Emma's Big Day!

Funky Hair!!

My poor girl is sick. :(

Graham crackers!!

Lots of snow!!

Emma loves Scott's huge dog...but when he got too close she was scared.

Ryan don't touch my cake!!

Homemade fondant...kinda tastes good! And believe it or not, less messy than the marshmallow kind we tried before!

Pieces to the bow.

The mess before I cleaned it up!

Playin the piano??

mmmm eggggs...

She adores books. She can now say "book!"

Lacy :)

American Idol! HAHA these pics crack me up.

Soo smoooth...Like a huge cube of butter!

The Cake. :)

Amanda, Matt, and Bannock. :)

Shelly!!

Seahorses Forevva!!

Emma loves Barney!!

Like most of you, my Thanksgiving weekend was crazy busy...and fun!! After Casey got done with classes on Tuesday afternoon, we headed to good ole Moses Lake. Brittany and I decided to put our cake making abilities to the test...and failed miserably. OK, it was our first attempt at EVER using fondant...so don't mock us. However, we ripped off the fondant icing and designs, threw the blasted wad of orange mess into the trash, and vowed to never show it to anyone. HA!! Why fondant? You may ask. Well, we were practicing for Emma's birthday cake. Emma's first birthday is coming up, and we were preparing for her early party. It has always been an endeavor of mine (and I think Brittany is really interested in it, too) to learn how to make beautiful cakes. I watched tutorial after tutorial on cake and fondant design. I had my idea all ready inside my head. I was sure it would be a piece of cake...he he...I mean YouTube made it seem that way...but Casey wasn't so sure! But in my mind this cake had to be PERFECT. Two reasons. 1: It would be Emma's very first birthday cake, and 2: It would be my very first cake!! So this was a pretty big deal to me.I wanted it to look like a present with a large fondant bow and ribbon. My friend, Amber, from Ellensburg, had originally planned on doing Emma's party. (She obviously didn't end up doing it, because we thought it would be easier to do it while we were in Moses for Thanksgiving.) The theme we had thought up was inspired by Emma's Halloween costume...ladybugs! So I thought up a way cute design for this cake, and although it didn't end up looking like what I had in mind, it was still pretty cute. :) I spent a really long time on the actual cake part. I ended up baking 6 cakes, then trimming and layering them until they were the shape and size that I wanted. WHEW! How tedious! AND super messy. When I was okay with it, I froze it so that it would be easier to frost it. (Laura's idea!) The next morning Ryan went in the garage out to the freezer and came back looking like he had done something very wrong...and then confessed that he had forgotten that the cake was there and threw a frozen ham on top of it!! NOOOOO!!!!! I wailed. And then he laughed his silly Marlatt boy laugh...those darn Marlatts. So full of mischief. To my relief, my cake was just fine. But wait,I am actually getting ahead of myself. I forgot to mention that Thursday we went over to Alisha's brother-Scott Waller's house. Scott had made lots of delicious food. He obviously put a TON of work into the dinner, and it was amazing. The next day, Friday, we were busy bees in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving meal #2, and Emma's party. I made my first candied yams...not sure they'd turn out, since I was completely winging it all. But according to Brittany, they were pretty good! And she doesn't even like yams! Haha...they were pretty much candy...not much yam flavor. Just the way everyone likes them, right?? :) I also made 18 deviled eggs...and ruined them with an ocean of salt. So I sent Casey to the store for 18 more to add to the batch, and they turned out pretty good. TONS of eggs!! I made my favorite strawberry jello as well...with sliced strawberries and a little too much whipped cream...but after tasting it I discovered that "too much" whipped cream may not be possible. My parents came and brought my dad's famous award winning pies! :) SOO YUMMY!! Also, we had tons of other delicious foods that everyone made. Well, the cake went from being my first cake, to kind of a family affair! I got lots of help from Casey, Brittany, Lacy, Ryan, and even my dad helped a little. We made some cup cakes too, and my mom helped to decorate those. Despite my panic attack...it all turned out well, and we had a good time. I really appreciate everyone's help!! Emma ate, and thoroughly enjoyed, her own cupcake piled a mile high in red frosting. It was a lot of fun to watch her go at it!! I am now attempting my second cake for Aiden's third birthday coming up. I can't wait!
The boys went outside on Saturday and built a big snowman. Jade helped...it was pretty cool! Brittany and I were the smart ones though...we stayed warm in the house watching Elf! :)
Jerry, Laura, Dee, and Brittany pitched in and gave Emma a new car seat for her birthday! Now my baby is forward facing!! At first she was all about it...just loving it! After a while though...eh, not so much. The moment we hit the freeway, Emma normally sleeps. We've found that if anyone is sitting in the backseat with her, however, she does not drift off quite so easily! It's like knowing that we are there disrupts her or something! So apparently this forward facing business has a similar effect on her. Yeah, she was pretty upset most of the way home!! I hope she gets used to it! I know that I have been loving the ease of taking her in and out of that thing. Hooray for less bending, pulling muscles, and hitting heads!! Haha.
We brought our Christmas tree and decorations home from Moses, and are hoping to get those up soon!! I have been kind of nervous about Emma wrecking my ornaments...I'm kinda a tree Nazi. Haha. But I'm sure it will be OK! It's weird to think that this time last year we were impatiently awaiting the arrival of our little girl. Her first month of life was filled with Christmas music, lights, and snow. This year she will actually be able to play in the snow though!!
Laura was able to reinforce the "Please" rule with Emma while we were down there. She is doing really well with signing please when she wants to be held, get down, or eat something. I like that. :) Thanks, Laura!!
Well the last week was a complete failure for me when it comes to exercising. But I am getting back on the horse, and I am starting the second half of "Insanity" this week!! I've done the first half of it at least 3 times since I've had Emma. By now it isn't too bad...but so far this second part has been kicking my butt!! Now if only I could sacrifice some of the junk I eat...haha. :)
I hope you all had a great holiday, and are looking forward to Christmas!!