The cake for our birthday girl...

Long before her birthday Chelsea was searching the net finding super cool looking 13th birthday cakes. I couldn't let her down; I had big plans for Chelsea's 13th birthday cake. Fondant! I had never used the icing before, but I was determined to try. I wanted to do something fancy with zebra print and dots, two of Chelsea's favorite things.

So, off to the internet I went. I found so many neat designed, I learned how to make zebra cake, and I found an amazing fondant recipe. For all you ladies interested in making easy fondant, check out this site:

http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm

First came the cakes. I made four cakes, two 6" cakes for the top and two 9" for the bottom. I found a site that had instructions for a zebra cake. I made two cake batters (straight out of the box) and then layered the white and chocolate cake batters. You take a ladel full of white, pour in the centre of the pan. Then a seperate ladel for the chocolate, and pour in the centre of the white cake mix. You continue alternating and pouring into the centre of the previous one until your pan is full enough. It was surprisingly easy, and turned out awesome.

I then iced the layers with buttercream icing before applying the fondant.

Then came the fondant. I followed the instructions pretty closely. When rolling the fondant onto my roller, it kept sticking to itself and then becoming useless (had to reroll the stuff - good thing its pretty forgiving and you can reroll the stuff over and over). I decided to put a layer of plastic wrap on top, so that the fondant couldn't stick. It worked, yeah!

The fondant is really stretchy. As you can see its stretching down the cake tray. You need to work pretty quickly to stretch and smooth the fondant in place around the cake before it pulls too much. It wasn't very difficult, just a little tricky. As you can see, definately not a smooth cake, but you can't tell once its decorated.

Then came the decorating. I used a lot of black dye to get the fondant this color (which was a dark grey), but it looked pretty good. Next time I'm going to let the fondant sit longer before I use it to absorb more of the color. The zebra stripes were so fun, and easy because they don't have to be perfect I used a knife and scissor to cut the strips. The second layer was harder because you have to space the dots to look somewhat nice. I bought fondant cutouts for the circles.

(note: the second layer is supported with dowels in the first layer, and is on a covered cardboard piece)

Ta da!!! The final cake. I also cut out letters (fondant cutouts from Michaels) for the top. I was so impressed, that I called a friend right away. Now I can't wait until the next cake.

And most importantly, the party girl and her cake. We had a family party (even those get pretty big at our house). I kept the cake hidden until everyone was over, then we sang, Chelsea blew out candles (she did have to take a second breath to get that last candle), and ate the cake. It was hard cutting into it, but it tasted great!

Most importantly, Chelsea loved the cake. That's why I did it.

As an aside, while we (my friend Jocelyn came to help) were trying to roll the fondant the first couple of times, it was not working and I was starting to feel that it wouldn't turn out. We took a break, Jocelyn had to go finish her studies, and then I started again. But before that, I prayed that God would allow me to do this for Chelsea. Well, it worked on the first try. Praise the Lord for considering the small things in life important enough to listen to. I couldn't let that pass, as I needed to ensure praise was given where it is deserved.

A precious gift from God

Thirteen years ago I was blessed with a gift that I did not fully understand. But it was a beautiful gift that I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on her. Chelsea came into this world at a time in my life that presented a lot of uncertainty. I moved into my first place the day this photo was taken, bought groceries for the fridge on the way home from the hospital, and then spent my first night on my own with a small baby who had no idea of how she came to that place. (wow, I have tears just trying to write this) I didn't know what I was doing as a person, let alone a mom.

(I don't have a scanner, so I took a picture of these old photos)
She was so small, and I was so young. God has brought the two of us a long way from that hospital room in Steinbach. Through amazing people and an abundance of God's love, grace and blessing, our lives have changed from that night 13 years ago.

And look at the beautiful teen she's become. She's not actually 13 here, (only 12 and 364 days old). I trust that God will work in her life. I know that God will continue to bless our lives because of her.

Chelsea, we are so proud of you. We are excited to see how God will work in and through your life, and see Him shine through you as you seek to honor Him. We pray that you will continue to seek God's will for your life, because the safest place to be is in His will, wherever that takes you.

We love you Chelsea. Happy birthday sweetheart.

Love mom and dad and Nat.

Our newest family member

We have a new family member in Depak's family: Shusma Salomae Chua Parmar. She's a beauty. Depak's cousin Shushma and her husband Armondo have two: Peirre (middle in the top picture), and Salomae.

The AppleBarn

We got to spend a beautiful fall afternoon with the family at the AppleBarn. Parveen, BJ and Arjun joined up with us. It is such a fun place to take the kids. I love fall colors, especially the orange pumpkins. At the top of the photo you'll see Arjun, our pumpkin in the pumpkins. Nat was tentative with the animals, and Chelsea didn't like the fact that a bunny bit her. We brought home apple juice and a bag of apples, which made their way into some yummy apple pies.

She is so contagious!

Every mom will say they have the most beautiful kids: and they are right. I think my girls are so beautiful, but I think this little one is contagious. When she smiles, you smile. When she laughs, you laugh. What a great stage of life this is.

Friends...

Friends,

God provides encourgement in our lives in many ways, and I am so glad I am blessed to be encouraged by friends. This past weekend several friends came over and hung out at our place. What made it extra special was that we were able to visit with Janelle before her husband wisks her away from us (we'll miss you Dochuk family). Well, at my house, the equation goes...

Good friends...
plus good food...

equals dress up!

Being the only cultured member of our group (yeah right, I just married into the cultured family), I had a lot of colorful outfits in my cupboard. We pulled out my many suits (long top and pant style that five of the ladies are wearing), langas (skirt style as displayed by Christa), and sarees, and the bangals and earings to match. Because I have no idea how to tie a saree, we couldn't try them on, but I'm sure we'll find a way to make it work next time. It was so much fun. Can't wait until Missions week, we'll see an array of color from these ladies again. We'll do henna next time too!