First Creations of 2009

We have had a decent amount of orders as we continue to push towards opening our bakery. We made a treasure chest for a little boy, a lamb for a baby shower, cookies for some little girls turning 9 years old, a 50th birthday party cake and I did my first collaboration with my uncle. I made 100 red velvet cupcakes (not pictured) for the Historic Manassas Inc. open house. My uncle catered the food and so it was fun to do a project where he did his chef thing and I did my pastry chef thing.

The Guitar Heros

We had the pleasure of having Derek Hansen stay with us for 2 weeks while he finished his paperwork that got him out of the military. His family had gone ahead out west to look for a place to live and so we took him in. It was indeed our pleasure and it was nice to spend some quality time before the Hansens would be gone forever.
It was especially nice for Lorne to have some male bonding time with Derek and they enjoyed many a night in the basement playing Lorne's new Wii game, Guitar Hero. They both got very good at it and I had fun watching them jam to the Legends of Rock. On Derek's final night here, I brought out the camera and got some fun pictures of them.

Our Little One is a Sunbeam!

Jasmine has graduated from nursery at church as of the beginning of this year. This means that she is now in mainstream Primary, with the other kids ages 3-12. The year a child turns 4 they become a Sunbeam and it is so cute at the beginning of each year to see the cute Sunbeams sitting on the front row. I get the privilege of being in Primary as I am in charge of the music each and every Sunday.
I was nervous that Jasmine would have a hard time staying in her seat and being good since I was in the room. I was also scared she wouldn't adapt well to the new format she would be in. I am not sure why I was worried since Jasmine loves to be with other kids and she likes doing what the big kids are doing. I had had some problems when I was doing the singing in Nursery because she didn't want to listen to me and she often wanted to lead the music and not let me do my job.
I had nothing to be worried about, her first Sunday in Primary was amazing. She came in and sat down in her class and she stayed there and behaved and tried learning the new songs I was teaching and did well when it was time to go to class as well. She is growing so fast I can hardly believe I have a child old enough to be in Primary. I no longer have a baby!

2008 in Review

We had a great 2008 and look forward to an even better 2009 - I thought to begin the year I would do a little review of 2008 and also a look at what lies ahead for us this year!

2008 Highs

• Started the year in Ontario Canada with our friends The Thorps.
• Jasmine turned 3 years old
• Sabrina trained for 3 months to walk 39 miles in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and raised $2500.
• Paid off Sabrina's Volkswagen Passat.
  
• Lorne made it to President's Club at Oracle by meeting his sales quota.
• Lorne and I traveled to Las Vegas and Banff, Canada to spend some couple time together while Jasmine spent 10 days with her grandparents in Michigan.
• We traveled as a family to Wilmington, NC and had a fabulous time.
• Lorne was called as Elder's Quorum President at church.
• Occasionally Cake won at the Chocolate Lover's Festival in Fairfax, VA - Best in Taste and Best in Show.
• Dear Friends welcomed babies into the world - The Zarcones had Eleana, The Childs had Sarah, The Eplings had Lauren,
• We traveled to Williamsburg, VA with our friends The Childs and The Astles and went to Busch Gardens and a cool water park.
• Sabrina turned 30 in style and had friends come from London, England (Laura Richter) and Christiansburg, VA (Liz Vallejo)
• Were visited by Lorne's family from Australia - brother Neil and new wife Di (in July) and Lorne's Parents (in October)
• Roman Ricks turned a year old.
• Lorne changed jobs so he could secure a better salary.
• We celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.
• We spent more time doing activities with family.
• Lorne and I saw Poison in concert.
• Went to Screen on the Green twice.
• Got pregnant with our second child which we are anxiously awaiting.
• Made some great new friends and cultivated our relationships with dear friends like the Traugers.
• Jasmine started dance class and had her first performance.
• Jasmine began violin lessons.
• We got a new stove and fridge which we sorely needed.
• Started remodeling the basement (new couch, carpet)
• Signed the lease for our new bakery.
• Threw some fun parties - St. Patty's Day, Halloween, Jasmine's Birthday party, just to name a few.
• Had an amazing Christmas season.
• Ended the year on vacation on a cruise!

2008 Lows

• Jasmine broke her wrist and had to wear a cast.
• Found out my grandmother died 2 years earlier and no one had bothered to tell me.
• Had our dear friends The Childs move away.
• Had our dear friends The Hansens move away.
• Construction issues with our basement.
• Accidentally killed 2 goldfish.
• My first cake disaster (Elmo) and marring Lorne's car.

As you can clearly see, we are so blessed in our lives and have so much to be thankful for and know that these blessings come from our Heavenly Father. We are happy and healthy and love our lives. We have some desires for 2009 and will do all we can to make them come true! Here are just a few to look out for this year!

2009 Goals and Hopes

• Have our darling new little baby girl in April 2009
• Open our bakery Occasionally Cake and turn a profit before the end of the year.
• Spend even more time with family members and have more friends come visit us.
• We want to travel together as a family.
• Jasmine's end of the year dance recital.
• Jasmine turning 4 years old!
• Lorne and Sabrina celebrating their 7th wedding anniversary!
• Spending more time with new and old friends.
• Throwing some fun parties.
• Finish the basement remodel.
• Staying happy, healthy and safe.
  
• Better ourselevs as individuals and as a family by drawing closer to Christ.

New Years Vacation Day 7 & 8 - On the Road Again

Getting off the ship was pretty smooth sailing. We had a buffet breakfast for the last time and were off the ship by 8:15 AM. We collected our bags (much like when you check bags at the airport) and Lorne went to get the car. We were on the highway before 9 AM. Jasmine, secure in the backseat watched a movie and Lorne and I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had had and how we weren't ready to leave the luxury sailing behind.
We drove most of the day and stopped at the outskirts of Savannah (after being stuck in some serious Georgia traffic - Again!). We had dinner and relaxed at the hotel for the evening.
Sunday, we got back in the car and drove the rest of the way home. We stopped for lunch at South of the Border - which in my family is a compulsory stop if you are driving by it. We had some Mexican food, posed for a few pictures and drove on. We were home sweet home by 7:30 PM and in bed by 10 PM. We were tired and happy to be home but still wanting to be in vacation mode. Thus ended our last vacation of 2008 and our first of 2009.

New Years Vacation Day 6 - Last Day on Ship and At Sea

Well, I have to say that there isn't a lot to say about the last day on board the ship. We essentially did nothing of importance and I didn't even take a lot of pictures. We got up, had breakfast, went back to our room (while Jasmine went to the Fun Factory) and read a book, I fell asleep nap had a nap, eventually Lorne fell asleep and had a nap, and then we woke up and picked up Jasmine for lunch.
After lunch, Jasmine went back to the Fun Factory and I went to the last art auction on the ship. It was really interesting because as they auction off the art, they tell you about the artist and the paintings and I learned a lot about art and now have a sense of the type of art I like. I didn't buy anything or win anything but I enjoyed sitting there learning.
After the auction, we strolled into the end of the salsa dance lesson and had some more dancing fun. Lorne is such a good dancer, it is a pleasure to dance with him and we had fun being silly and pulling out the sultry moves. One day I want to take a dance class with him - some type of ballroom.
We picked up Jasmine and got ready for dinner. Since it was our last night on the ship, we had Jasmine with us for dinner. The food was again stellar and we had a great time.We dropped Jasmine off at the Fun Factory and we strolled around until Karaoke started. They decided to do it again since it had been so popular before. I was excited and we saw the group we had made friends with the fist night. They were a bunch of characters and they had decided to give out prizes to the singers. Some they had bought at the gift shop and some they had pilfered from around the ship. I was the first one to get a prize and they awarded me with Salt Water Taffy for my rendition of Like a Virgin by Madonna which they thought was even more funny due to the fact that I am noticeably pregnant.Even Lorne got into the fun, which is rare since he doesn't like to sing in public. He actually told me he would sing if I sang with him and so we did our rendition of I Got You Babe and people loved it - they cheered pretty loudly for us and we were awarded 2 vases filled with party snack mix. We didn't eat it and we left it behind. But we had fun.The only thing was that the guy who was running the Karaoke was a bit of a prick and kept letting people who hadn't been sitting there for hours and waiting for their turn, cut in line to sing just because they hadn't sung yet. It made many of us pretty mad because I never did get another turn after I sung at 9 PM and we were there until midnight. I have never seen Karaoke run this way before and I was mad and all of us who had been there the whole time were disappointed.We went and picked up our angel and within minutes of being back in our stateroom, she was fast asleep. We too fell asleep rather quickly as we had to be up early in the morning to depart the ship.

New Years Vacation Day 5 - Grand Cayman Island

How lucky are we that we got to be at Grand Cayman Island for he 1st day of the year? I would say very lucky. And blessed. I can think of no better way to start the beginning of the year than a fun day with my family.
After breakfast (I will stop harping about it now) - we got ready and headed off the ship to figure out what we wanted to do. These ports of call are always full of locals trying to get you to do the activities they are touting and this one was no different. We had made the decision not to book any excursions on the ship because they were very expensive and we figured we would be able to find our own for much less. We were right.We walked around for a bit to get the lay of the land and see some of the shopping they had close by. They always have a lot of jewelry stores and stores full of knickknacks. After we had enough of that we found a local that was offering a tour of the island for a good price with stops in some interesting places. We decided this would be the best way to spend our time and so we went for it. It was a good choice.
Our driver was a local man who was very funny and entertaining. Also full of information. We sat in his bus with about 12 other people. He showed us so many interesting things. He started with showing us all the banks on the island and made several jokes about people and their secret accounts in those banks. We saw the Governor's House, the place Tom Cruise stays when he comes (which is also the place where some great scenes in his movie The Firm were filmed). We saw the 7 mile beach and the oldest houses on the island. This alone was very impressive because the amount of hurricanes and tropical disasters that have hit the Cayman Islands is intense. They are still trying to recover from a hurricane in 2004. You can see this destruction a lot as you drive around.Our first stop where we got to get out and have a look around was in Hell. This place took its name from an interesting lava rock formation there. It is a small village and it has a post office and a few little tourist shops. We stopped at one of the tourist shops and got to take a closer look at the cool rock formations and wildlife. We saw a massive iguana in a tree but I wasn't able to capture it on film.We got back on the bus and the next stop was at a Rum Store where we were able to sample many flavors of rum cake and others were able to sample the different flavors of rum. It was a neat little store but therein was the problem - it was little and there were a lot of people in there. After buying some rum cakes to give out at home as gifts, we were back on the bus to see more.Our final stop before heading back was the turtle farm they have on Grand Cayman. The island was once called Tortuga because it was heavily populated with sea turtles but since there was so much hunting of them for their meat and shells, there were in danger of extinction and so now they have a place where they control the turtle population. To save a little cash, Lorne sent Jasmine and I in to the farm to see the turtles and I learned so much from our tour guide there. I learned that here they breed turtles, they release them back into the wild and they consume a certain percentage. It is illegal to hunt turtle so the only place you can eat turtle meat and soup is to come to this place.Jasmine was fascinated and her favorite part was when she got to hold a turtle herself. These were 12 month old turtles and she wasn't scared at all. She was so excited and smiled for the camera. I too, decided to hold a turtle because I knew if I didn't, I would get teased by Lorne. It was actually kind of cool to hold it and I enjoyed it a lot. Jasmine was so taken by them that she kissed the turtle twice while I was holding it and told the story to everyone she got a chance to talk to afterward.As we drove back to where we had been picked up, we were shown some of the beautiful golf courses on the island and more hotels. We were pretty tired when we got back so we got on the boat that would take us back to our ship. I just loved the color of the water there in the Caribbean and wished we had a bit more time for swimming. The only other thing I would have loved to do was to go on a glass bottom boat, as they have beautiful coral reefs and fish there but when we went investigating, they weren't running as many boats that day because they were giving people time to recuperate from the New Years festivities.After re-boarding the boat, Jasmine had her next special VIP activity to attend. She went backstage at the theater and got to meet the cast and try on some of the costumes. Mommy and Daddy were not able to go so we sent the camera with her again and they got some cute pictures. She loved being able to try on the costumes and we were happy she got to have a special thing she got to do on her own.While she did that, Lorne and I relaxed on deck and watched the boat leave the dock. The views of Grand Caymen were so pretty I couldn't help but snap some parting shots and take it all in.Pretty soon it was time for dinner and we got another night to enjoy on our own as Jasmine decided she wanted to eat with her Fun Factory friends. Food again, excellent and we got a special treat for dessert. They had baked Alaska on the menu and so all the restaurant staff had a baked Alaska parade and we were introduced to the various chefs on the boat. It was fun and we were told to wave our napkins during the parade. The baked Alaska was very yummy and the whole spectacle of the thing was hilarious.After dinner, we went up a few decks to one of the nightclubs where they were doing kids disco night and took a few pics of Jasmine dancing. We only stayed 10 minutes because when Jasmine saw we were there she no longer wanted to dance and started being a bit bratty. I don't think she wanted us there because as we started to leave and she looked around and thought we were gone, she stared dancing again - what a little sassy one!We headed back to the theater for the 4th time to see the show Liverpool Nights - which is a show that takes place in London and has very 60's costumes and rock music. It was pretty good but a bit hard to follow. Still, the quality was good and we were entertained.We headed back to the fun factory afterwards to pick up Jasmine and she was engrossed in a movie - Beauty and the Beast that they were showing there and it was cute to see her sitting with the other kids and paying attention - I snapped a few pics and we waited a bit so she didn't feel ripped away from her activity. When she was ready to go, she came running to us and was happy to come back to the room, eat the chocolate on her pillow and fall fast asleep.