29

I have hit it.  29.  I remember when I was younger and my Grandpa would always tell us he was 29 when we asked how old he was.....and now I am that number, and plan to be that number for the rest of my life! :)  Yes, it is a little difficult for me to realize I am the age that I am, but it also makes me very grateful that I have lived to be 29 and that I have a wonderful husband, two beautiful kids, and wonderful families and friends in my life.  Also, I have done so many amazing things in the 29 years I have lived so I am so thankful!

For my birthday, I was pampered a bit.  I received my first facial (amazing!!), had my eyebrows shaped, my roots colored, went to my favorite Mexican restaurant here in Davenport, and spent all day with J and my two favorite kids in the world.  That is all I wanted.  L told me Happy Birthday every chance she could and S gave me so many loves and kisses, well he always does but it seemed like there were a couple extra that day!

On Sunday we had some good friends come over for dinner and I made this amazing cake.....seriously, I really don't think I have had better chocolate cake in my life....I will never go back to a box cake mix.  I was in a summery mood so I picked this cake, but will definitely use this cake recipe for future bakes.  I took out the coconut flavoring and extract and just used the shredded coconut for flavor.  Make sure you toast the coconut.....it is the best!

Dreamy Coconut-Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream Cheese Frosting

Source: Sugar and Spice by Celeste

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa (I prefer Ghirardelli)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 teaspoons coconut extract

1 cup boiling water

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a different bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and coconut extract; Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat on medium speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water...the batter will be very thin!

Pour batter into the prepared pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely and add icing...along with the toasted coconut on the top of each layer.

Coconut Cream Cheese Icing

Source:  allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon coconut flavoring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted (see note below)

Directions:

1.Beat the cream cheese and butter in a mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, one cup at a time, alternating with heavy cream. Beat in the salt, coconut flavoring, and vanilla extract. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and spreadable. Add additional confectioners' sugar if necessary to thicken the frosting, or more cream to thin. Stir in the coconut. If desired, spoon toasted coconut evenly over frosted cake.

***To properly toast the shredded coconut, simply spread the coconut in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 5 - 10 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Keep a close eye on the coconut while it's in the oven, because it tends to brown quickly!  You may need to stir the coconut around on the baking sheet a few times, in order to avoid over-browning.  The pieces of coconut near the outer edges will probably brown the quickest.***

Smile.

While living here in Davenport I have had two amazing friends who have let me use their talents in capturing our family with their photography skills!  Erica and Dawn.  Erica moved back west a few months ago, her hubby is a fellow Palmer student.  Dawn moved here from Florida about a year ago and we were destined to meet!  She grew up in Vegas and actually went to middle school with J......small world right?  Anyway, I wanted some pictures taken of us at a favorite park and at our home before we moved so I am so happy Dawn could take them for us!  Here are some of my favorite shots......when did my little sweeties get so big?  Poor little S was recovering from hand, foot, and mouth disease so there are not too many closeups of him...:)

I LOVE Lila's face in this picture...

J looks so cute in this!

Overlooking the mighty Mississippi

Hot Mess.

Today I was a hot mess.  I was released as the 2nd Counselor in our Primary.  I knew it was coming, the president and myself are moving next month so I figured we would be released sometime within the month......I just hadn't prepared for today.  I got the call yesterday and was doing fine....then I walked into church today and instantly was overcome with the Spirit.  

This calling was my absolute favorite.  I loved, loved going to church every Sunday to be with the children of the Church and hearing their sweet testimonies and answers.  I feel like I learned so much from each one of them, way more than what they got out of me!  My testimony of the church grew immensely while serving them for the past year or so.  I know Heavenly Father wanted me to be in that calling during this time.  It helped calm me.  It helped me realize how sweet and innocent and special children are, how they are so eager to learn and take in information like sponges.  It helped me realize I needed to simplify life.  It helped me gain a stronger testimony.  It taught me lessons and things that I can teach my own children.  I am so so grateful for the opportunity to serve the children of the Davenport 2nd Ward!  I also was able to serve with amazing women that were in the presidency.  All four of them (one of them was released awhile back) taught me so many things and I cherish those friendships and their examples to me.  

While I am on the subject of church, I might as well add that our ward here is absolutely amazing.  I am going to miss it so so much.  I don't think we will ever have a ward that will match this one.  Every member is in a different situation in life and we all support each other and I really feel like when we move we will be leaving family.  They have been my family for over 4 years and the friends I have made here are special and will be hard to find somewhere else.  You all know who you are. :)  I love how we are a thousand miles away from most of our families and from familiar places and things, we are able to come to this ward and still feel  that same Spirit.  That is seriously what I love about the Church!  I feel like if we moved here and were not members, we would have had a hard time.  I wouldn't have many friends or any sort of support system.  Anyway, what I am saying is that I am so glad we decided to move here and spend the past 4 years here.  I know we will look back and cherish all of the memories we have made!

Don't think this is the last post that will be written about moving........:)

Easter

After church on Sunday I took pictures of the kid's in their Easter outfits. I took about 25 of them, but for some reason they did not want to smile. Oh well, they still look cute to me! A good friend of mine showed me how to make bow-ties so I HAD to make one for S.....doesn't he look like a little stud? L is so beautiful and is constantly telling us she is a princess!

HAHA!

S and his girlfriend!

Chi-Town

Easter weekend J had Friday off so we decided to take one last trip to Chicago before we headed out of the Midwest in June.  To be honest, we had only really been to downtown one time with our friends who lived there, four years ago when we first moved out here!  After leaving on Saturday, I wish we would have gone more.....I seriously LOVED being there.  We have been to the suburbs more, but there is something about being downtown in a big city that I love.  We left super early on Thursday and went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was amazing!  It is a free to get in, parking just costs money.....and after paying for that we see why it is free.  Anyway, it was so fun and had amazing exhibits.  It was a little chilly but most of the animals were out and were pretty entertaining.  The tiger, the monkeys and apes, the rhinos (well, those just stood there but they were neat), and the polar bear were our favorites!  L keeps talking about how the tiger growled and how the white bear was swimming and playing with a ball.  She LOVED it and the looks on her face were priceless.  She even went on the carousel and had the biggest smile the entire time.  S was content as can be and he pointed at every animal he saw and said something in his sweet little language.  Having kids is the best.......you can relive your childhood every day.

After the zoo we headed to our hotel which was right downtown a few blocks from Navy Pier and right on the Chicago River.  By the time we checked in and got settled, it was almost 8 and we figured it would be best to just relax and stay in the room.  We had an enormous room with two enormous windows facing the skyscrapers of Chicago.....it was amazing.  The kids loved it too.  We ordered our favorite Chicago pizza (Lou Malnati's) and stuffed our faces, enjoyed the views, watched some tv, and passed out in the most comfortable bed we have ever slept in.


On Saturday morning we hung out in the room and headed to the suburbs for some shopping.  It was such a fun trip and I am SO glad we decided to go!

Sunshine

"In the Spring, I find the world to be wonderful." TS Eliot

It has been SO beautiful for the past few weeks so we have spent most days outside.....I LOVE Iowa in the Spring. The magnolia trees are my absolute favorite and I am planning on having one in my yard someday. We will miss this place lots when we move in 2 1/2 months.......TWO AND A HALF MONTHS!!! I seriously can't believe it. Well, that is a whole other post....

S is walking....he is taking it slow though, which is fine. I feel like once they both can walk/run it will be them versus Mom. L is so smart and I love having conversations with her, she is basically potty trained and is such a sweetheart....especially to her little brother. J is in his last trimester ever at school and just finished up with some boards and takes more next month. Can't wait until the days when school tests are over. Picture time!!!

At one of our favorite parks in the East Village of Davenport

He thinks he is pretty funny

This is "her" face

Planting seeds