Happy Birthday Emilee

Happy 11th Birthday Emilee!!

August 4, 2006, Emilee May joined our family. 

 I blinked and a week ago, we celebrated her 11th birthday.

Traditional Breakfast in Bed

Her birthday party was the Sunday after her birthday.  One tradition in our family, starting with Colleen's first birthday, is to have family and friends over to celebrate.  This gives us an "excuse" to have mini-family reunions at least 4 times a year.  This year, Emilee decided to make her birthday even more special by being baptized on the Sunday following her birthday with one of her BFF's, Emercyn, who celebrates her birthday on August 10!  They had planned the baptism in April (but didn't let their parents in on the plan until about July.)

Emilee and Emercyn before they were baptized.

Sharing her testimony

We we blessed to have 19 friends and family members join us for this exciting morning at FCF!  We missed those who couldn't join us, but know they will be praying for Emilee as she continues to walk with the Lord.

After church, everyone was invited back to the house for lunch.  

Crockpots are one of the best inventions!

There were more people in the dining room, but I forgot to get that picture. 

There was a murder mystery . . . the limo driver did it (he's the one in the hat)!

And the candy ball game (Candy wrapped in saran wrap - unwrap the ball and keep any candy that falls out until the person beside you rolls doubles - then you have to pass the ball to them to start unwrapping.) . . .

And opening gifts, singing "Happy Birthday" and blowing out the candles . . .

So blessed to have family and friends to travel this road with together.  Every moment spent together is a treasure and we are grateful and blessed to journey through life together.

The weekend was full of praises 

and amazing "Wow God" moments . . . 

P.S. - The cake! A lesson in prayer!
My mother-in-law usually makes and decorates the cakes for the birthday parties, but due to a recent surgery, she wasn't able to make one for Emilee.  Not a problem, I can do this.  I've decorated a few other cakes for the kids throughout the year.  Problem is, I forgot that the cakes usually don't turn out quite like I have pictured in my head.

I got the cake pan out, greased it, floured it, mixed up the cake mixes, baked the cake, put it on the counter to cool, and worked on some other party prep - and prayed.  The first prayer was a quick "help this cake turn out."

I came back later to turn the cake out onto the board - much to my dismay, the cake stuck to the pan. First response . . . google:  how to get a cake unstuck from a pan.  Tried it . . . the result . . .it still stuck, but not as bad.  It came on with a few chunks missing.  The picture doesn't quite show the true results.  A corner on the chocolate was not quite a corner, and a chunk was taken out of top on the white side.  Time to walk away.

Pinterest is my go-to - in my search, I found gelatin bubbles . . .which led to an idea for the cake decorations.  I got out the ingredients and started making a mess - and prayed again - this time was more, this one was "please help me with this cake and may it be a blessing to you."

The gelatin bubbles involved dipping balloons in a gelatin mix, letting them dry, dip again, and then let dry overnight.  It's a long time to wait and see if they were going to turn out as hoped.
So I waited and prayed again.

Watch as one one of the bubbles unfolds.

Success!  They turned out better than I expected.  

Now back to the cake.  I put on the crumb icing - and repairing the corner and top.  I was taken back to the days I would watch my dad lay brick and he would use the mortar with skills - to build the way, repair cracks, help put things back together.  And I prayed.   

I got the crumb icing on . . .and got to to resemble a rectangle again.  
Decorating would take place later.  So I went to bed . . .and prayed, again!

In the morning, I made another batch of icing and went to work . . .and prayed.

The result was better that I had hoped.  

Decorating a cake was lesson and a reminder to me that God loves me.  He's in the big stuff and the small stuff.  He helped me decorate a cake.  He helped me keep my temper when I was ready to throw the spatula!  He helped me smooth icing on a cake that did not want to be smoothed.  He granted me wisdom to pick up 2 bags of confectioner's sugar, instead of just one.  The cake wasn't perfect.  It didn't need to be.  The perfect part was the reminder that no matter what, I can call upon Him, and He's there!  To God be the Glory!!