A fourth birthday cake with pink, purple and red flowers

My daughter never forgot her dream for a fancy pink and purple cake, an idea that started while helping and watching me make a four layer Halloween cake for a service auction. So, despite the fact that we had just moved to our first-ever house and were getting ready to travel across the U.S. to visit family, I made her a three-layer cake with buttercream frosting and pink, purple and red roses on top.

Jackie chose colors of the cake's flowers. Ask Jackie her favorite color and she'll tell you, "pink, purple, red" and then she'll probably go on to add whatever other color comes to her mind. But, it always starts with pink, purple and red. Once some adult asked her the favorite color question and received a very long response, leading me to ask Jackie: "Are all the colors your favorite?." "No, not black," she said. So, there are limits. While I didn't put in as much time as I had into the service cake, she seemed excited, and enjoyed sharing it with some friends from Ann Arbor and new families we've met at our new home.

Happy birthday, Grandpa Steve!

Today, April Fools Day, is my dad's birthday. He's endured years of unflavored jello, beautifully wrapped empty boxes and frosted sponge cakes (made with real sponges). But, this year we decided to do something nice.

This last week, Jackie and I went to work to make him a birthday card. We sent it Thursday and amazingly we learned today that it arrived 27 hours away in Utah on Saturday. Since we didn't think it would arrive, we posted the electronic version, Dad. We love you and Jackie had a ton of fun coloring, drawing, painting, gluing and putting stickers on for this card. I put together the materials and came up with the ideas. It's our attempt to do better at honoring birthdays, which in the past have been lucky to merit even a simple phone call. I modified the song Twinkle, Twinkle because it's become Jackie's signature piece of late. She's been known to start singing and going on and on and on. Here's our new version:

Twinkle, twinkle little star

how I wonder what you are.

Up above my Grandpa Steve so high,

like a beacon in the sky.

Twinkle, twinkle little star

how I wish I could travel far

to see my Grandpa Steve today 

and wish him a Happy Birthday!

Relief Society birthday

Last weekend, my church celebrated the 170th birthday of the Relief Society, our women's organization. This year we decided to have a traditional birthday party, but with a Mexican twist. We ate tacos and strawberry cake, broke a pinata full of candy and played some fun games.

Something to celebrate: our six-month birthday tradition

Sometimes it's fun to do something totally frivolous, like celebrate a six-month birthday. My mother started the tradition, something that I never thought twice about until my mother-in-law got a kick out of this picture in my wedding video:

The six-month birthday cake my mother made me