Birthdays and Farewells

Since I was gone for Nick's 30th birthday, we've been stretching out the celebrations. We decided to have a party for him on June 30th and combine it with a farewell party for our good friends the Garrisons, who are currently en-route to their new home in California.

It all started with the 30-layer birthday cake my friend Thais and I made. Half chocolate, half yellow cake with raspberry filling. It was a lot of work, but it turned out looking pretty good. Here's the process in case you're interested. If not, feel free to skip straight to the party pictures.

I baked 1 cake mix in a sheet cake pan so the layers would be nice and thin.

Next we measured the squares and used dental floss to cut straight across.

 

 

 

 

Thais would frost one side, then hand it to me, and I would place it on the tray.

 

Almost done putting the layers together.

After frosting it (which is a story in and of itself), we added sprinkles to the sides and started piping the shell edge.

Making a cake layered horizontally was no picnic. We had to prop it up for a while so it didn't topple over like dominoes.

Friday night brought a devastating storm. Half the region without power. Trees fallen in roads and on houses. It was madness. Why does this seem to happen every time we plan a party? Thankfully we still had power, so everyone was happy to come to a place with air conditioning and yummy food :)

We put together a "photo booth" for everyone to take their pictures and write a message in a book for Jon & Jac to remember the friends they made here.

 

 Nick made a very big wish as he blew out his candles, and we visited, ate and had a great time together.

 We're so grateful for all of the great friends we've made here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Happy Birthday Nick!