A fine day

I love cake baking days at our house because the whole house smells good. Today there is an aroma of chocolate. I am working on a Greenbay Packers football helmet for a wedding tomorrow. I really hope it turns out!!

I'm having trouble deciding which pictures to post of our Memorial Day weekend trip. We had a wonderful time. North Arkansas is just too beautiful! Makes one go a little "shutter happy". I hope to get pictures of our trip up in next few days.

Anyway, here are a few miscellaneous pictures. The first is a great picture of Justin and his little princess. The next one my sister-in-law shared with us. Tim is receiving an award from the governor of Indiana for work he did prior to being deployed. Tim says it's no big deal, but his expression seems to indicate otherwise. I am so proud of my baby brother! The last two are of a recent trip to the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is an amazing (and relatively inexpensive) place to go. The picture of Justin and I is from inside the skull-part of the Niki special exhibit throughtout the garden.

Hope you all are doing well. It was really nice to see some of you guys last weekend. It's always like coming home again. Can't wait until we really do!

Fishing Rodding

A momentous occasion occured this morning.

Justin taught Julia how to cast.

We went to Cabela's Friday evening. In preparation for our upcoming trip to North Arkansas, Justin wanted to make sure his family was ready for fishing. I think he was a little bummed that Julia picked out a Disney Princess fishing rod. But that lasted only a moment. I'm not sure who was more excited about the fishing rod-Justin or Julia.

Here are pictures and video of Julia's first fishing rod. (It's my first attempt at a video clip, so I hope it works!) In the first picture, she caught a 21-pound gray catfish. In the other pictures, Justin is showing her how to cast in the backyard. Julia told me she really likes wearing her "boat jacket" and can't wait to go "fishing rodding" in the water.




And now, for the video. Enjoy!

Finals, White Coat & Cake

That's been our week. My brain is fried, but everything is finished. I couldn't stop smiling this morning after I e-mailed my stats final to my professor (after about 8 hours of work over the past week). I almost cried when I got the e-mail from my professor saying he opened it with no problems. Boy, has it been a week.

Justin completed his finals on Wednesday. He wasn't sure what to do with himself today. He had no homework and it was raining, so he couldn't get anything done outside. The White Coat ceremony went well. I am SO PROUD of my husband. His mom and step-dad and my mom came to the ceremony. (My dad was able to join us for extremely yummy hamburgers at Seamus McDaniels afterward.) Julia was very good during the ceremony. When she saw Justin putting his white coat on, she whispered loudly "Now my daddy's a doctor". I explained he wasn't just yet. Her response was "But he has a white coat!" She couldn't wait to get to the stage at the end. She is also very proud of Justin. He is looking forward to (and anxiously awaiting) his first day in the clinic-next Thursday.

The cake part is the sheet cake I just sent with Justin to one of his co-workers. It is for a baby shower. It is also the first time I copied the design from a picture. Overall, I'm pleased with it. I'm still rather amazed that people actually pay me for the cakes!

We are now the proud owners of a new fuel pump. We found a great little repair shop within pulling distance of our house. (Thanks again to Dad for helping us save on towing!) I think I'm cursed when it comes to cars, though. The van that our friends loaned us wouldn't start yesterday! Luckily, all it needed was a new battery-which wasn't exactly unexpected.

This last picture is Julia reading a new favorite book-"Pest Fest" by Julia Durango. I just thought it was cute.

Now we are looking forward to a leisurely summer break. OK, maybe without the leisurely part. Hope everyone is doing well! We miss you all!

The End is Near!!!

No, not the end of the world. I don't claim to have an idea of when that will be. I mean the end of our most difficult semester here in St. Louis. But the end of finals is on Wednesday for both of us. After Thursday I will have pictures of Justin's white coat ceremony. He received an official invitation and a letter saying he passed his proficiency. He is very relieved but feeling a little under-the-weather as we approach finals week. Please pray that he finishes strong, and takes time to rest to combat whatever it is he has.

Here are a few more pictures. The first I call "bliss"-husband and daughter washing dishes together. What could be better? The next three are pictures of a cake and cupcakes I did for a birthday party yesterday. My first real attempt at cake-carving. (Big thank you to Justin for drawing out the pattern!)