Birthdays and Garden After Dark

Sunday was David's birthday. That day we also officially celebrated Joe's and Ameera's birthdays. Joe, David, and I met up with my parents and Ethan, Jessica, and James at the Planetarium. We walked around for a while, looking at the exhibits and playing with James. Then, we headed over to Z Tejas, the restaurant we go to every year for David/Joe birthday dinner. We had some really tasty food and then headed to E and J's for birthday cake!

My mom and I had gone to Granite Bakery (where we got our wedding cake) and picked out a fun Halloween theme cake. We picked spice cake with apple filling and a caramel buttercream frosting. It was so yummy!


The cake! (All the decorations on the top were made of chocolate)

Tonight, for date night, Joe and I went to something new. We went to Red Butte Garden's Garden after dark. It was cold, but we bundled up and got a caramel apple before heading up the garden path. It was really pretty and there were some fun activities. One of my favorite things that we did was floating lamps: we decorated special papers and rolled them up to make lanterns. Then we taped our lanterns onto paper plates and put tea lights inside. They lit the candles and then we floated our lanterns on the water. It was so pretty to see dozens of lanterns floating on the water.

We didn't bring our camera, but here are some pictures of things we made. (I am such a kid. I love little crafty things like these!)


Australian Faeries


Roman potion bottles filled with lavender and allspice


Our painted pumpkin, a grey kitty of course!

Haunted Hollow

I love October. I love the weather, I love the leaves, I love Halloween. And I lovelovelove something Joe and I discovered last year. It was the Haunted Forest in American Fork- an outdoor Haunted House (spook alley) through the woods. It was beyond awesome. Woods are creepy anyway, especially in the dark. Add in some people who are really good at scaring/surprising you and it makes for a really fun night.

This year, we decided to try their other location, Haunted Hollow in Ogden. It's very similar- winding paths through the woods, all sorts of scary people/things. It's a little cheaper and a little smaller, but it was just as scary. Joe was laughing at me because I was screaming so much (I don't get very scared in "traditional" inside haunted houses). They just do such an amazing job.

www.hauntedutah.com is their website. They have coupons for weeknights. Both are a bit of a drive and a little pricey, but they are SO worth it!

My Cake Boss day (sort of)

Have you ever seen the show Cake Boss? This guy makes seriously amazing cakes. Today was my wonderful husband's birthday and I wanted to make him a really special dessert. The cake I made wasn't as awesome as the ones in the show, but I think I did a pretty good job. :)

Months ago, Joe mentioned that he would like to have a baseball cake someday. I found a baseball cake making set and hid it away until today. He worked on some house projects (that will be blogged) and I set to work baking Joe's surprise baseball cake.


Cake batter baking in the oven


Done baking


I had to cut the cakes so they would fit together


Cooling


Homemade buttercream frosting


Frosted


Decorated! (The lines aren't perfect, but I've never decorated a cake before)


25 years old


Surprise!


Happy Birthday, Love

Castle Creek Inn x2

It's fall break at the U right now. We couldn't really go anywhere because of Joe's work and school obligations, but we wanted to do something fun. It had to be really short so we decided we'd do a "staycation" and stay in a fun hotel for one night. We looked at several in Park City and some in Salt Lake. Our very favorite hotel (where we stayed after the wedding) was having a sun-wed special so we decided to take a mid-week break and booked Wednesday night in the Edinburgh room at Castle Creek Inn.

Wednesday afternoon, we hopped in the car, stopped for a bottle of wine, and headed to the castle. At check inn, they asked if we wanted a room upgrade. Um, Yes! We were upgraded to Romeo and Juliet, one of the inn's nicest rooms. We even got our own balcony. :)

We got Chinese take out and ate dinner outside. After dinner, we turned on the fireplace and watched movies. One of the best things about Castle Creek Inn is the steady supply of freshly baked cookies, popcorn, and soda. I gave my diet the night off.

This morning, we went to the dining room for breakfast. The first course was lemon poppyseed bread and grapefruit. The second course was cinnamon waffles, cheddar hashbrowns, and sausage. With coffee, tea, and orange juice. It was so yummy!


Our room! Picture is a little dark


Bed and balcony doors


Set up for dinner


Back door of the castle


In the garden. This pond had fish in it


More garden


A frog