This Month is Such a Special One!

It's birthday month for the Ogdens!  We have 6 birthdays in April: my brother Wes, both my parents, Emmy, Brett, and my brother-in-law Matt.  It was the busiest birthday month growing up and now we've added 2 April birthdays by marriage and one April grandchild.  (I would love to add to that number in the future because I think spring is the ideal time to have a baby...or at least the ideal time to end being pregnant.  It was so hard to be pregnant last summer!)

Anyway, here are some pictures of the celebrations we were a part of.

My parents are 2 years and 2 days apart which I have always thought was so cool.  It was right after General Conference and we were all feeling sugared out from eating cinnamon rolls all weekend, so I made a Fruit Pizza that we enjoyed after dinner at Outback Steak House.

Brett's birthday came next and we surprised him with a super chocolatey cake.  Two layers of chocolate cake separated by chocolate mousse and covered with chocolate ganache.  It was my first time making it and I didn't let the ganache set up enough before pouring it over and messed up with the gelatin in the ganache, but it was still delicious! 

How lucky am I to be married to this amazing guy?

 And Aaron thought the candles looked pretty awesome.  He was very confused when the flames went away after we sang.  He was like, "Give me that awesome cake!"

And then he and Brett were like, "That sure was funny, huh?"  I love these two handsome men!

 Emmy had her cake all planned out a week ahead of time, so we decorated it together during nap time.  As with most things, it took longer than expected and the afternoon ended with cereal for dinner (I've never done that before; I felt like such a failure, but no one else seemed to mind!).  Here is Emmy's mermaid cake featuring curly red hair, a modest dress, and sea shell necklace and sleeves.  Now you see why we wait for Daddy to come home to draw things for us! :)  But I did it, and she loved it!

 Emmy got to share her birthday with a very special family event: Garratt's return from serving with the National Guard in Afghanistan!  She didn't mind sharing the lime light; in fact I think it helped because she doesn't like a lot of attention.  We had a BBQ at my parents' house with all my family but Wes, Cami and James who live in Barstow.  It is so nice to have Garratt home!

Emmy got spoiled with presents that she loves.  We got her a real suitcase, a book about dogs, and a book she chose from the book fair at school.  Abby got her 2 squirt guns so they can play together when it's hot outside.  (Abby ruined the surprise last week but it made Emmy all the more excited for her birthday!) 

The Sanders gave Emmy a darling rag doll (just like Laura Ingalls!) with a dress, bonnet, and braided yarn hair that Julie made.  All the pictures are terrible quality because she was being a pill so we were all being sneaky and taking pictures with our phones when she was distracted.  It was fun get texts from all the siblings with the shots they captured.  Thanks, guys!

 Grandma and Grandpa (well, mostly Grandma) filled a three drawer cart with scrapbook supplies, fabric, and notions to replenish the sewing kit they gave last year. 

And Uncle Garratt's gift came last, in two big boxes, and stole the show. 

A cotton candy maker!  She was literally jumping up and down.

Garratt got all the supplies as well, so we can make blue raspberry, cherry, and grape flavored cotton candy for our 100 closest friends. :)  We went straight to the kitchen to try it out that evening, and we've already made a few more batches today.  What a lucky niece!

And we still get to celebrate with the Okelberry clan tomorrow!  The fun doesn't end!