Rainbow Cake

I was asked to make a cake for

Young Womens' New Beginnings.

(Young Women's is a wonderful organization in the church for girls ages 12-17. New Beginnings is a celebration that welcomes all of the new 12 year olds.)

The theme they had was a Rainbow and Pot of Gold. The reason that was picked is because of the values that the girls are taught and strive to uphold correlate with those colors in the rainbow. Here are the Values and corresponding colors; Faith-White, Divine Nature-Blue, Individual Worth-Red, Knowledge-Green, Choice & Accountability-Orange, Good Works-Yellow, Integrity-Purple, & Virtue-Gold. So I made a cake with all of those colors.

I found this idea online and I made it my own.

First I wanted the inside to be fun and colorful as well as the outside. So this is a pic of the batter that Kyle and I colored with food coloring. Yum Yum!

Then I poured it into the cake pan one color at a time. I let it spread out naturally.

This is a picture of the baked cake:

Then I frosted it, and Kellie (my sister-in-law) helped me figure out how to make a rainbow on the cake out of colored sugar crystals. Drum roll please... Here is the finished product! A rainbow going into a pot of gold. (notice that I made a rainbow in the order of the Young Women value colors.... white- is the frosting, blue, red, green, orange, yellow, purple, gold.)

This is the pot of gold, representing "Virtue" (gold color)

Some of you asked how I did the frosting. I made a chocolate ganache and poured it over the top and then piped out chocolate frosting around the edges to make the lip of the pot. I used yellow and gold sprinkles and chocolate gold coins.

P.S. This is what happens when your little 3 year old helper wants to be a chef.

I only turned away for a second to wash my hands. And VOILA!

Kaylee's Masterpiece on the counter! ha ha

I love the Young Women and leaders with all my heart and hope you all had a great night!

Random Cute Pics

I have a few pics on my computer that I wanted to share. No story, no wordy blog post, just raw pictures. I know thats what we all want anyway!

Kaylee dancing to Kyle playing the guitar!

Konnor clapping and clicking his tongue at lunch!

3 Generations of Brothersen Men!

Fun times and giggles with Grandma Lynn!

Daddy's gonna get you...

Emily, Kaylee, Me, & Lynn (what sweet thangs we are!

Forts do funny things to people

Kaylee and I LOVE to be silly and make forts in the living room. We like to make the generic kinds with the chairs, blankets, sheets, etc... Kaylee was also given a Winnie the Pooh Tent. We had it up for about a week! And Kaylee loved it! Konnor loved it, I loved it, and every person that came over that week loved it! Here are a couple pictures of our tent:

Princess Kaylee and Princess Claire rockin' out in the tent!

Peek-A-Boo!

Grandma Kathie with the kids inside the tent!

Konnor LOVES this tent!

Should I say, "Static!"

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I love holidays! I always have. I love all the holidays too, including Ground Hogs Day. But since I am 1/2 Irish, I really have always loved St. Pattys Day!
I wear as much green as I possibly can find.
Kaylee is starting to be more like me all the time. She loves holidays too. I guess she can feel my excitement for each holiday! So, here is Kaylee in her St. Patrick's Day outfit!
And here is Konnor in his green outfit too!
I would like to take the time in this post to express my gratitude for my sweet children! They are both so precious to me and they bring me sooo much joy! It is a busy and happy life we live all together! And I love EVERY second of it! I love being a mother and a wife!
How could you not love this little girl below?:

FYI: Kyle and I were also in green ALL day long!
We were a green family. You gotta love St. Patty's Day...

I'm A Party Animal!

Ok, so this week I threw 2 surprise birthday parties for two of my chicas! The first one was Candace R. She turned 30! We put together a "jewel" Party for her. She loves to make jewelery. It was a big hit! We played a game/quiz: "How well do you know Candace?" It was so much fun. Then a few of us made bracelets for Candace and she got to keep all the left over beads! The funny thing about that was, I planned Candace's birthday party with Marie. But at the same time I was secretly planning Marie's surprise party with Candace. Man, I really had to keep my act together and make sure I didn't slip up to one of them. Phew... it was a success! So, for Marie's party, Candace and I kidnapped, blindfolded her, and took her to the Provo Mall!
Here is what we dressed her up in!
I know, I know... it is horrible! We dressed her up like she was in high school. But let me tell you; it was so freakin' fun to act like a couple of teenagers! We had some people in the food court sing her "Happy Birthday" while she was still blindfolded! That was so funny! She was hating us, but Candace and I were doing all we could not to bust up and pee our pants laughing!
Then we went downstairs and saw the Red Robin, and we HAD to get a pick with him!
This was my personal favorite moment!

Our next stop was the massage chairs: these were so good for me.
I am carrying around Konnor all the time, and he is not exactly light! hee hee
Then we went into Claires and got some friendship necklaces, and took pics in the photo booth. (F.Y.I. the booth doesn't print out your pics, it just likes to take your money!)
Then we drove her home and at her house, was house full of sneaky family and friends!
It was a big hit!
If you are wondering where the pics of Candaces party are, they are with Marie. I forgot my stinkin camera. How lame am I?
All in all, I hope Candace and Marie had a fun time on their special days! I know I did! Good friends like those two gals are hard to come by. I Love em'!

Sometimes We Are Stretched!

Some of you may know that I went on mission for my church. I went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah and served for 18 months. However, for 3-6 months, the sisters on Temple Square receive a new calling and are called to go serve in another mission in the US or Canada. Then they return back to Temple Square to finish their 18 months. I was called to serve in the California, Oakland Mission in the Spanish Program. (which is not a likely calling to change languages for 3-6 mon.) It was a challenge for me and it really stretched me. I had to put in extra hours and hang on every single word to understand what was happening in the conversations. The Lord really blessed me because I was truly able to understand through the Spirit what was being said. I was able to testify to the people there of my feelings and knowledge of Gods plan and love for each of His children. It was a lesson that I still cherish.
WELL..... a couple weeks ago, the Bishop called Kyle and I into his office and extended the call to be a Spanish Missionary... AGAIN! WOW! My Spanish is SO BAD. But I said, "Yes, I will do whatever you need me to." Everyday since that meeting, I have been studying my Spanish and praying for the Lord to help me yet again with learning the language and understanding people.
So, if you have ever tried to learn a second language, you know that it is very hard and takes a lot of time, studying, practice, and a good memory. Well... I barely spoke Spanish on my mission, and that was for only 4 months, and to top it off... that was 8 years ago! I don't remember hardly anything. So, now I am embarking a new adventure in the world of Spanish! I am attending the Spanish Branch and teaching 15 hours a week.
I know the Lord will help me and fill my mouth with the things He wants me to say. Also, I am very blessed to have a good companion who has a lot of humor and patience! This new calling is really stretching me! I have heard that it is a good thing to be "stretched". I am still trying to figure that out! ha ha
I have a strong testimony that this Church is true, and I will do my best to tell that to everyone I meet!
If you have any good tips for me to learn Spanish better, let me know!

Adios.
Hermana Brothersen

Kaylee gave her first Talk in church!

Our little Kaylee was asked to give her first talk on Sunday. The topic she was assigned was, "Family Members Have Important Responsibilities".
She did a fantastic job. She was very excited. She picked out her outfit and her hairstyle. We had some props to help her out. They put a step box at the pulpit so she could reach the microphone, but she was still too small, so I lifted her up and away she went! Here is what she said...

"Family members have important responsibilities. (she held up a dollar bill and said) This is money. My daddy goes to work so we can have money for food, clothes and shelter. (She held up a spatula and said) This is a spatula. My mommy uses this to cook good food for our bellies. (She held up a smiley face and said) This is a smiley face. It is my job to bring happiness into my family and to help take care of my brother. (She held up a red heart and said) This is a heart. Each member of our family has a special responsibility (responsabiwity) to love one another. Love is the most important (impotant responsibiwity) to have in a family. I know these things are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


Here is a pic of Konnor that same day! He and Kyle were in the back of the Primary room smiling very proudly at our little Kaylee. She was so brave, loud, and bold. Not an ounce of nervousness or shyness. She did outstanding!

Snowmobiling Fun!

Kyle has the best job EVER!
His work, Digicert took everyone snowmobiling on Saturday.
We all had a blast. We went to The Homestead in Midway ,Ut. It was beautiful.
The day couldn't have been more perfect.
Here are some pics of our fun day on the mountain!

Here is my handsome hubby!
I was having a blast. I look like a dork, but it was sure a lot of fun!
Here is the DIGICERT crew!

The love-birds!