Happy Birthday Andrew



































It has been a wonderful day... Andrew turned fourteen today. The last fourteen years really have flown by. Chris and I both vividly remember the day you came into this world and changed our lives forever. We sure love you and are so blessed to learn from you everyday.

We decided to make today a day all about Andrew. As you get older your birthday changes... It's less about friend parties and more about family. Today we honored Andrew with many of his favorite things and show him how much he means to us.

We started today with breakfast out (his choice, IHOP). He spent a good chunk of the day enjoying a Psych marathon (his fav show). And, this afternoon we enjoyed a family party including many of his favorite things... Panda Express-orange chicken, Legos, Texas sheet cake & bundt cake, cookie dough ice cream and Mountain Dew. This kid was spoiled but we were happy to spoil.

Thank you to family who traveled, gave wonderful gifts, and spent the afternoon celebrating with us. We love you.

Happy birthday Andrew!!! Your first 14 years have been awesome and each year just gets better and better. 

Side note: fortune cookies are pretty accurate...

Sensational at 60! Happy Birthday Mom

It seems we have many 60th birthdays this year.  All of our parents are entering another decade.  So exciting. My mother turned 60 today!  I'm sure she loves me hyping up her big day but I think it's a huge and amazing milestone and I want it documented.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! WE LOVE YOU.

Sunday we had a small family party with the kids and grandkids that live locally.  Everyone was happy to celebrate and throw a party. Like a dummy I only got a few photos at the actual party... One of the grandkids - what a bunch of boys!
Nicholas helped me bake the cake and assemble some of the party decorations & packaging. Here is the card I made for her and some of the other trimmings.  I took some pictures of the decor at home before the party.









I searched our blog to see if I had documented the bundt cake I made for Nicholas' birthday party - it was amazing. Turns out I did not... so here is the link where I originally discovered this bundt cake recipe and my altered recipe for it below. YUM!  I did change it a bit and used homemade jam instead of pie filling and halved the frosting.


Ingredients
  • 1 pkg. white cake mix
  • 1 (5 oz-ish) pkg. instant white chocolate pudding (or vanilla pudding if you can't find white chocolate)
  • 1 c. sour cream
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 c. water
  • 1/2 c. oil
  • 1 1/2 c. white chocolate chips, chopped into smaller pieces
  • 1 c. strawberry jam
  • 1 (8 ounce) pkg cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 c. butter, softened
  • 3-4 c. powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
Instructions
  • Grease and flour a bundt pan and preheat your oven to 350-degrees. Mix first six ingredients together with a beater. Fold in white chocolate chips.
  • Fill prepared bundt pan with half of the batter. Spoon half of the raspberry filling in separated spoonfuls over the batter (so it looks like separate clumps of filling over the top). Using a knife swirl the filling through the cake. Do not overdo it! Only swirl around 2-3 times.
  • Pour remaining batter in evenly and spoon in remaining pie filling, repeating the "swirling" process above.
  • Cook in oven at 350 degrees for 45-50 mins. (do the "knife test" to determine doneness). If the knife does not come out clean, keep placing back in the oven for 3-5 min at a time until it does.
  • Remove from oven. Let cool for 20 mins. Remove from pan. (I think it tastes best if you put it on a serving plate, wrap it well in Saran Wrap, and let it sit overnight in the fridge before frosting and serving..)
  • In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar (start with 2 cups then keep adding more until it is nice and thick).
  • Note: To get the frosting like in the picture. Fill a Ziplog bag with the frosting and cut off the bottom corner depending on how big you want the "frosting strips". Frost cake by squeezing out the frosting from the outside of the cake toward the middle.

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Wishing Grammy Mallett the happiest of birthdays. Leslie (Chris' mom) turned 60 yesterday.  It is a big one that she would rather not recognize, however 60 is now the new 40.  Read it on the internet.  Leslie - look forward to that mid-life crisis and enjoy this great new year.  Go buy a fancy red car, or something! This picture is of Leslie and the boys last summer in St. George.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!