A few of our favorite things continued...

As I mentioned before, Dan and I many opportunities to do some of our favorite things before we left Louisiana. One of my most favorite things was the night we spent with my best Louisiana friend, Jenni, and her family. We LOVED to craft and cake decorate together so we had to have one last fun-filled night to last us until we visit Louisiana again.

We had a BBQ for dinner and then the boys watched a basketball game while us girls and the kids decorated. We usually try to do extravagant things but that night, we just kept it simple so we could relax and visit.

Jenni's niece, Tori, was visiting for the day. Tori and Jacob got to decorate a cake of their own as well.

Jenni and I decided to make fish cakes:) They were lots of fun!

All of us decorating.


Our finished product!

The kids finished product! Whoever LOVES frosting would enjoy this cake!

Dan dipping orange candy slices in frosting. He must of been really hungry because normally he hates frosting! I had to take a picture because I couldn't help but laugh at him dipping sugar in sugar!

Last but not least, we tried a new experiment. Jenni found a recipe for homemade Marshmallow fondant. It was so easy to make and it was YUMMY! It melted in your mouth it was so good. I was so excited to find a good/easy recipe because usually when I decorate with fondant it looks pretty but doesn't taste good. Now I have found the best of both worlds!

Our Quick cake with Fondant.

Thanks again Jenni and Jason for such a great night! We loved it. Tell the boys hi for me and give them a hug and kiss! We miss ya'll!

We also loved going miniature golfing to this place just down the street from our house. The movers came to pack up our stuff on a Monday and we didn't move until Wednesday. We kept some movies and the computer for entertainment but it didn't quite work out as planned! Our Internet was turned off early (my stupidity...oops!) and for some reason the sound on the laptop wasn't working so we couldn't watch our movies. Needless to say, the last two nights we were there we spent a lot of time out of the house at the Boardwalk, mini golfing, and even at Walmart!

I am not a very good mini golfer, but I enjoy it. I was SOOO close to getting a hole in one but then I might have ruined my really high score! Too bad we weren't playing basketball, I would have won:)

Dan getting ready to get a hole in one.

Probably getting a hole in one again:)

Maybe if I swing the club like a bat....I might get somewhere, lol!

Waiting on the bench for Dan to take his turn.

More favorite things soon to follow!:)

A few of our favorite things....

Before we moved from Louisiana we tried to cram in as many of our favorite things/activities as possible.

One of our favorite things was going to the Boardwalk, which is an outdoor mall along the Red River. This picture was taken in front of Bass Pro Shop next to the Alligator Zoo.

We also ate one night at Salt Grass and had a great view of the River.

Another night we went with our good friends, the Doans and Bloods, to the Mudbug Madness Festival. They invited us to do lots of things with them the last few months we lived in Louisiana which we were really grateful for! They even planned a Cajun dinner for us with others in the ward the night before we moved. We miss them lots already!

The Mudbug Madness Festival is sponsored by the Shreveport Mudbug (Crawfish) Hockey Team. There is lots of yummy Cajun food, music, game and shopping booths. We had a great time!

Everyone enjoying Boiled Crawfish (well not me on that part:) and a fried onion mum while listening to great Cajun music.

Dan eating his fried alligator.

Gotta love 'em crawfish!! Might taste a little better next time wit out the shell though!:)

Visiting Donna

A few weeks before we moved we went down for one last trip to Lafayette to see Donna. We had a great time, like usual. She always spoils us:) She cooked crawfish etouffee for Dan the first night we got there and continued to pile on the Cajun cuisine until we left. We also filled the weekend with enough Cajun activities to hopefully last us until we could come visit again. So to say the least, the weekend was bittersweet:)

We got to see Donna's kids and mom which was great. We always love getting to visit with all of them. Her daughter, Angel, we got to spend the most time with. On Saturday we went to New Orleans for the day and she came along. We mainly went to see the French Quarters and the French Market.

Right as you enter French Quarters

Man dressed up as a Copper Statue right by Jackson Square.

Some of the neat buildings.


Sierra, Dan & Angel in front of Jackson Square.

Us with Donna in front of Jackson Square.

I don't know how well you can see, but as we were taking pictures in Jackson Square it was about to begin to downpour. We made it just in time! As soon as we snapped a few pictures we ran to the car in order not to get soaked:) The rain came at a good time though, we were tired and had seen just about all we wanted to see on our short trip to New Orleans. We go to eat Beignets, browse all the junk at the market (our favorite part), and spend time with Angel and Donna. The ride home was a different story, we are used to Louisiana rain, but this was worse than the normal Louisiana rain! But thanks to Donna and her one good eye (lol) we were able to make it back home safely!

No Trading Spaces for me!

All the way back in March, I think, ( I know.... I am REALLY behind on blogging....) I helped my friend, Jenni, re-d0 her boy's bathroom. We always love doing craft projects together so we decided to do our own version of "While you were out". Her husband was away for work for the weekend when the project began. We spend Friday night painting the first coat. Then Saturday we painted a second coat, cut the vinyl for the mirror, and made the shower curtain. Between all of that, fixing meals, and watching the two boys (Jenni's sister Layla helped with the boys quite a bit as well) we were exhausted! I remember as a teenager LOVING to watch Trading Spaces and thinking how cool it would be to be on the show. After our weekend, we both agreed we would NEVER want to do it! We had fun doing the bathroom but couldn't imagine handling any bigger of a room in such a short time! By the way, Jenni's husband was definitely surprised and seemed to loved it!

Bring out the Diva...

Sometime in April or May, I can't really remember when...I helped my friend make a cake for her daughter's birthday. Last year we did a Fancy Nancy cake for her youngest and this year it was a Diva cake for her oldest.

I had a lot of fun executing all the creative ideas she had for the cake. I have to say...a cake design like this could bring out the diva in any girl! Thanks Julie for letting me be a part of the birthday fun!

Relay for Life

I have mentioned before that I have a few friends that I work out with 3 times a week. We had heard about a Cancer Relay for Life and decided we all really wanted to participate. We all are definitely not runners but we thought it would be fun to walk and talk all night. Unfortunately, it happened to fall on the Friday we were returning from Utah. We decided we still wanted to participate no matter how exhausting it would be! In the end, us girls talked our husbands into participating as well. The Relay started at 7 at night and was supposed to go until 7am the next morning. Our flight got in at 4 pm and we took a quick cat nap before the event. We had a really good time but were happy when they announced that the Relay would be ending early at 2am. I don't think we could have made it much longer!

We did an 80's theme for our group. It was really fun! Dan loved that I approved of his outfit. He was able to wear his long socks, short shorts, and headband and actually fit in with the right decade for once! lol...

Preparing to enter the MTC!

The night before my brother went into the MTC became a family project.

Rueben folded his church shirts.

Mom and I labeled and packed all his toiletries.

Dan folded his casual clothes...military style so everything would fit in his suitcase. Meanwhile, my dad was shining his shoes (not pictured). It was fun to help Rueben start of his mission on the right foot!

Rueben before he entered the Mission Training Center.

The three kiddos in what is known as the candy tree at the MTC (yes, Jess, you were right...it does exist!).

If you didn't notice in the previous picture, there was this huge flower that kept on getting between Dan and Rueben, so therefore...this picture was taken.

The boys.

Rueben entering the MTC.

Dad trying to go back to his youth (we all laughed when we saw this picture, because he looks like his eyes are about to pop out of his head! lol...sorry dad!)

Rueben trying to put his missionary badge on...he was having some technical difficulties.

The official Elder Black ready to go!

Thanks Rueben for letting us be a part of your special day!

Dan's Birthday

This year Dan's birthday fell on the same day as Rueben's farewell. I wanted to make sure he still had a great birthday even if he didn't really get to be the center of attention on his actual day. The Friday before we left to Utah my friend, Jenni, helped me throw him a surprise birthday night. I had been wanting to make him an alligator cake out of cupcakes for a long time. We had two little helpers plus hardly any time to put it together in order to get it done before he was supposed to meet us for dinner, but overall it turned out pretty good...it at least looks like an alligator!

Dan met us at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. The plan was to surprise him at the end by having the waiters sing to him and then go back to Jenni and Jason's house for cake and ice cream. About two minutes before they were going to sing to him, Jenni's little boy, Jacob, all of a sudden turned to Dan and said "Happy Birthday Dan! We made you a cake!". So, the surprise became apparent a little early but it was worth it! It was funny to see the shocked look on Dan's face as this cute little 3 year old revealed our surprise.

Anyways, we had a really fun night. Dan loved it. Thanks again Jenni and Jason for helping me throw a surprise birthday celebration for Dan!

Like I said before, Dan's actual birthday fell on Rueben's farewell. Dan's birthday also happens to be his mom's birthday. His brother, Jordan's birthday is the day before. So there are a lot of birthdays in Dan's family to celebrate at the same time. And to add to that...Kristen and Spencer had their little baby boy, Elijah, the day after Dan's and Dolores' birthday, so now there are 4 birthdays clumped together!

After the farewell, we went to the Jasmer's house to celebrate with cake and ice cream

Jordan, the youngest, got to blow out his 16 candles first

Then Dan with his 2 and 6 (we thought 26 candles might just be a little overboard...)

Then Dolores with her 5 and 2 (and we figured 52 might start a fire...just kidding Dolores!)

On Monday night, we celebrated Dan's birthday with my family. So in the end...I worried about Dan's birthday getting overlooked and he got to celebrate it 3 times! We invited Dan's two younger brothers over and played games and had treats.

We played Uno.

And watched Dan open his gifts.

Long story short, I had to trick Dan a little for his birthday. For those of you who don't know, he served an LDS mission in California speaking the Hmong language. He used to have a CTR ring in Hmong but somehow it has been misplaced. We will actually probably find it in the move tomorrow I am sure, just my luck. Anyways, all he wanted for his birthday was a new ring and he wouldn't stop talking about it! I had already planned on getting him one way before he even mentioned it to me. Well, I am a sucker for wanting to surprise people. So on the day of his actual birthday I gave him a gift card to Lowes. I told him that when I priced getting him a custom made CTR ring it was something we just couldn't afford right now, plus it would have taken too long to get it made that it wouldn't have come in time for his birthday. So instead, I gave him a $100 gift card.

Come Monday, when we celebrated his birthday with my family, I gave him his REAL gift, the ring. He was so excited! I had felt bad for tricking him but knew he would forgive me in the end once he had his ring. I have to admit though, he was quite confused about the gift card. It was really blank. I said it had $100 on it, when it really had nothing. I guess I didn't explain myself too well after giving him the ring because he thought I gave him both things and didn't realize that the gift card was fake. Sorry!

Anyways, I hope you had a good birthday Dan. You deserve it! Thanks for being such a wonderful husband. I appreciate all you do!