Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too... But Don't Look At It!

One nice thing about being part of the military world is that new people are so easy to meet. Everywhere we move, there are thousands of other families just like ours. Over the past months, we have met a few other friendly couples. In honor of Sommer's birthday, we invited everyone over for a cookout.

We spent most of the day cleaning the house and shopping for a new grill and groceries. (Mike had been using our Weber grill since we bought it in TX, but finally decided that even though the taste is better, waiting around for the charcoals to warm up is not. So we purchased a propane one. I'm sure we'll get a lot more use out of it solely based on convenience.) On a whim, I decided to bake Sommer a birthday cake. The girl LOVES her some cake, so I felt I should throw caution to the wind and get out my blender... err, mixer, I mean. [Let it be known that I'm not savvy in the kitchen or around its appliances.] I had originally planned to do the whole two-tier chocolate cake thing with lots of creamy icing and large pink polka-dots. In my head it was so cute. In reality, it was a mess. So here's what the birthday girl got... a plain old rectangular cake with messy, crumb-filled icing and a poor job on the writing and "polka-dots." Everyone gave me points for taste, however, which I whole-heartedly agreed while stuffing my mouth with cake. Duncan Hines knows their stuff. I must say I have a new appreciation for people who make those amazing birthday and wedding cakes.



And some pictures of our new friends...

Pictured from left: Jay & Anna; Kyle & Brandy; Colin, Sarah & daughter Eden; Dwayne & Liz; and you already know Chad, Sommer, new baby Griffin & Maggie Moo. Little Griffin slept straight through the evening. He's such a quiet baby. I don't think he liked the flash of my camera though. Pictured below, you'll see his annoyance. Two-year-old Eden enjoyed the birthday cake and sweetly sang a Happy Birthday solo to Sommer. Sommer forbade the rest of us to sing, but she couldn't resist a precious little girl.