Suitcase/Briefcase Cake

This week has been the annual mission conference at Appleton Alliance. One of the big events of the conference is a silent auction on Sunday that benefits the missions fund and helps send youth to places like Burkina Faso & Mexico. After hearing the missionary from Burkina Faso speak, I'm very convicted that I want to go there & be a part of that ministry. When all my kids are in school, I'm going to plan on going on a short term trip. I will be praying to be effective and hopefully set up some sort of financial plan/savings account so I can afford the trip.

I donated a kids cake and a basic layered cake to the auction and I made this wonderful suitcase/briefcase cake as a display. It's an actual cake, so it'll be served up and ate at some point on Sunday. I owe my sister-in-law Bethany lots of thanks for all her help on this. As Jacob kindly pointed out my proportion skills need a little work, and I was glad she was over and willing to jump in and help and make sure the handle didn't end up looking like a giant turd :)

It's made from 2 white 1/2 sheet cakes layered and filled with cherry filling and then frosted with a chocolate almond buttercream and decorated with fondant pieces.

The Front:

The back (Bethany made some sweet hinges):

Right Side:

The left side:

It was definitely a fun cake, the largest cake I've done to date & I think it turned out better then a few certain people had expected it to :)

I know my blogging has been scarce lately and just wanted to throw a quick update out there! The past week I've been doing a lot of help organizing the silent auction, which has been fun, but takes away from time I'd otherwise be keeping the house in working order and kiddos busy with fun projects.

Bren's eye appointment went well and the lump is a blocked/plugged oil gland and he's on some drops (yeah think active/strong willed 2 year old & trying to get eye drops in him 3 (THREE) times a day!) His re-circumcision is scheduled for December 2nd, keep him, the doctor, and us in your prayers, it's going to be hard not to worry on this one! I must say parenting has taken care of some of my worrying issues, but at times I still get a little worked up and lose focus.

Thank you all for your prayers for my grandma. She actually just got transferred from Wausau into Edgewater Nursing Home in Port Edwards (near Wisconsin Rapids). Amazing considering last week Sunday I made the trek to visit her and say good bye. The nursing home is somewhat long term, with the promise that when she can get up on her own & do basic daily functions they will let her go home. Since she wasn't even able to do these things prior to the H1N1 and all the other issues that arose, I'm not very hopeful. Although it's not as though she hasn't beat the odds before - I'm pretty sure this grandma is the grandma of 9 lives :)

I learned quickly how much I take life itself for granted. Ever think about how differently you might live knowing what limited amount of time you may have? Even though our time is all limited, I know I'm not the greatest at living each day to it's fullest, or in light that it's one less day I have here on Earth! Now, more then ever before, I feel very strongly that I need to reconnect with my grandparents before it is too late. I know we will all die and part of me is scared to make that reconnection, as their passings will be all that more difficult. I don't want to live with regrets, though. They have such great stories and life experiences to pass down I feel it's almost a responsibility to reconnect with them. My plan is to call them Sunday nights and spend some time chatting with them and letting them know I still think about them all every day and I so appreciate their role in my life. Until connecting with many other people and getting to know them and their family history; I didn't realize how blessed I am by 4 grandparents who were all very active in my childhood and still active in my life and my kids' lives! I will always remember when my Grandma Henke visited me in the hospital when I had Brennan. She recounted many stories of me as a baby as she held my son in her arms, and really words can't describe how precious that memory will always be for me.

This is about as tired as I feel tonight: So like this adorable pooped out little Connor, who doesn't even care if his favorite caterpillar is camped out on his shoulder, I think I'm going to call it a night, too! I have a very busy day with Sunday school and the auction tomorrow and Jacob is also playing all 5 services ... long day ahead! Thursday we are having a little reception for a good friend in my Bible study group who got married today, so at least by Wednesday I will have some more cake pics to post ... stay tuned!