Kate is showing some symptoms of a Washingtonian. - we think she may be a Vampire... So here is the checklist:
You were born in Washington- Check
You are active in the middle of the night- Check
You growl at your enemies- Check
Your mother owns the Twilight Series-
Can you guess what this post is about?! That's right, my first wedding cake is DONE!!!! It wasn't without its bumps along the way, but overall a HUGE success. Levi's sister was the bride, she wanted something unique, and chocolate and her colors were hot pink and turquoise. the florist didn't do the flower topper she promised so me and my WONDERFUL sous chef improvised.
Without further ado
So lately Emma has become OBSESSED with dressing herself. I knew it was going to happen sometime. She has actually gotten really good very quickly. She makes sure that the jeans button is in front and she has even figured out how to get the tag in the back of her shirt. I must say we're pretty proud of her. And since we hardly go anywhere because of the weather I really don't mind spending my day watching outfit after outfit being tried on ( I hope trying clothes on is always this easy for my girls) The only rule we have is that she has to wear a shirt not just a white onesie. (We're working on the whole putting clothes away that have met the floor.) However, she will come up with any excuse to be just in her white onesie. Its freezing outside and I would like to NOT pay more than an ARM and a LEG for our heat (stupid drafty windows!) so we try and dress warm and wear slippers. So needless to say it makes me a little nuts when I find her lagging in between wardrobe changes. She'll make up any excuse, if I'm changing Charlotte and she happens to be in a onesie on the changing table, off comes Emma's shirt so she can "be like Charlotte.." Or if I'm feeding Charlotte and she knows I can't force a shirt over her head she'll take her precious time then too. Usually it only takes an "Emma, get your shirt back on please.." to speed up the process. Yesterday was a different story...
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So I know I was supposed to post pictures of my Valentine's Day cake, sorry I forgot to get any. My last few decorating endeavors have been a little disappointing. I got butter Crisco in hopes of make my butter cream icing taste better, totally forgetting that it was YELLOW! I don't know how I forgot that, guess I hadn't used it enough. Anywho, so the Happy V-day cake was yellow (the inside was a red velvet cake with blackberry filling, Yummy!) instead of white with pink heart outlines, not the cute puffy hearts I was trying to master, sad:( But at least its moist and tastes good. Luckily my errors are appreciated. Here is my clean up crew, a little "drunk" with sugar. 
In course 2 I haven't had to make a cake every week, since we're practising different tips with different icing and not just trying to master the basics. However, the Demand for a weekly cake is still there, so I've tried to be accommodating, but my timing is goofed up. Last night I attempted to make another cake. I started way too late and finally got to bed around midnight. I had frosted it with a gorgeous blue color and planned on adding a few cute brown polka dots on it in the morning, since it was still setting up. My cute Charlotte has impeccable timing, and I spent my precious frosting time feeding her while Levi was getting ready. I thought that if I added enough brown to the blue I could make it a dark brown. I obviously wasn't paying attention in grade school! It turned out a little different. What would you call this color?
I call it "BABY POOP GREEN!" And there was no way that was touching my masterpiece! I ran out of time to fix it and had to send Levi with the plain blue cake, maybe they'll think I'm on a Smurf kick... I'm sure Levi thought I was the frosting Nazi, especially since I intentionally ruined some of the flowers from the last class that I had been practising. He went to put them on the cake and I broke them in his hands. Maybe my artistic flair has driven me insane? I was so upset with myself, for not taking the time. And I have a huge cake with lots of flowers to put together for the class next week. I will definitely be posting pictures, because its going to take me all weekend to put together. Now I know why you can charge crazy amounts for wedding cakes, I'm not even doing a cake close to that caliber and yet they are sooooo time consuming! Until next Wednesday!
Well I had good intentions.... .I actually baked the cake and got the crumb layer on, on Sunday evening. This was quite a feat considering our Sunday... but that's another story! Back to the cake, this time I was daring and did a chocolate cake. Dark cakes likes chocolate as you can imagine are harder to frost because you can see the crumbs so much easier. However the class has been helpful and my crumb layer was pretty impressive. I have been receiving requests from Levi and his coworkers and I gave in and added banana pudding ( yucky:}) I don't like it but I don't need to eat it, so those were the flavors. I even got the decorating frosting ready on Tuesday afternoon, I was proud of myself I was actually prepared well before class time.
And then.....
I was concerned that it was pink eye developing and so I called and talked with a nurse. I explained and she wanted to see her since it was her eyes, of course I didn't have a car and had to wait until Levi got home at 4:40. The walk-in clinic at our pediatrician's office is open from 5:30-7 pm and my class starts at 6:30 in the other direction. So we were tight on time. Levi ended up taking Emma early in hopes of being there right when the clinic hours changed and I stayed to prep for my class and make dinner. They were the first to be seen however it all just takes time. They left the office at 6:00 and took them 15 minutes to get home, I was trying to be all ready to walk out the door but Charlotte had other plans. Okay sorry that was the scenic route, long story short I was late for class and was very rushed. I had also washed all my tips and spatulas and conveniently left both spatulas at home. That was a problem, I am an artist and I need my tools :) I was late and a little frantic and didn't have everything I needed so this class was a little bit of a disappointment. 
My cake wasn't as nice, the teacher tried to help me finish and she didn't realize the one of the frosting bags had a hole, and so tiny squirts of green frosting ended up all over the cake. I was a little discombobulated and at one point one of my classmates' daughter told me that I had frosting all over my arm! Sorry no pictures of that, I forgot. But it was a fun class and despite this last cake I satisfactorily completed the course! I have quite a bit to practice but I am excited to learn lots more. 
You've been good sports I know that this has been a long ol' post but here are a few funny pictures for you! They really do adore each other, Emma now reads and cuddles with Charlotte. And Charlotte just watches Emma the whole day long, I'm sure just counting down the days, as I am, til she can crawl and then run to follow her. This last picture I don't know what happened but it was too funny not to post !
So its Tuesday night and the time has come again for me to head down to my cake decorating class. This night we had to bring the standard filled and butter cream frosted cake. I have yet to bring a chocolate butter cream cake, its a little more difficult to frost, despite the requests Levi's receiving from his co-workers. My cakes hold some power, it even got him a "free" lunch this past, hey, its my cake... where's my free lunch?!? Once I'm at my class I'm having fun, learning more borders and different flowers.... yada, yada, yada, really its fun, getting there is another story..... but before we go there, here's some of my handiwork. This is a butter recipe yellow cake (my fave) filled with chocolate "cup" pudding. Yeah, that's right as in the pudding you got in your lunch in elementary school. If you use cooked pudding you have to refrigerate it and you can't leave it out to work on it. Hence the cup pudding that doesn't need the fridge. Then of course I was practising flowers and just had to use purple (Emma's fave color), since she's pretty supportive of my new hobby. At least in theory.... today was one of those days where I wasn't very grateful for the independence she is striving for....
and had to do everything herself, I wasn't even allowed to touch her hair. This is the reason she looks like a ragamuffin and like she's spent a week with her uncles. Yeah that's right I am blaming this look on those who got her the boy shirt :) I didn't have the energy, Charlotte is still teething and I had a cake to perfect.... This is what it looks like to let a 2 year old ( closer to 3) fend for herself. 
I was just glad to be sane at the end of the day. And my girls are happy here's photo proof. and yes Charlotte is learning to roll and be on her tummy, hence the "goofy- hair" phase, her cute face, chapped chin and all make up for it.
My sweet hubby has been a little concerned about me having cabin fever between the frigid New York weather and have two little girls. So for Christmas he enrolled me in a Wilton Cake Decorating Class. It started on January 6th and is every Tuesday night for about two hours. The first class was a lot of note taking and getting familiar with all the tools. at the end of that class our instructor told us that we would have to bring a two layer filled cake that was iced with a butter cream "crumb layer", plus extra frosting in three consistencies for our next class to decorate in class. My first thought was, " Okay I just watched her cut her cake in layers and fill it and frost it, however I have never done that! what have I gotten my self into...?!?" I had a week to get over my phobia. I tried to prep the cake on Sunday when I had Levi home to distract the girls however it didn't work since Charlotte has started teething and is a LITTLE NEEDY. I was running out of time. Monday was spent trying to help Charlotte and by the time we got her into bed at 8:30 I realized I still had a cake to prep and only one shot where I would have Levi's help left. So I spent late Monday night prepping my cake finally putting it in the fridge at about 12:30 am. I was so grateful though because Tuesday was no different. The time for my class came all too soon. However I was able to get my cake ans supplies there in one piece. I am no Martha Stewart but I am enjoying my class. We learned about different borders, how to transfer a picture onto the cake, as well as filling in a shape. It was a lot of fun and I hope that with each week I get better and better. Here are some pictures. 
Our birthdays this year have taken on a new flavor. Even though we went all out and Torrie got the car of her dreams (at least her recent dreams) it has been a quiet birthday. Torrie spent the day hanging out with her two best friends. The three girls went to a ward play group and took afternoon naps. Once I got home we gave Torrie some birthday cards and presents, and as Emma would say ate "deyisous" burritos. 
Torrie then put the finishing touches on some homemade frosting for her cake and we celebrated. To try and feel a little more cool and connected to our families we invited Kevin and Tammy in on the affair via skype. Since it is the age of technology they were able to sing "Happy Birthday" with us. I attempted to be sneeky and bought some "trick" candles, but Torrie realized what they were and blew them out on the first try. It has been a great day to slow down and enjoy the "beauty all around when there's love at home".
Happy Birthday Torrie, you are the central piece to this amazing family. We love the special attention and care you give all of us. There have been many special moments shared under many circumstance and locations, each one as precious as the others. We wish you a happy birthday and look forward to many more.And I am no longer cool, when did that happen? Maybe I was never cool, nobody answer that...I dunno, it just doesn't seem to be cool to be excited about my birthday present.... we got a new car! okay that part is very cool, I guess I never imagined myself being excited about a minivan.
but that's not the best part... not only is she one of the best minivans made, she is super clean and has extremely low miles. Its like I got a new car without taking the depreciation hit. my pickiness definitely paid off. I attribute my picky nature to my mom, she pulled the "you're carrying precious cargo..." card. So I didn't want a problem car. I had to wait a while but she's more than worth the wait. I don't know how I found her but we were meant to be. She's a beaut, a requirement for all who join our family. To showcase her beauty here are some more pictures. Mom, these are for you...
What a fun dash.... check out all the cool new buttons that I get to play with.... I feel a little like Mike from Monsters Inc. in the Pixar short "Mike's new car", (intrigued you haven't I, now you have to go watch the extras on the DVD....) 
So I thought that I was done with ghoulish posts with the passing of October... However I woke up this morning and my backyard looked eerily like something out of M. Night Shyamalan's " The Village." the fog was so thick I couldn't see the building next door. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the trees up here in New York, they make for the perfect autumn, and its SO green in summer, and I am sure spring is spectacular ....
But when the leaves fall and the trees look like skeletal hands and its so dense you know a person could easily get lost, its a little creepy! 
Now I know that I have an OVER-ACTIVE imagination, to say the least, I do try to control it. It doesn't help matters that my usually supportive husband has been trying to get me to watch, "The Village" for the past month and that he also delights in the history channel show, "Monster Quest", where we learned that we are on the edge of the national parks where Bigfoot has been sighted...and that I can't even cuddle with him for comfort because the moment the man falls asleep he twitches so much I might as well be a Bond martini, very very shaken. 
The worst part is that it is so unnaturally quite in our complex that the forest comes alive at night. There is a race track behind the complex and it took a couple of nights of listening to this whooping sound to figure out it was the cars on the track and not Bigfoot and his friends. Plus the dense trees everywhere make it so pitch black on the roads I pray extra hard every time I go out on my own that our car will work so I won't be stranded somewhere. I think my imagination would get the best of me before anything could come and get me. I know you all think I am nuts that's probably true, oh well its what I have to work with. Does anyone know if there have been cases reported of people "keeling over" from overactive imagination, besides Anne Shirley, if not I just might be the first case....
While in NY we took a brief respite from the grueling house-hunting trip to have some fun in NYC. Levi had an ASME convention, where he presented a paper on his thesis to a supposed international assembly of mechanical engineers, what a geek fest! The funniest thing was that very few of the engineers actually stayed at the convention past their own papers, I guess in a fun city like NYC with so much to do, even geeks have their limits J This attitude played right into our plans. The first night we were in the big city we met up with our good friend from BYU Hawaii, Xie (Donald) Dong. Since Donald has lived in the city for a year now, we showed us around. It was great to be shown Times Square from a “local”.
Once Levi was done with his own presentation it was not hard to convince him to hit the city again. But since we didn’t have a guide, we ended up walking 15 blocks around Time Square, Rockefeller Center, and 5th Avenue in order to find the Walt Disney Store. It was fun to see, and little cheaper since Emma was in Colorado and not asking for every princess item in the store.
The highlight of the trip to the city came our last night there. Since it’s our anniversary at the end of the month and I was patient during the convention, Levi treated me to…… drum roll please…… The Phatom of the Opera, at the Majestic theatre, on Broadway!
A little background, my parents saw Phantom years ago in LA and ever since then my sisters and I have been hooked. We’ve played the tapes of the music they bought so much I would be surprised if they still worked. I have also read the book, and at one point had the entire script printed off and in a three-ring binder, I guess I’m a geek in my own right….
Back to Phantom, the walk in my three-inch heels from the subway to the theater, and the subsequent pain was well worth it.
Even the almost labor-inducing hike to my PERFECT seat (on the front row of the mezzanine) was worth this theatrical spectacular. I now understand why it’s the longest running show in Broadway history. It’s a magical atmosphere, the set was incredible, and the cast was superb. We still haven’t decided who our favorite character is. The casting was perfect and it’s always fun to see a cast who are comfortable with each other and can play off one another. A common occurrence in our house is when I watch movies or T.V. shows with Levi he is quick to point out what can’t be possible from an engineering perspective, to which my response is always, “Don’t ruin it, and if you want to be an engineer go back to your office!” At intermission I recognized the engineering face and braced for impact, ready to defend my favorite musical. I was actually surprised; he was very impressed by the set and actually seemed to be enjoying himself. It was an incredible night, and to any of you who wish to see anything on Broadway, Phantom makes my list. Although Levi has promised me that this is just the first in my upcoming collection of Playbills. Although I am no real critic I will certainly give my honest opinion to anyone who cares. I hope that if anything this will inspire our friends and family to visit and see if I’m correct in my assessment. Until the next “Victoria Review” Broadway bids you all farewell!
Over the last few weeks as my feet have disappeared from view, and as I've seen friends that I've now known for 8 years.... I have been wondering, " When did I become old enough to be married, have a two year old and pregnant with my second child?!" I have come to the conclusion that even though I am now a twenty-something and no longer a seventeen year-old freshman there is good news, I may be chronologically old enough but that still doesn't mean I have to nor do I act mature enough. Here is photographic proof.
For those of you who are my age or older you may remember the doll, "my buddy" and his female equivalent, " kid sister." That's how I feel now as Emma gets older, and I can understand her more and she's so much more interactive, like I'm playing house with my Kid Sister. She's getting easier to cart around, (despite the running around the car bit we play before we leave the apartment, I'm not perfect, its a work in progress) Not that its a bad thing but there are days when it seems like a babysitting job and the real parents will be home to relieve me.
However there are other days when I enjoy the "kid sister" aspect and an amazing realization hits me " between the eyes", she's mine. I am Emma's mom and I have the privilege of watching her every second of the day. Her amazing personality, how fast she is growing and learning, I have been here for all of it, and get to be here for the rest. It has been so hard and yet so fun being her mom. I am constantly amazed by the things she gets, what she can do, and how independent she is. Yet I know that I am her best friend, I am the one she comes to when she needs help, she calls out "mom", first. I am having so much fun and I'm excited for the next "Kid Sister" and what she'll bring to the mix, and what Emma will teach her.
Well I must apologize for not blogging about the trip that Emma and I took to Disney-World. In my defense when I would get on to check the blog at night and get so caught up in Levi's Europe posts that I would be too tired to compete. Its not an excuse, I know, but its an explanation. Well here I go...
Emma and I were able to go to Disney World with my parents and sister while Levi was away in Europe. We were there for two weeks from April 26th- May 10th. I would recommend this trip to anyone, it was so much fun! It was great to be able to "park-hop" One the Disney World resort there are four major parks, besides the hotels. We visited, The Magic Kingdom ( the classic park most like Disneyland in Ca), Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney's Hollywood Studios ( which reminded me of Universal in CA a little bit with all the emphasis on movies Disney or not), and then Epcot, which showcases some of the countries of the world, Mexico, France, Norway, etc.
My favorite was the Magic Kingdom because I'm such a classic Disney fan , I grew up getting to go to Disneyland. 
One of the thing that was easily enjoyed by all happened after dark. We made an effort to go to the night shows. Over at the Hollywood studios they have "Fantasmic" which is the show where the Disney Villains try and discourage Mickey. It was neat, but scared Emma in parts, she sat with my dad, hands on her face looking between her fingers. She was intrigued, yet a little freaked.
At Epcot they have a huge lake in the center and their fireworks show, " Illuminations" is over the water, which makes the finale "blinding", it was all about having a world where we all get along despite our differences, it was physically and emotionally beautiful. If he was still alive I would say, " Disney for President" he has the right idea.
Animal Kingdom doesn't have a night show, however they have a show where they sing and dance to music from "The Lion King, " its quite the spectacular, it bet those dancers get to eat whatever they want, they get such a workout!
One of our days at the Magic Kingdom we stayed for the fireworks, that was probably my favorite night show. Its shown right over the castle and it has great music, we were so tired that night, but seeing that made it worth it.
One of the best things we did there was getting the autographs of the Princesses for Emma. 
My mom had gotten her a princess costume just for dress-up a while back and incidentally it matched Princess Aurora's costume pretty perfectly. All of you know that Emma is a chatter-box and I usually can't get her to stay quiet. However, when we walked into where the Princesses were waiting she was so shocked she didn't utter a word! I had to explain that she was barely 2 years old, they were very sweet to her and thought she was too cute. It was so funny to see her like that , as you all know that very "Un-Emma", too bad we can't have the Princesses accompany us to church!
Now as you all will remember I am pregnant and Emma is too young to do a lot of the things there so we were a little limited, but it was still tons of fun. Some of the pics from the trip I haven't been able to locate, they're on my dad's laptop and my sister's so I will have to recap some of the other parks in my next blog.
Well the chaos of the summer has begun. We decided to kick things off with a bang. This week has been really busy. It started with the ultrasound. Friday was BYU graduation. Last year I walked in graduation for my bachelor's degree. We had a lot of family come, and it was great, but it didn't quite seem real since we knew we still had a least a year to go. This year was different, it was a little more low key, since no one flew in from out of town Torrie was solely responsible for controlling Emma and managing the camera. Torrie did a fantastic job with both tasks. Emma behaved as well, she didn't make a big scene like last year when we walked across the podium. Also Torrie gave me a graduation lei, reminiscent of our time in Hawaii- thanks babe!
Emma is seeing right through the "graduation" knowing I still have work to do.
Dr. Todd, my graduate advisor has been instrumental to my education. Thanks Dr. Todd!
Saturday was just as busy as Friday. It was Emma's 2nd Birthday!! To celebrate we went to the Wilcox's (Torrie's cousins). It was fun to hang out and have some cake, thanks Tracy!
After our little party Emma and Torrie headed to the airport. They are now in Florida at Disney World for 2 weeks (Thanks to your votes... J/K)! They went to Disney World for two reasons, the first -Torrie's parents invited them, and second-Torrie wanted backup while I am in Europe. I will be going to Europe (traveling to 8 countries) for 3 weeks on a study abroad.
While we are gone we will be "blogging abroad" hopefully over the next few weeks there will be blogs from both trips, but don't hold you breathe since we may be having too much fun. Regardless, it is the start of our last summer as students, its going to be great!!!
So I guess I was due for my own version of "peat, repeat." Today Emma and I did our "lunch truck" duties and were leaving campus when I encountered the never-ending hassle that is pedestrians and other traffic in Provo. I was a little fed-up with the eighth pedestrian that decided to saunter across the crosswalk. Trying to let out my frustration in an appropriate manner I yelled " Dude!" to no one in particular. As I started to drive again, I heard my echo. a very similar " Dude!" came from the cute little sponge in the back seat. The funniest part of this story is that she knows exactly what she is doing. Emma knows exactly when she is funny. She was laughing at my laughing. I'm just grateful that it was only "Dude!" ....
