Check out Etsy

I've just spent the last few hours updating the Etsy store. I still have a few hours to go. If anyone's interested here are some of the bow's I've done recently, they will all be for sale on Etsy, and at the boutique on Friday.

Our first boutique

Just letting everyone know about the boutique this week.
Who: Lil' Sister's (Kim and Brena)
When: Friday April 24th
Where: Children's Academy Preschool
6910 Highland Dr Salt Lake City, UT 84121
Time: 2:00-7:00 PM
Come and see all the fun things we've been working on!!!!

Family Night

On the first Sunday of every month, we get together with my family for Family night. One person is in charge of the main part of the meal, and everyone else is assigned something to bring to go with it. We have a lesson and a fun activity usually. Other than that we just sit around and visit and enjoy each others company. I got my camera out to take some pictures of the happenings yesterday. My nieces Camden and Teagan took over from there. Here are some of the pictures that came from the experience. The two cute little girls are Camden and Teagan.

The last week

I was talking to Chase yesterday saying that I felt like I needed to blog, but didn't feel like I had anything interesting to say. So I decided to share pictures of a few things I've been up to this last few weeks, but mostly this week.

Chase was editing some music, and Gus decided it was the perfect time to lay with daddy to help him out. Usually he will lay in the crack next to you, not today! He wanted to lay right on top of Chases arm. Chase was annoyed and I had to make him sit still long enough for me to take the picture.

I got a sewing machine. I just happened to mention to my mom that I would like to get one eventually, so if she saw a good deal to let me know. She was talking to someone that works at the temple with her, and the lady said "do you know anyone that wants a sewing machine?" Mom proceeded to ask why, the lady explained that she had a sewing machine and table that she was wanting to sell. She had only used the machine once and decided she didn't want to be a seamstress. Mom asked how much and it was only $150, even without asking me mom said we would take it. I'm so excited to have it, and even more excited that it didn't cost me a ton, it's so nice, and is getting lots of use these days. :) Here are a few things I've been using the sewing machine on.

Crayon rolls, more of these to come.

Making hooded towels, I still have a lot of work on these. They are having a boutique at Chases sister Kelsey's work on the 30th of April, so I'm working on getting a bunch of stuff ready to sell there. I've made over 60 hair bows this week too. Whatever doesn't sell at the boutique will be listed on my Etsy store.

Hanging out with this cool dude!

And freezing. Burrrrr....

We are staying at Brena and Jereds this week while they are in Florida on vacation. Yesterday the brand new furnace decided to freak out, and blow freezing cold air. I call Brena in a semi-panic. She tells me to call the company that installed the furnace, and have them come and fix it. They came out a few hours later and reset the furnace, showed me how to reset it if I needed, and left. The house warmed up, and Chase and I thought nothing more. At about 10 p.m. last night it was freezing again, so I reset the furnace, and it warmed up again. I woke up this morning to this temperature on the thermostat, and cold air blowing out of the vents. Jered called the company again, and they just came out. Hopefully the furnace quits freaking out, because I feel bad bugging them on their vacation.

I feel better

I forgot on my last post that I was going to tell everyone how I've been feeling. Since being on the acid reflux medicine I have felt good almost every day since starting on it. I can tell when I've had too many sweets because I feel sick to my stomach afterwards. I'm waiting on a call from the doctor hopefully tomorrow to find out what will be the permanent course of action. Yay for medicine that works. :)

Happy Birthday Kyle

It was Chases brother Kyles birthday today, he turned the big 24! After the birthday cake that I did for the in laws, and the hit that it was I decided to try another. It was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, and blue and green fondant as can be seen in the pictures. Thanks Brena and mom for all the help, and your ideas.

The birthday boy enjoyed it!!! I think he had the piece on his plate eaten before anyone else had even gotten any. I'd say it was a hit.

The Cake

So today was the day to cut open the cake, everyone was excited to see what kind of cake it was. I wasn't about to tell. It was a surprise. Yum to Neapolitan cake. Everyone loved the cake and the fondant, and I hardly saw any go in the trash.
I also wanted to let everyone know the changes mom and I made to the recipe. Instead of using 2 Tbsp of water in the beginning we just used 3 Tbsp, we also added 1tsp of clear vanilla after heating and before pouring the marshmallows into the powdered sugar. Also only 1/4 Cup of shortening, use about half for greasing your hands and mix the other half into the melted marshmallow mixture. Sift the powdered sugar into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Pour in the marshmallow mixture, and grease hands. Fold the powdered sugar around the marshmallow mixture, it will still be messy. But you won't have the mess on your counter to clean up, you can do the whole process in a bowl.
Make sure after you have covered your cake and trimmed the bottom that you poke a few small vent holes with a needle or pin, or the sides of your cake will end up full of air and bowed like mine did. (sorry don't have a picture to prove my point.)
I'm sure learning a lot about cake decorating, I think I'm ready to try doing a cake all on my own now, guess we'll see.

A tasty creation

A birthday cake for my inlaws.

It was both of Chases parents birthdays this week, and since they have been enjoying the sun in Mexico we haven't been able to celebrate yet. I headed over to my mom and dads on Monday to bake the cake and get it in the freezer, as well as make fondant. I'd found a new recipe on my sister Brenas sister in law Lara's blog, for this yummy looking marshmallow fondant. Moms been making cake for longer than I've been around, and always used the regular fondant, which I think tastes like play dough, yuck!!! So we decided to try the marshmallow fondant out, and since I needed a birthday cake it was the perfect time to try it out. Mom came over today to help me decorate the cake, it was way too easy, usually we have to fight with the fondant. Not today it just fell perfectly on the cake, didn't crack and took a total of maybe 2 minutes to make look perfect. Even better this fondant tastes delicious (I want to actually eat it off my piece of cake and not throw it in the trash), and is quite inexpensive. Mom and I are both converted, she will be using this stuff on every cake she does from now on.
I think it turned out pretty cute, What do you all think? Hope Guy and Vicki like it, If not I'll be in sugar heaven for a few days.

If you didn't get all my links to the fondant recipe you can find it here!

Phantom

Chase and I are so lucky to have the parents that we have. It just happens that Chases parents have season tickets to the productions at Hale Centre Theatre. They are in Mexico for their birthdays, so Chase and I were able to go see Phantom using their tickets. It was a great production. The acting was great and the actress who played Christine had a beautiful voice, the music was mediocre (and totally different from the broadway production), but definantly not the Phantom I have come to know and love. And I'm not just referring to the movie version that came out a few years ago (I've only watched that once). When I was 12 years old I was able to see the real broadway type production while on vacation with my parents in Atlanta. I didn't really understand it then, but loved the music. My sisters found out later and my dad took Catrina and Brena and one of their friends to see it in San Francisco.
Thanks again Guy and Vicki for the great date night!!

Music

Well hello all you bloggers out there. I have decided to blog something today. Kinda crazy huh? I never blog. That’s because of the wonderful job my wife does here. Well I wanted to let all of you in on a project I am doing! Trying to hype myself up here. I am currently working on a Piano music CD! That’s right! If you did not know this already I will give you some background on my musical somewhat of a talent.
I started in band in the seventh grade playing the Tuba. That big brass instrument in the back of the band. Well I fell in love with music and practiced my heart out that year. That is pretty much all I did all day after school was practice! I even went in the band room at lunch to practice. I call that dedication, others would call that being a band geek. Whichever you want to call it, I got good. I made it passed beginners band into intermediate, then advanced, and then into Concert band all in one year! I made first chair in tryouts for state band also! When I made it into high school I was one of the best tuba players in the northwest area of the States. Sophomore year I changed instruments to the Euphonium (baritone) which is a smaller version of a Tuba. Well it seemed I had a career in music from all the talk of my teachers and the hype about me. What happened? Why didn’t I keep on this path? I moved to Utah and then was in a band at school that was worst in state. And I mean the worst! Kinda lost interest I guess.
Well what about the piano you say? I learned how to read music from my band experience. My great grandma who lives here in Utah still, gave me an old upright grand (year made 1910) when I was 13 I believe and my mother started me in Piano lessons. Those lasted about a month. The problem was I had already gone through the book before I took lessons and my piano teacher wanted to keep me in the same book. I quit after about a month due to it being so boring and easy. Here is a lesson to all you piano teachers, if you have a student who is advanced in music for being natural or whatever, please make it not so boring for them. Get them a new teacher they deserve if you are not advanced enough to teach this student. So I was on my own now. I ended up teaching myself which was good and bad. I must have played four to five hours a day for that first year of my piano life. I wrote my first song when I was 14 (maybe I should clean it up a bit and put it on this CD I am working on). I have written and improved so many songs over the years.
So here I am today, still in love with music. I am now putting together a piano CD and also working on composing orchestrations. Hopefully I will have this CD completed soon. I am working on the fourth song right now. Go to www.myspace.com/chaseismusic to listen to my piano songs! Currently there is only one song on there but soon I will put more on there. Sorry for the long read. Now you know my music history. Thanks for reading!