Guess who is making a wedding cake?!

Me.  That's right. And I am just slightly nervous.  Okay, I am REALLY nervous.  The real question is...how bad am I gonna screw it up?  Hopefully my future sister-in-law will still like me when she sees it.

Here is the thing-
1. I have never made a wedding cake before.
2. The first attempt counts.
3. The wedding is in 2.5 weeks.
4. I just found out I was making it. (Alright, that's a lie.  I found out on Saturday. Better?)

I think I would do better taking the pictures.  Do you think they would give me that job?

The Second Year's Second Party. And The Infamous "Barn".

You are probably thinking- That is quite the title.  Well, it is.  And it was an awesome party.  If I am allowed to say that, being the hostess...I am usually not the one to put on ANY type of party.  But Bryan and I really like the other families in his class.  And we really like sugar.  And making messes.  Put it together, and you get a gingerbread house party!
Here are the results:
Our theme was: Ghetto Pittsburgh... Can you tell?  This is a cross between the down town skyscrapers, and the county jail...and the dilapidated porches seen all over town.  Unfortunately, we didn't know what to make a metal onning out of, or it would have been on this bad boy too!

By Jamie and Bryan


These are the projects.  Steelers style.  Only Yellow and Black allowed...

Tannon and Mccall's House

complete with the Steelers logo

 I think Gabe gave up on the idea of trying to make a 'livable' Pittsburgh house, so he has moved out to Ohiopyle and is camping in his sturdy tent house in the forest.

Gabe's house

 This is one of the many trains that runs through our fabulous town.  I think this one turned out super cute!

Mike and Raylene's train

Please take note the hole in the roof on the next house.  And junk spilling out of all openings.  There is just too much stuff in this place to be livable anymore.  And we are not sure who thought it would be a good idea to make the windows asymmetrical... :)

Kurt and Helena's ghetto

And finally...here is the house that Bryan and I worked on for 4 hours!!! We made it last week during the ASU/UA game. (The result of that one was probably on the top 10 list of Bryan's happiest moments in the sporting world.)  Anyway, we were so proud of it (the house, not the football game!)  And we took it to the Branch Christmas party, only to have it wrecked by some unruly children when we weren't paying attention.  I have to admit I was pretty upset.  But at least I got a picture of it before it was ruined.

*the 'siding' is Big Red gum.  And the 'silo' is made out of ice cream cones.  Bryan did most of the construction.  I was just the 'director'.  We couldn't get the roof to stay so we ended up using lasagna noodles instead of graham crackers. 

*yes, we added the people and animals from Peter's room.  So it really was completely edible- except the farmer and his friends.

Fondant and other stuff

 I got to take another cake decorating class from Micheal's.  It was awesome.  I learned the basics with Fondant and Gum Paste.  I have to say it is easier than I thought it would be.  It was a blast to take it with Nicole, Jessica, and Kelly. 

The orange cake was made by Nicole and I.  The absolutely perfect striped cake was Jessica and Kelly's!

   And other stuff:  My sister came to visit for Thanksgiving.  It was great to have her out here.  She was so excited to leave Florida and come to cooler weather. (I don't know what is wrong with her...)  I got to show her around Pitt and we seriously froze our tails off seeing the sights.  The second picture is the "its cold!" picture...

And finally: Brooke.  She loves television.  Uh. oh.  I am not sure what to do with that one. 
We have also had quite the week of illnesses in our house.  Brooke had a major virus.  Then Peter and I got something from bad food. (I think?)  Needless to say, it has been a long weekend at our house.