Cakes: April to Sept

And so back to the cake journey we go (Jen, only for you would I give up going to bed...because I know if I don't finish now it might be another year. :) Kyle chose Pooh Bear:
And James chose a fire engine: (this is where I used the red spray dye...works great to get the fire-engine red color.)

Fourth of July...still plenty of love to go around.

I love this picture! Do you think someone might try to steal all the attention???!!!


Okay, back to cakes.... Joe didn't request a cake, but I couldn't resist making one extra special for his 40th Bday!!



And now we have come full circle finishing in September of 2010. Breana is now 9. This cake was my first attempt at fondant. I must say it takes A LOT longer, but it was fun to try something new. I will probably do it again, but just not with so many different colors...it took forever to mix them all. If Carolyn hadn't been here, I never would have finished.




and, yes, even that bow was made out of fondant...miraculously, it never fell off the cake.

Well, there is one more, but it is still in my camera, downstairs, and it is 1am....so Jen, you will have to wait to see picture of the dinosaur cake. Perhaps I will do it tomorrow, perhaps I will do it in a year. :) Good night!

Baby Emily's Beginnings

I guess I should interrupt our cake journey and recap our new addition to our family. Emily Naomi was born on December 17th. There was definitely plenty of love to go around!
Christmas was so much fun with our family of seven! It was a wonderful time of year to have a baby.
When Emily was 2 weeks old she was not doing well with gaining the weight she should because she was not eating properly. The picture above shows it well, but at the time we were oblivious to the danger she was in. The next 2 months were a lot of work, but she quickly regained her strength and weight and learned how to nurse sufficiently. In the meantime, though, everyone was anxious to help:
Emily in her blessing gown, February 7, 2010, as precious as can be:


And oh how quickly she has grown! March:


In April we visited Great-grandma Yukish. All the kids posed with their blankets that grandma quilted for each of them when they were born.


I think I will end this post...because it sure isn't fun dragging each picture down to the bottom each time. ....And since we have ended in April, it is fitting that we go back to our journey of cakes.....

September 2009

Hard to believe it has been over a year since I last posted! Where does all the time go? Per Jen's request I thought I would recap the year with cakes.
So we begin with September of 2009, Breana and Andrew each had a birthday:
We went all out in creating a flower-themed party for Breana....flower cake, flower fruit vase, flower-shaped sandwiches, flower balloons, pin the circle on the flower, flower sugar cookies on a stick (which each girl got to decorate) and placed in a terra-cotta pot which each also decorated with stones and gems. Totally worth it for 8 year old girls..they oohed and ahhed over everything and had a ball!

Andrew chose a Harry Potter theme for his 6th party. Snitch hunt and a slime-making potions class were some of the highlights.

Family Memories in July

The exciting event of our summer has been welcoming my sister, Carolyn, home from her 18 month mission in the Dominican Republic. Her return prompted the perfect timing for a Kay Family Gathering where nearly all of my siblings and their children were able to attend. With 18 adults and 20 children (9 and under) together for a week, everyone got along remarkably well and we had a great time. I was not very good taking pictures except for Saturday, July 25th...so here are a few from that day.
It was a treat for us all to be together for my nephew's baptism.

Before our reunion, my dad thought it would be fun to get all the grandkids T-shirts. The number on each child's shirt coincides with their birth order....from 1 to 23. Thanks to Amye's quick ordering, the shirts were a huge success. This is our attempt to get pictures of all 20 that were there.

Getting them to stay in order was no easy feat!!

There is no doubt that these kids are all loved by their Grandparents!! Thanks for the fabulous week!!! It will be a forever memory for all of us! I am so thankful for my amazing family.

Summer Adventures

This summer, for a weekly Park Group that I organize, we decided to go on a hiking adventure every other week. The turn out wasn't that great, but we discovered some fun places to see in the area. This one is Lucia & Moulton Falls in Yacolt. The scenery was beautiful and it was a nice level trail suitable for a stroller.


I was so greatful that my sister, Shari, was with us. After the 2.5 mile walk in ONE direction, the kids were done after 1 mile with complaints of being tired and feet hurting and I must admit I was dreading the walk back to the car as well. Shari volunteered to run/walk the 2.5 miles back to the car and drive it to the end of the trail. What a life saver!!!

The kids were able to enjoy the water a little while we waited for Shari to arrive. The water was so clear. They had fun trying to catch the little fish swimming around.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without a little drama. :O) It was a nice day...and the kids took a nice nap that day!