Smileyswife: I love Spring!

JOY: Being a wife and mother

Tyler came home from Provo for the weekend, so all of us were together on Easter Sunday!

A quick photo on the golf course on our way home from church provided me with a precious, tangible reminder of how much I love to be with my family.

And how cute they are when they are all dressed up! :)

One of the things that makes me happy in the spring time is that I get to celebrate two of my favorite special days:

1. Easter

2. My middle son's Birthday

I made carrot cake for each of these celebrations this year.

The Easter carrot cake was just sooooo yummy, that Todd requested I make another carrot cake for his Birthday, which was two weeks after Easter. Encore!

About this carrot cake....

It has divine cream cheese frosting. Lots of it.

First of all, I could eat cream cheese frosting every. day.

I could eat just about anything if it were smothered in cream cheese frosting. Including maybe even a tumbleweed.

This particular cake recipe came from the American Classics cookbook that I have mentioned in a previous blog post.

The frosting recipe I used is my favorite.

It is absolutely delish.

Because it includes not only cream cheese, but also melted white chocolate. And almond extract.

Wow.

Todd's 16th Birthday was a special milestone, so I wanted to make sure he felt really spoiled and loved by his family and friends.

David and I took a Super Heroes lunchbox to the Seminary building at the high school during lunch hour on his special day.

The lunchbox was tied with balloons, and filled with his favorite fast food: Taco Bell.

I spent the afternoon in the kitchen (my pleasure!)

preparing Todd's birthday dinner:

Lasagna

Parmesan and garlic breadsticks

Fresh garden salad with homemade croutons and homemade dressing

Carrot cake and vanilla ice cream for dessert

Our house was filled with 16 happy, hungry teenagers on Saturday night as we celebrated Todd's Birthday some more!

I made 5 large pizzas, using my bread dough recipe (tweaked just a little for pizza crust), and lots of cheese, sausage, pepperoni,

and veggies for toppings.

I was so proud of Todd for his awesome "party host skills."

David and I prepped him beforehand by telling him that we would be around and in and out to supervise, but that we weren't going to "run" the party like we did when he was younger.

Together, we came up with several ideas for fun group games, helped him gather supplies, and provided the food (lots of it!)

Besides lots of good food and conversation, the party included team Charades, another group game without a known name, and then Frisbee outside in the park/our backyard.

It was a super successful, super fun party, judging by the comments, laughter, and no-casualties or "issues."

I love my 16-year-old!!!

Happy Birthday Todd!

My view in April from my front living room window includes my pink Cherokee Princess Dogwood tree, which David planted for me on Mother's Day a few years ago; Vinca (Periwinkle), pansies, and tulips. Also the lovely green lawn that my hubby does an amazing job with.

This spring-time view makes me soooo happy!