Filled Cupcakes--Baby Shower (Melanie)

So I've seen these on Pinterest, of course, and I wanted to try to make them as practice for later showers. I didn't have my pastry syringe to put the pudding in the middle. (I'm not a big fan of frosting everywhere, so I put pudding in the center)

I haven't learned how to make puffy cupcakes yet...

This is vanilla pudding with blue food coloring. A little too

much food coloring though!

Cut the center out with a steak knife concentrically, like you 

would cut a pumpkin. 

Put a spoonful of pudding in the middle.

Cut the cake piece in half.

Put the top half back on and squish it a little bit. 

This is the tip I used for the frosting.

Beautiful cupcake! You can't see any blue! So when 

everyone bites into it it's a surprise! 

Good luck!

Cheesecake Factory (Melanie)

One of my very favorite places to go out to eat is The Cheesecake Factory. I was craving their Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, so for my birthday Chad took me there. 

The beautiful brown bread. Yummm!

My strawberry lemonade. I thought it was very pretty.

Chad got the Jamaican Jerk Chicken or something like that. 

It was really good (he let me try some), but I wouldn't want 

a whole plate of it. He absolutely loved it though.

He's so excited to eat, I wouldn't let him until I took pictures.

And...My cheese steak sandwich and sweet potato fries! My

mouth is watering just thinking of it. Go to The Cheesecake Factory 

if you've never been before. It's a bit more on the spendy side, but it's

soo delicious. 

Two California Temples (Melanie)

Chad and I have been going to a lot of different temples. There are three within the same distance from where we are living in Southern California right now. The LA temple, the Redlands temple, and the Newport Beach temple. We've only been to the LA temple and the Redlands temple so far, but I think the next one is the Newport Beach temple!

The Redlands temple is smaller than any I've been to, but it is gorgeous.

It was so bright! This is the best we could do for our eyes.

The LA temple is massive. And gorgeous, of course. :)

This is the view from the street. 

Here we are in front of it the other way. You can't see Moroni

on the top, but there we are! (and yes, I wore the same thing

both times. I really like that outfit.)

Can't wait to share the Newport Beach temple with you!

Girl Night Nails (Melanie)

So a couple weeks ago, Errin, Sarah, Juli, and I decided to paint our nails. Here are some pictures! (and a tutorial to paint your nails like I did)

Juli's toes. After we painted them pink, she decided she was done.

Sarah painting Errin's toes. 

My toes, which I did. They're a little lopsided but I'm still pretty

proud of them. :) (That's a sticker on my big toes by the way)

Sarah did wonders with her fingernails. (I'm sad I didn't get pictures

of Errin's fingernails.)

And the tutorial of how to paint your nails like I did (for my fingernails). 

I don't like the colors I picked, but I kind of like the design. I also don't like

the feeling of that much nail polish on my fingers, so I ended up taking it off 

pretty soon afterwards. (Like a week)

First use tape or a sticky strip of something. This is to create your lines. 

Paint!

I eyeballed the mint color, because I didn't want to put sticky

over the polish I'd already put on my nails. If you do a geometrical 

pattern though, it's a bit easier.

I also eyeballed the white tips. And I made them a little bit too 

thick for my taste, but they still looked alright. :/

Finished product.

What have you done with your nails? Wanna share?

Oregon Backyard Reception (Megan)

Some of the scenery from Caroline's backyard reception. I loved the classy outdoor summer feeling. The lemonades were amazing but hard to keep full people used them so much.

Also, NO SHERBET! Sherbet is such a wedding cliche I was super happy that Caroline threw it out the window.

Pretty lanterns all over and white chairs. So calm and chill, with gorgeous weather.

Sitting at the table with some of Caroline's friends and bridesmaids. Normally this isn't too exciting, but sitting here means that I am not standing in a line. Caroline didn't have a receiving line! The scandal and shock! But this wedding anarchy worked beautifully.

You do not need a line! Don't let anyone force you to have one. People came in, found who they wanted to talk to and didn't get funneled into a line waiting to talk to 12 strangers, and then the one person they know.

Cutting the cake. Caroline had a small cake, and then a bunch of cute and delicious cupcakes.

The bubble blowing lines forming on either side of the path for the couple to run to the car.

Overall it was lovely and hopefully a good start for the two sweethearts.

Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium (Melanie)

A bunch of us from the family went to Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium. It was fun! Dodgers lost pretty badly, but President Dieter F. Uchtdorf threw the first pitch. That was way cool. I don't have a picture though because we were way too far away to get one.

We had to get Dodger Dogs!

And Garlic Fries...

Here's Chad getting ready for the big fireworks show!

Danny and Errin!

Errin and Tabatha. Aren't they cute?!

okay, I'm not the biggest fan of fireworks, but this was awesome!