm brewing across the lake. I had to get out my camera and take a million pictures of the memorial, the lake and the wet lands beside them. This is my favorite one. It shows the lake, the memorial and the sky (photo is not edited in any way). The memorial is for the American soldiers who lost their lives on the lake while building the Alaska Highway in 1942. The posts around the center have the names of the men who died, 12 in total. It is a beautiful and somber place inside that ring.

The lake is surrounded by wet lands, home to birds, ducks and other critters. Kelli, Grace and I had a great time exploring, watching the ducks eat and playing on the dock.
Grace was scared of the ducks until I showed her that they bob head first in the water to eat and show their little bums in the air. "Look, Grace! Ducky bum!" Then it was hilarious. Potty humor never fails when you're two. I'm such a great Auntie. Sigh.

Kelli's 8th Birthday Party

Way back in May, Kelli asked me to make her birthday cake. She wanted Hello Kitty with a halter top dress, a picnic table and watermelons. Since we were camping, I made everything before hand and decorated her cake on a real picnic table at the campground. After a run-in with the table cloth, a huge gust of wind and some smashed cake followed by bad words and frantic repair work, this is what her cake looked like:
I think it still turned out cute despite its issues. Kelli loved it, so that is all that matters, really. Her birthday party was lovely. After losing her iron will power, she begged to open her presents. I think her favorite present was a tie between a certificate to get a mani/pedi with our cousin Dani and a Webkinz from her sister and brother:

As following tradition, Cailin, Grace and Odin all got little presents as well for Kelli's birthday. It was a really nice party and a good time was had by all. Kelli had a great day too.

After the party, everyone came out to the campground and we played at the playground and had a great time at the campsite. It's hard to believe that summer is winding down!

My Old Stomping Grounds

While we were camping, I mentioned that we were really close to the places I used to work. Ryan wanted to have a look and Cailin needed a nap, so we got in the truck and went for a drive. I was glad to see some things hadn't changed. This piece of equipment was still in the same field it has been in for the last 8 years. It was like seeing an old friend:Besides being very dry, the valley looks the same.
Ryan found some horses and got out to have a chat with them. They seem to like him. They never gave me the time of day!
It was bittersweet to see the first gas plant I ever worked at. It's been sold several times since then of course, but it was still neat to see it again. It's shut down now, and the weeds and trees are reclaiming their property. I haven't seen it in over 4 years.
It was neat to show Ryan where I'm from, where I grew up and where I worked. I plan on showing Cailin all over again when she's older and will remember.

A Camping We Will Go...

We loaded up the holiday trailer today and headed over to B.C. for a week of fun-filled camping. The usually 2hr drive to my brother's place took a whopping 5hrs today with all the pit stops and construction. Plus stopping for a delicious burger at the halfway point. Cailin sure loves hamburgers. The fries were donated to Bailey today though, they apparently weren't to her liking.

Bailey is becoming a terrible traveler in her old age. She needs more pit stops than the baby does. This is strange since Bailey spent every waking minute with me in the work truck not that long ago.