Lindsey & Nick........ and the cake

Lindsey and Nick were married on Saturday. It was a great day minus the 100 degree weather. We were all sticky and sweaty and probably smelly by the end of the day. But we were happy to finally have the day come. We were so happy to see them get married and be a part of their day. Lindsey looked gorgeous, as she always does. Nick was so cute as he couldn't stand still until after they were married. They had a nice cool luncheon at Mimi's Cafe and then we came back to set up for the reception. While I was getting the cake put together I had a nice little group of admires that I had to keep asking to back up so I could get all the way around the cake :)

So here are a few pictures from the day.

I skewered the cake so it wouldn't go anywhere. Ben and Danny thought that was pretty funny and didn't really believe that I'd drive a stake through my own cake that I had worked so hard on.

Alex got a hold of the camera and took a great upside down shot.

Here's another Alex shot - his cousin Brianna.

Here's one of me putting the million or so fondant balls around the layers.

And here is the finished cake.

And here's a view from the top
Here's Lindsey getting a cool rag wipe - down. That dress had to be soooo hot.
Here's what Spencer was doing through most of the reception - this and eating chocolate cake.

And here's Alex trying on his cousins hair decoration. My little flower boy.

Lindsey's having anxiety about cutting into the cake - Nick is ready to do it already.
And here they go!
This is after the cake in your face smashing
The first make up kiss
This one speaks for itself
And finally here are my boys after a very long, hot day. They are READY to go home and get in bed.

Congratulations Lindsey and Nick! We know you were made for each other - you balance each other out and are the cutest stinkin couple we know! Love you!

Spencer's 2

We had Spencer's birthday party last Friday and he was so funny. He gave everyone that walked in a hug (which is a big deal for him because he normally just ignores people most of the time). He pretty much walked by the presents without even noticing them but Alex was way excited to see so many things wrapped. If anyone touched the gifts he would come up and rip it out of your hands and say, "It's Spencer's birthday." and then he would want to play with it. Spencer was all for the food though.

We had a great BBQ and had a great time watching the boys play with Spencer's new toys.

We had a bit of a disaster with the birthday cake.

I'll post pics of the progression of the death of Thomas the Tank. But even that was pretty funny.

It started out ok. I glued the two halves togeghter with frosting. Then I got the whole thing frosted and it started to tilt. Then it just kept going till finally I had to take the bottom half off and just leave the top half on the plate. Spencer got the crushed half but all he wanted was the frosting anyway. Good times.

Ben's first Blog

As this is Ben and Jen's blog, Jen officially decided Ben should do something. As such, Ben is posting his first blog. Today marked the first official "Layton is better than Kaysville in all Ways" demonstration, which in this case was illustrated by Fourth of July festivities.

In addition to a far superior parade, Layton City also put on a great event afterwards. Events included great food, kids activities, a symphony performance and of course the best fireworks display in northern Utah.

Ben had his parents with him who were convinced that Kaysville festivities cannot be beat. Alex and Spencer particularly enjoyed the parade though some parts were quite loud and scary.

Alex once again showed his "Hart" instinct by trying to put the moves on Miss Layton. The parade was a good opportunity to teach the boys about patriotism and they enjoyed the multi-cultural floats that were in the parade. Our local Buddhist Temple did a particularly beautiful float along with a percussion ensemble. After the parade we enjoyed some lunch at the concession stands. A local baptist church does some great southern cooking. The ribs were as good as the ribs that I had at some of the more authentic rib joints in Pittsburgh. Everyone had a lot of fun including mom and dad who seemed rather determined not to enjoy themselves.

What we've been up to

Here are a few pictures showing what we've been doing the last couple of weeks.

Here is Alex with his just sprouted sunflower seed and a shot 2 months later with them growing in the garden.

Here is Alex in the back of a police car in the "cage". And next to the car. The police officer gave him a junior officer badge that he loved to wear and show off.

Here he is driving an ambulance.

Spencer thought he was sneaky by hiding behind the couch and eating a pear he had grabbed off the counter.

Here's some pics of our trip to St. George. Spencer was having a great time pulling his socks off with his teeth.

While we were waiting for Tawny and Felix - Alex decided to bust out his cars and play.

Here's a great shot of the temple. It was a BEAUTIFUL day.

The In-n-Out shake was a little thick.

Here's Alex relaxing while trying to suck the milkshake out.

Here are a few shots from the air show. The Thunderbirds did an awesome show!

And finally here are a couple from the concert during Air Force week. Spencer was enjoying the comforts of crossing his legs.

So that's what we've been up to and we'll have lots more pics coming. Every weekend for the next month we have activities going. Fun fun.

non refundable

So we had a crazy wedding weekend. We drove down to St. George Thursday night for my cousin's wedding on Friday (which was beautiful!) then we drove home Friday afternoon for another cousin's wedding on Saturday (which was also beautiful). Alex has had some seasonal allergy issues. They are not as bad as last year when he broke out into hives but he's been seriously stuffy and has some major itchy eyes. While we were in St. George they got a little better. He could breathe without us hearing every breath. So when we got home on Friday he was having a hard time again. That night when we went to bed he was having a tough time falling asleep but after a long battle he finally gave up but he woke up at 3:37am and just couldn't go back to sleep so he comes in our room to tell us that his nose just isn't working. For some reason that was the funniest thing. Just the way he said it, like he wanted a refund or an exchange on the damaged one. So he thought sleeping in our bed with us would help the problem and he did fall asleep pretty quick but boy can this little kid snore!

Our new additions

I finally wore Ben down and on Saturday we went to the Humane Society and picked out two way cute kittens. These two were curled up sleeping together in the same little basket when we found them and we decided they were the ones for us. We got to hold and play with them for awhile. Alex was excited with the idea of kitties but he didn't want to hold them and Spencer flat out refused to have them anywhere near him. He kept pushing them away and then wanting to be held by mom or dad. It took us the whole day to come up with names but that gave us time to figure out personalities and that helped in the name choosing. The black and white one is Audrey. She likes to cuddle and be held and she purrs the second she sees someone. She comes when she's called and just an all around sweet kitten. The gray and white one is Kate. She loves being chased and hates being caught. She follows Audrey wherever she goes and is a little more shy. Alex loves to watch them play with each other and frequently tells them to be nice when he thinks they are hurting the other one. Spencer still doesn't want anything to do with them but he has enjoyed playing with their toys.

The Pre make sure I can do it cake

So I am doing my sister-in-laws' wedding cake in July and am way excited about it but I needed to know how difficult it was going to be and if at the last minute I might be buying her a cake to make up for the horrible messed up one I did. So I tried a mini version of her cake to see where the pit falls were and to see what was going to take the most time. Her cake is a three tiered fondant covered topsy turvy cake. The one I did was all that but only 2 tiers. It took most of the morning and afternoon but I got it done in one day which really surprised me but she loved it and didn't want to eat it. Here is a picture of it. Let me know what you think.

We miss you already Stephie

Stephanie headed up to Alaska for her first tour with the Air Force on Friday. So on Thursday night we had a Condie free for all. We had a picnic and then the games began.

After a couple games of volleyball (these aren't normal games of volleyball :) most of us were pooped but we stuck it out and played around some more.

Then when Ben and I had to leave to get the kids in bed we had a few candid shots so we can remember Stephie until we see her again.

Bye Bye Stephie. Have fun and be careful!