Haircuts

The girls got their hair cut today. They have been so excited to get their haircut that we could hardly contain them anymore. Since I don't trust myself with a pair of hair cutting sheers, I took them to a salon and had their hair professionally cut. They did a real good job.

This was the first time that they got their hair washed at a salon. They really didn't know what was going on. It was funny. CJ kept sliding down off the chair and her cute little head wouldn't reach the sink. By the end of her washing there was a puddle on the floor of the salon. By the time Avary got her hair washed, the lady was able to get the higher booster. It went a lot more smooth.

The lady that cut their hair was really nice. I think they liked her. She really made CJ laugh, especially when she was drying her hair.

Avary lost about 1 1/2 inches.

CJ lost about 2 inches. Her hair was so dry and "rough" at the ends. I wanted to make sure that they all got cut off.

The girls are really happy now that they got their hair cut.

This Weeks Efforts

Well, I finished my first cake in class this week. It was a half sheet cake that he wanted us to do. the icing is Italian Buttercream and the filling is a Bavarian. I am not happy with the final result. I felt too much pressure to finish even though he said we could take all the time we needed.

In Artisan breads we made display breads. They are edible, but they don't taste good, so you wouldn't want to eat them anyway. I was really happy with how the display breads turned out. They were pretty fun to make, too, but they took a lot of strength because of the density of the bread.

My Chef instructor also asked me to stay after class yesterday to help him decorate cookies again. I missed class on Monday because of a migraine and, aparently, he wanted me to come in and help him make them again, but since I wasn't in class he figured I wasn't well. Instead, he asked me to stay after my breads class and help him decorate. It was really fun. We did less cookies this time than when we did the Valentine's cookies.


I was at school from 7 am to 11 pm yesterday, but I really enjoy working with him. I sure learn a lot about this kind of stuff. He asked me what my plans were after I graduate, like what I want to be doing. I told him I wanted to be decorating cakes and small confections like I am doing. I guess he liked that answer because he told me to make sure he has my number because he is in the process of leasing or buying some space for his business and wants me to work there. I'm really excited because I feel like, as students, we don't get enough time to study and work on the things that we are most interested in. This quarter has 3 weeks left already and we are barely starting cakes. It's really sad.

First Talk

Today, Avary gave her very first talk and it was her very first participation in an opening exercises. She did so well. We are so proud of her. Spencer was in Utah for it so I had him on the cell phone so he could hear Avary give her talk. This is her talk:

"Many of our dads and even older brothers are priesthood holders. They use the priesthood to bless their family and other families in our ward and church.

When I was a baby my dad gave me a very special blessing. He has used his priesthood authority to give me blessings before I have had surgery and when I have been really sick. He blesses me that I can get better fast. He reminds me that Heavenly Father loves me and will help me stay safe. I know that I will be OK because the blessings that my dad gives me come from Heavenly Father.

I love my dad very much. I am glad that he has the priesthood. I know that the priesthood comes from Heavenly Father and that He loves me.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

She said it loud and clear, I was so impressed and proud of our little Belle.

Myth Proven

So, we all have heard the saying, "The dog ate my homework." Heck, we all have probably used it at some point in our lives. I think I have mentioned the fact that we are having some minor issues with CJ at school and we have been working on these issues. She is doing much better, in my opinion, than she has been since the beginning of the year. She is coming home with more good job stickers than she had been when we met with her teacher at the beginning of the year. Her teacher suggested a "contract" that we could do to help Spencer and I understand more of what is going on at school, what areas she is having trouble in, so that we could talk to her about them specifically. These "contracts" have really been a help for us.

The other night, I had just finished signing her "contract" so she could return it to her teacher the next day and left it on her folder on the kitchen counter. After a couple of minutes I went back down to the kitchen and found her "contract" on the floor. Of course I didn't know it was her contract until I had picked it up and saw what it was. Jersey had somehow gotten a hold of it and started to....well, EAT CJ's "contract".

In a sense, the dog ate her homework. I pieced back all I could find. I had to write a note to her teacher explaining what happened. I felt so...odd when I explained what had happened. When I picked CJ up at school today, her teacher was laughing about it.

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was really nice. I woke up Saturday morning to crashing and clanging going on in the kitchen. When I went down, Spencer was getting the fixings together for pancakes. Homemade pancakes. He said that he was going to do breakfast in bed but I had gotten up too early. With all the noise downstairs, I didn't know what to think. He made the BEST pancakes I have ever tasted, it was incredible. He ended up making three batches because mom wanted some and I wanted more. He even shaped them into hearts for us all, even himself. We have these cookie scoops which he thought were tablespoon measuring spoons and he used those to measure, it was special. They were "buttermilk" pancakes and the reason why I say "buttermilk" is because we didn't have buttermilk so he made sour milk with vinegar. What a guy! They were so good I sort of demanded them again this morning for breakfast, and he made them again.

While the girls were at swimming, "Cupid" came and gave them some little balloons on a stick and a chocolate flower. They were SO excited when they saw them on their beds, I think the neighbors heard them screaming and jumping around. Later on, Spencer and I retreated to Old Chicago, a pizza joint here in Denver, and had a nice cheapish meal. It was a good day. At first Spencer had suggested going to the Zoo, but with 30 degree weather, I had to sadly decline.

This week was a busy one for me. In Patisserie we finished our plated desserts portion of the class. This is a picture of the dessert I did:


It is an blown sugar apple with apple sorbet inside, an apple chip that I actually dried for a garnish, and chocolate rods. The sauce is a Balsamic-Cherry reduction. I didn't eat any because it was FULL of alcohol. It was so full of alcohol that I could smell it when I took the plastic off the container. There was one plated dessert though that was absolutely to die for. It was a plate of chocolate ginger noodles with a yogurt sorbet. AMAZING!! My friend, Bonnie, made it and I KNOW that I am going to make it at home. This is a picture of what my plated dessert was supposed to look like:
I think I did pretty well, considering this was the first blown sugar apple I have ever done.

I am at school all day Monday and Tuesday. This last week I volunteered myself to help out my Chef instructor with 500+ Valentine's cookies. It was really fun and I learned a lot from him. I ended up being at school on Tuesday for 16 1/2 hours. These are the cookies we made and they weren't small by any means!


I was really tired when I finally got home at midnight that night. Good thing I didn't have school the next day. I also made my very first chocolate rose this week.

He said it was a nice abstract rose. How the heck does he get "abstract"?! Anyway, I liked it, especially since it was the first chocolate rose I have ever made. I need to make 15 of them by next Monday. A lot of people in my class said that it looked like an English rose or a real garden rose. I am quite proud of it, but I hope I can get his idea of a rose down.

Entertainment in the Neighborhood

Well, just when I thought things couldn't get more exciting around here. The other night, I was so dead I didn't hear any of this but my mom and Spencer did, there was quite a bit of action going on around 10:30 pm. Mind you, this is an account of what had happened from my mom and Spencer because I was out like a light.

Around 10:30 pm my mom got up for "personal reasons" and returned to her room. When she walked into her room she noticed flashing red lights outside. When she looked out of her bedroom window she noticed, I believe, two cop cars sitting in front of our house. Pretty soon a helicopter flew over our house and continued to hover over our house with its spot light on, even shining it in my moms window once. Pretty soon another cop car came around and started circling the blocks surrounding us. (I know! How I didn't hear this is totally beyond me, especially with the helicopter.) I guess this went on for about a half hour and then they left the neighborhood. We never heard anything about what had happened until today.

My mom asked a lady in our ward that lives just around the corner from us and she said that she had actually gotten a "reverse" 911 call. I guess the cops had called her and told them not to leave their house. Just a side note, her husband used to co-teach with Spencer in primary, funny guy, but when they got that call what does he do but leaves the house to talk to the cops. She was not happy with him for doing that. I guess the story was that they were looking for an armed robber. I don't know if they found him, but when I heard about this the next day, I was VERY happy that we have an alarm system!

I wonder what is going to happen next??!!

Family Home Evening

CJ gave the lesson tonight for family home evening. She did such a good job, we are so proud of her. She really surprised us when we went over the lesson with her. She knew more than we thought she would. Today in church she was the only one in her class. They have six kids and five were gone today, bizarre. Anyway, she learned about Joseph's First Vision and came home with a little visual aid so we thought she could give the lesson and tell us what she learned. Like I said she did really good. She knew that Joseph went into the woods to pray because he was confused and she knew what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ said to Joseph. We didn't really need to help her with any part of the lesson. She knew it really well. We were really pleased with her. She is growing up entirely too fast.