A New Car, Fun Get Togethers, and a Yummy Cake

I forgot to post about our new car. Really it is Ryan's. He bought a 2001 vw bug about a year ago. For the price it was a great deal. And it got great gas mileage. But really it is not what he really wanted. About a month ago he had been visualizing getting an expedition. Just a few days later Trent and Sarah traded theirs in for a new one. Once Ryan found that out he called them up and got the car for almost the same that Trent and Sarah traded it for. Yeah for Ryan. It is really nice to drive and we totally love it. Thanks again Trent and Sarah!

Sarah took these pictures. The kids love taking pictures.

Erynne's friend Ashley spent the night Friday night. The girls love it. She did Sarah's Hair in cute braids with little white bows. Sarah told me, "Ashley's my friend." I remember bugging my brother and his friends when I was little. Erynne is good and has a nice relationship with the girls. Last night Ryan and I went to conference for our church and Erynne stayed home with the kids. She set goals with them and had a good bonding experience. Having Erynne here has been good for Emma. She needs a little extra special love and Erynne seems to be able to give that to her.

Erynne also did Emma's hair with these adorable curls.

Ashley's masterpiece.

We had Easter dinner at Ryan's Mom and Dads. It was a nice Sunday. Here is Ryan and his brother eating ice cream. Ryan loves anything sweet and I guess it is something all of the brothers have a habit of doing. All of us girls are much more health conscious so it is funny that all the brothers have to have their sweets. I was trying to get a real sweet picture of Josh on the stairs. He kept jumping off. So we put Joseph in the picture but that was a joke. Joseph just kept trying to "squish" him.

I love this angle with me and Joseph in the back ground.

Jared was eating salsa and some how splattered it up all over his face. When I saw it I thought it was blood and it really worried me. Oh boy the joy of boys!
Last night we had a our monthly birthday party at with Ryan's family. We got to see family that we have not seen in a long time, like Aunt Terri and Uncle Brian. Ryan's cousin Andrew was there also. The last time we saw him he was around 13. He is now around Ryan's height and all grown up. Erynne gave a really good presentation on the law of importance. It is something she and Ryan have been studying for work. I will post more on that at another point.

I made this cake for the party and it is the best cake I have ever made. It was super easy and soooooooo good. I bake a 10 inch cake using the full cake mix. Then I cut it into 3 layers. Each layer was lined with pecans and covered with homemade caramel. Then I drenched the top layer with caramel. YUMMMY! I also made a German chocolate.

I got the recipe off the Internet. I searched on Google pictures for chocolate cake and found this. The lady made up the recipe herself after having something similar at a restaurant.

Cinnamon Pecan Caramel Chocolate Cake
Recipe By: Lynn Kellogg
Ingredients:
18.25 oz box chocolate cake mix, plus ingredients it requires, made according to directions and baked two 9” pans. ( I used a 10 inch and cut it into 3 layers so their was much more carmel them cake)

Caramel Sauce Ingredients:
2 to 3 c. pecans

1 c. butter
2/3 c. heavy cream
2 ¼ c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Preparation:
Bake your cake in two 9” pans and cut each cake into two layers.
To prepare caramel sauce: In a heavy saucepan, melt / boil butter, cream and brown sugar. When candy thermometer reaches 230 F, mix in cinnamon and turn off burner. Then, mix in vanilla.
To assemble: On first layer of cake, sprinkle a handful of pecans. (I arranged them whole around each edge then crushed up in the center) Keep them toward the outside, so if your cake isn't level, it will not begin to "mound" in the center. Then, drizzle sauce (heavily for my friends, perhaps lightly for yours) over nuts and cake. Repeat these steps with the next two layers. For the top layer, place a circle of pecan halves, then sprinkle the center with the chopped nuts. Drizzle away with this last layer, so it runs over the sides.