34:2012

 

Cake anyone?

We went to my friend Kelsey's 30th birthday party tonight.  I told her that I would bring the cake and since it was a special birthday, I wanted to make a special cake.  My plan was to make a three-layer devil's food cake with chocolate mousse for the filling and a rich chocolate cream frosting.  Alexis helped me make the cake and of course wanted to have lots of tastes:

When I had all of the elements made and started to assemble the layers.  I wish I had had John take a picture of the disaster as it was happening.  Do you remember the birthday cake that he fairies in Sleeping Beauty try to make without magic?  That's exactly what my cake looked like.  The layers were sliding all around and the cake was falling over.  It was hilarious and devastating at the same time.  I somehow got it to stick together.  But, after driving for 45 minutes to the party the cake totally fell apart.  Kelsey wanted to use the cake anyway, so this is what it ended up looking like:

 

So sad:

On the positive side, it did taste amazing.  Probably the best tasting cake I have ever made.  John thinks I should give it another go and make it for Alexis' birthday since she devoured her piece.  We'll see.

Bear Lake

We've been lucky enough to spend the last four days in beautiful Bear Lake:

John's family goes every August and we are so happy that we were able to go this year.  Alexis was so excited, she couldn't wait to feel the water when we arrived:

She spent lots of time at the playground:

And we even got to play a game of miniature golf:

Alexis and I had fun, but I don't know about John.  (I beat him by 23 strokes!)

The highlight of the weekend was renting a boat to go out on the lake.  Alexis was a little nervous at first, but she ended up loving it:

 

Alexis had fun riding the banana with Daddy, but she didn't want to go fast:

John doing tricks:

And she was even brave enough to jump off the boat into the lake:
 

We had such a fun time, we can't wait to go next year!

New friends

This is Alexis' "new friend" Abby:

 

Alexis is really into introducing people lately.  She has even introduced John to her swim teacher by saying "this is my friend Daddy."  It is so funny.  Abby goes everywhere with Alexis lately.  And she gets her diaper changed a lot.  Alexis loves to change her diaper and insists on using real wipes to do it.

Abby has been going everywhere with Alexis.

32:2012

 

This dress belonged to John's sister Briony.  How special that Alexis gets to wear it now.

More hiking today

 

31:2012

 

Our Week in Review . . .

Alexis and I made homemade popsicles (plain greek yogurt mixed with honey).  She was so excited to have one after her swimming lessons.

 

We took Alexis to see Ice Age 4 in the theater.  It was a disappointment.  But, Alexis had fun which was the most important thing.  She loves movie theater popcorn, just like her Mommy and Nana.

(Don't worry, she didn't eat this whole tub by herself.)

The Osborn family was in Utah visiting and we were so happy that they thought to contact us while they were in town.  We knew the Osborns when they lived in Townsville, but they are currently calling Nairobi, Kenya home.  Allanah was a beehive in the Townsville branch while I was the Young Womens' president, and now she is going to be a freshman at BYU!  Boy, that made me feel old.  And she will be living in Chipman Hall, the same dorm that I lived in during my first year at the Y.  How fun.  We are excited to be able to see more of Allanah once school gets started.

(From L to R: (back row) Claudia, Allanah, Ingrid, John, (middle row) Tamara, Alexis, Crystal (front) Phoebe.  David was there too, but he was taking the picture.) 

Pioneer Day

Today we celebrated Pioneer Day (celebrating the arrival of the Mormon Pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847) by attending the "Days of '47" Parade in downtown Salt Lake City.  This was Alexis' first parade and she absolutely loved it.  She was cheering, clapping and dancing the whole two hours.  She had a front row seat with her cousins:

 

 

Be prepared for picture overload . . .

The parade had all of the essentials.  Marching bands:

Pioneers:

Fun floats:

Law enforcement:

Horses:

Princesses:

College rivalry (BYU vs. Utah):

And my favorite, a float and dancers celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Polynesian Cultural Center:

 

Family fishing

After our Sunday afternoon naps yesterday, we drove up to the cabin to spend the night. Alexis and John enjoyed the cooler temperatures outside while I made dinner:

We spent the next morning fishing up at Solitude Resort.  They have a small pond right off of the stream that they stock with trout.  There was a big sign on the trail that said the fishing was only for kids 12 and under.  Good thing John had Alexis with him. =)

 It is such a picturesque spot.

Alexis ended up catching four Brook Trout.  She always wanted to hold them before releasing them back in the water.

John requested a close-up of the fish, of course:

It was a fun overnight trip.

30:2012

 

Creative Coloring

 

29:2012

 

My Little Mermaid

My sister Kelsey flew back with us from California and while she was in town, she took some awesome action shots of Alexis in the pool.

Jumping off the diving board:

Sliding in like a snake:

Jumping in from the side:

Kelsey also got some great pictures of Alexis being her normal goofy self.

 

 

California Girls

Alexis and I just spent the most wonderful week in California.  We were so fortunate to be able to visit some family and dear friends.  The first half of our trip was spent in Palo Alto and San Francisco.  My sister Kelsey picked us up at the airport and then we headed to Palo Alto to meet up with her husband Brad, and my sister Christina for dinner.  Alexis had fun running down the sidewalks with Kelsey on our way to dinner.  It felt good to stretch our legs after our flight.

While in Palo Alto, we stayed with my friend Shersti and her family.  Shersti and her husband Jared have four adorable kids and another one on the way.  Alexis and Annie are nine months apart and had so much fun playing together.  Here they are at the park:

One of Alexis' new found loves is jumping on the big trampoline.  At first she was scared and only wanted to jump by herself, but after a few goes, she was jumping like a pro and loved playing with the big kids.

(From L to R: Brooke, Zachary, Jacob, Alexis & Annie)

One of our days was spent in downtown San Francisco with Kelsey, Brad and Christina.  We lucked out with great weather.  It was mostly sunny, and just a big windy.  Alexis was such a good girl and even took an hour and a half nap in her stroller (a nap in her stroller is a very rare thing)!

We first headed down to the waterfront to walk around.  We had an absolutely delicious lunch of clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin.  And of course, we got some yummy desserts at Ghiradelli Square.

One of the highlights for Alexis was the carousel.

 

We also stopped by Golden Gate Park to let Alexis run around after her nap.

 

 

 

The second half of our trip was spent in Fresno with my dear friend Tiffany and her family.  Tiff had just had her third baby and first daughter on my birthday!  Alexis had so much fun playing with Avi and Jai, but especially loved holding baby Zaidee.

While we were there it was 110 degrees!  So both days we were in Fresno were pretty much spent playing inside in the air conditioning, or at the splash park.  We ended up going to all three splash parks in the Fresno area, two in just one day.  It was that hot!

 

 

 

It was such a fun week.  I feel so grateful that Alexis and I were able to make this trip.  On our last day, Alexis kept telling me that she wanted to stay and play with her new friends, and that she didn't want to go home.  But I think she changed her tune once she saw her Daddy:

I love that you can see in this picture how hard she is squeezing John.  The only thing that would have made this trip better was if John could have come.  Oh well, hopefully next time.