Happy 25th Birthday Phil

Alright so I'm realizing that the summer is almost over and I have failed to stay on top of my blog.  I'm going to start catching up with Phil's birthday back on June 12.

It was a simple birthday but we had a lot of fun!  Phil's morning started by coaching soccer for about 4 hours.  [I don't think I've mentioned this on the blog, but Phil has gotten really into coaching soccer over the past several months.  He coached the Lone Peak boys freshman/sophomore team and is now coaching 9 & 10 year old boys with an Alpine soccer club.]  Phil got home from soccer around noon and we drove to Draper to meet Phil's mom and sisters for lunch and Noodles & Co.  After lunch, we went to the Hogle Zoo with Phil's sister, Jamie, and her fiance, Michael.  We had a lot of fun walking around and looking at the animals.  The highlight was definitely the Dippin' Dots that are probably more expensive than they are worth......No, they are worth it!  We ended the day with dinner at Chili's (you can't beat the 2 for $20 deal!)

For some reason we are extremely pink.  No, not sunburned

Phil's family celebrated his birthday the following Sunday.  Leading up to his birthday, I had been thinking about what I wanted to give him.  It has always been a dream of mine to make a tiered fondant cake.  So I decided I would try.  I knew my friend Amber was a cake decorating expert, so I solicited her help!  I came up with the design and Amber walked me through the rest.  We baked a chocolate cake with raspberry filling, buttercream frosting, and covered with homemade fondant.  The fondant recipe was simply melted marshmallows with powdered sugar.  Store bought fondant is never the best, but this stuff actually tasted good!

After 10+ hours (not including time in the oven) of mixing batter, rolling out fondant, and decorating....my masterpiece was complete!  I couldn't wait to surprise Philip with it.  Phil knew I was making him something for his birthday, but he had no idea what it was.  Me, Amber, and Amber's family were the only ones to see the cake complete before Phil.

Needless to say, Phil was very surprised & impressed!

I'll be honest... I am very proud of how this cake turned out.  It was a lot of work but it was a lot of fun!  I can't wait for another opportunity to create another cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PHILIP!!!!!