Celebration Cake

I am slow on posting this time. We had our second Celebration Cake over two weeks ago! That means that number three is just around the corner. We enjoyed a bit of peppermint with this yummy chocolate cake. Our fabulous neighbors/friends came over to celebrate our family getting one month closer to having Gene home. Left to Right: Reagan, Greta, Jordan, Ashton, and Gianna

BRRRRRR!

We had the pleasure of chipping ice and shoveling snow today. There was an ice and snow storm that passed through Iowa last night. Here are some of the pictures taken today while I spent over two hours chipping away at the ice in the driveway. That hunk of ice Gigi is holding is one of many. Despite all of the hard work, I still like the winter.

Front Tooth

What a dinner converstion we had this week. Greta had a VERY wiggly front tooth. Gigi volunteered to pull it for her during the middle of dinner and to my surprise, Greta agreed. It was like the lid on a pickle jar. Gigi tried but couldn't yank out Greta's tooth. She must have loosened it just enough because when Greta grabbed her tooth and yanked it sprouted wings and flew out of her mouth across the table. We screamed like little girls! Luckily, I had the camera ready for the whole event.

Festival Of Trees

What an event! The girls and I spent the afternoon admiring all the decorations, trees, wreaths, and scenes at Festival of Trees. There were hundreds of talented displays. I was amazed and humbled. My wimpy wreath and front door decorations are shaking in their boots. I am inspired and wrapped in the Christmas spirit. Amazing! I gotta run... there are decorations to be hung at my house.

Holding Back Tears

The girls and I went to Festival of Trees today (there will be more pictures later). We were strolling along in the crowd admiring the many decorated trees when Gigi suddenly stopped and was visibly excited. She pointed to the tree we were standing by and to my surprise, she pointed out an ornament she had made at the YMCA during Military Kids Time Out. I wasn't prepared to see a beautiful tree dedicated to military families that was decorated with ornaments made by the children of soldiers. Then I read the wish from one little girl named Heather which was printed on the bidding sheet. The emotions where so overwhelming, it was several moments before I could speak. Take at look at the pictures and say a prayer for all the soldiers and their families who are going to be missing their families during the holidays.

Party Over Here

We had our first Celebration Cake last Friday. We had a spice cake with carmel simple sugar and browned butter frosting. Does anyone have a special December-ish cake suggestions?

It is hard to believe that a month has passed since Gene deployed. Some days seem like the seconds are barely ticking by and other days just fly by. The girls and I really miss Gene but we are Team Porter and will be just fine. Only 11 more cakes to go!

Spooky

We had a great Halloween this year... way too much candy! The weather was perfect for Trick or Treating. We didn't even need a bunch of layers to stay warm (like last year). Greta was Poppy, our black cat, and Gigi was an Egyptian Princess. We really missed not having Gene with us but the girls and I walked with our neighbors and had a wonderful time. Gene wasn't forgotten... we mailed him all our candy, minus some special pieces that we kept.