Family Time.

This weekend my cousin, her 2 children, and my aunt came into town and stayed a couple of days at my mom's house. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with them since we aren't able to often. On Saturday, we made a nice dinner, some sweets, and then afterwards my sister in law Chrissy gave us all Mary Kay Makeovers. It was a lot of fun. 

I let the kids help me decorate the carrot cake cupcakes that we made. They loved doing that and did a great job. We tried to put some carrots on the top...but the cream cheese icing is not the best for decorating so they looked a bit off. 

(I left my camera at home, and had to take these with my cell phone)

Lilly 

My cousin Amy and Gracie

The finished product! :)

The next day I had to make even MORE cupcakes for the temple. I am possibly doing a wedding in June, so I am trying to get as much practice as I can. Sooooo, if you need cupcakes for anything, let me know! :)

All the girls doing their makeup...

My brother joined us...and was quite amused at the process. haha! 

I wish we would have thought to take some better pictures. Hopefully we will do it again soon and get some then! :)

Mom's Birthday!

So, I've been a little slack on the blog lately. Everything has slowed down quite a bit since the Holidays. I guess we've just been trying to recuperate. Hopefully we will be doing some more exciting things in the near future that I will be able to share and keep you entertained. 

January 23rd was my mom's birthday. I'm sure I am not allowed to say which one she celebrated! I made her carrot cake cupcakes with a cream cheese icing. She actually found the recipe for this about 6 months or so ago while looking for vegan cakes. Ever since she made it the first time, my whole family has fallen in love. It seems like we always make it for celebrations because it is soooooo yummy! So, here they are. 

My mom loves having her picture taken...can you tell?

My brother Bryan and his family gave her some beautiful flowers. 

The kiddos blowing out the candles. 

 Jody and Jai loooooved the cupcakes! :)

...and MC! All of the kiddos did except Liam. He didn't even touch his. Is it normal for a kid to not like sweets?! 

Here are some cupcakes that I made tonight...due to a sweet craving. I did well though and only gave in to 1/2 of one. :)

My niece Mary Catherine turned 7 on Jan. 5th! We had her birthday party yesterday (9th)...and I was asked to make her birthday cake. I was so honored! She loves Hello Kitty. I think this is her 2nd Hello Kitty Party, right CC? Anyways, I was nervous because the last cake that I made (for my decorating class) was very dry and the icing was not very good, etc. But I was excited because I haven't made a cake or cupcakes in a month or so, and I love baking them, decorating and all that jazz. I found 2 great vegan recipes, and went to it. They were awesome! I did a carob (chocolate flavored) cake, and a Chai Tea carob cupcake topped with strawberries. I couldn't have been happier with the way they turned out, and everyone seemed to love them which made me a happy girl! 

The kids had a great time! David led them in games of Bingo which was a lot of fun! :)

The birthday girl! :)

Happy Birthday MC! 

Big Brother Liam! I loved that hair-do Liam! :)

Onto the fun part...presents! She got a lot of awesome things, including a lot of $$$ for clothes shopping. ...just what a girl loves! 

Jai is not comfortable with babies at this time in his life. He was concerned because her hands were wet (slobbery)...and he did not like it. He also said she was trying to get his sucker. Haha. 

She was such a well behaved girl and so quiet...except for when she was enjoying her cake and screaming for more. Ha! 

Cute little shirt that Uncle Bryan and Auntie Angela bought her. They couldn't be there because they were out of town...but we missed them! 

She is so adorable! 

It was a great party, and we were happy to be there...and thanks CC for asking me to make her cake! I hope you liked it! :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

We had plans to go and spend the new year celebration with some family...but that turned into more of a social event instead so we opted to stay home. :(

We had a great time together though. Paul had to go to work, so we baked some sweets for his party at work. I made some carob cupcakes and Paul made some cookies. 

 

Jai had skipped his nap for the day...so he ended up crashing around 10:30 or so. Gracie and I stayed up until midnight! 

Happy New Year! Yay! She made it to midnight! We had some bubbly (sparkling white grape juice)...and since Gracie has never had any soda before...she was a little "wierded out" from the carbonation. She laid down about 5 min. after she drank it, then started complaining that she didn't feel good, and she said she her throat was feeling really bad and that she might be sick. We took proper precautions and headed to the bathroom just in case. She was shaky, and very upset because she didn't want to be sick. (trust me, this story is going somewhere). I pulled her hair back, and she kept asking if that carbonation would make her sick, etc. I told her no...but assured her that she wouldn't ever have to drink it again, and that we would do plain juice next year. More complaints about her throat feeling really wierd, and hurting...then lots more shaking, etc. Then it came...she BURPED! Whew! What a relief!!! Hahahahah! Wow!

We actually laughed for quite a while after that. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful 2011. I have a feeling it's going to be a good one! :)