Starting again!

Here I am! Sorry about the absence, I lost interest and was focused on other parts of life. It happens. So onto the updates on our lives:

A few days after Charlie died we went camping with my mom, sister and grandparents for a whole week. It was a wonderful escape from my sadness. I hadn't been camping in years and I had been wanting to go so badly. We went to Woods Canyon up on the rim between Payson and Heber. Chloe had a ball! She was constantly covered in dirt and was always picking up rocks, pinecones, sticks, handfuls of pine needles, you get the idea. She played from sun up to sun down with a nap in the middle of the day. I chatted with my grandma (Nannie) and played cards till I nearly couldn't stand it anymore but I loved it! I had a giant 10 person tent for just me and Chloe and Preston too once he joined us for the last few days. My mom and Selena spent a lot of time fishing with my Grandad in his little boat on Woods Canyon Lake. Claire and Selena's puppy Scout ran and ran and ran all over the woods. We had them tied up but after the 45th time of untangling them during the first day there we just set them loose. Every once in a while we would call them back just to make sure they didn't get very far. They only didn't come back right away once and it turned out they were sleeping in a tent. Winston (my brother Josh's mini dachshund) was there too and he explored a lot but mostly slept the whole time. All together they were pretty cute and really fun to watch. It was all so relaxing and I cannot wait to go again. I was unplugged from all internets and phones (my blackberry died in the humidity up there anyways). We are going again in July but for 2 weeks this time. I've already got my packing list together and am remembering all the things I wished I had had while I was there last time. I am ready!

My latest "thing" that I've been enjoying the heck out of is cakes! I have been having so much fun with it, exploring my natural talent and expanding it. Turns out I have a knack for it. The funny part is that the part I struggle with is actually assembling the layers of cake. Everything else I've been picking up pretty easy without any previous practice or experience. My mom used to make cakes when I was little and I guess I watched her more than either of us ever thought. She's been helping me and teaching me with the stuff I'm more shaky at but is still always impressed with my final results.  

We started with my cousin Adam's wedding cake. My aunt actually asked my mom to do it but I came over to help because I was fascinated and wanted so badly just to touch and play with that fondant stuff. Turned out she hadn't ever worked with it and I had watched enough Food Network to know for the most part what to do. Together we figured it out and it came out decent but still amateur. The wedding colors were black and white and they didn't really care what it looked like so we decided on polka dots and the top layer looked like a small gift. I was HOOKED! I almost immediately found a reason to make another. I made one for one of my best friends who needed some special love on her birthday. It was sea foam green with pink feathers (I made by hand) on top to compliment a running joke between us from our dance class when we were little about an awful costume, and a dance recital gone wrong. Her mom loved it and asked me to make a birthday cake for her mom's birthday, I seem to have lost the picture of the finished cake all together but I have one of the top and one of the bottom. They were orange, white and a burgundy color with flowers and swirls. Selena loved that one so she had me make her and her friends make a cake for their homecoming dance. Their theme was something to do with Vegas so I made little fondant dice and hand piped a pair of aces with pink hearts. Next I made one for another bff Ciera for her birthday with a Dia De Los Muertos theme. Next was Chloe's 2nd birthday and I did a two tier white cake with green vines and pink flowers hand piped all over it. And my last one was my cousin Kyrie's wedding cake. Three pearly white tiers with a crisscross pattern pressed into it for a quilted looks and little hand made candy jewels in each intersection. Pics of each one, I hope you can tell which one is which:

In sadder news. We had a miscarriage at the end of September. I didn't know I was pregnant until it happened so other than hormones it wasn't too emotional for me. It was still hard because we've been trying since last February. I figured out I was only 4 or 5 weeks along. We are hopeful about continuing to try for our next little sweetheart, but, if not for the miscarriage I would be worried about infertility by now. I've had a lot of time to think about my next pregnancy and delivery and I for sure will be getting a new doctor and trying out some more holistic approaches for a v-bac. I feel robbed after not getting the chance to push out my own kid and Dr. Tutt doesn't do v-bacs and he doesn't believe I can deliver normally. I need some faith from my own doctor darn it!

We do have a new addition to our family, though, she's a little more canine than I had planned... Her name is Lucy. She's a lot like Charlie, part Italian Greyhound, part Chihuahua. Very very cute and has her own perky personality. We love her already. My friend Ciera gave her to us because she didn't have the time or dog friendly space she needed. This was a great option for all of us. She can visit her "baby" anytime she wants, Claire gets a new buddy, and I love the new puppy cuddles. We call Ciera the "bio-ish-mom" and I'm the "Foster-mom" hahahahaha! There's a picture of her on the right side of the page with our family pictures. 

Well I'll finish up my novel here. Sorry again for the lengthy dry spell. I won't promise to try harder to keep up with it, but I will try harder to at least post about the bigger stuff. Love you all!