We celebrated Carl's 2xth birthday and he had a blast. His birthday weekend was filled with things that he loves the most. We planned for a temple session at the Salt Lake Temple on Saturday the 14th, which turned out to be a pretty interesting plan. It was time for us to renew our temple recommends and we were lucky to get an appointment in time for Carl's birthday. The Provo Temple is closed for maintenance for the whole of July. We could have planned to attend the next closest temple, which is the Mt. Timpanogos Temple in American Fork, but Carl decided he wanted to attend the one in Salt Lake. So we woke up early, and left Provo at around 9am. As we drove in to park under the conference center, the signage read: SALT LAKE TEMPLE CLOSED.
Great. We didn't know. And we didn't check the temple's schedule either. We knew temples close once in a while for certain things, but, we didn't expect it would be closed this time of year. Anyway. We had three temples to choose from (the joys of living in Utah) - Jordan River in West Joardan, Draper, and Oquirrh Mountain in South Jordan. But by the time we'll get there, and then the two hours of session, both Carl and I (and the little baby I need to keep fed) will be cranky hungry people. So we decided to have lunch early. When we are in the Salt Lake area, a meal at L&L is a must - but they don't open until 11am and it was only 10:15. I suggested we walk around the mall first and check the Apple store (I thought I'd convince Carl to finally get a Mac, since he gifted me an iPad for my graduation and he almost bought one last Christmas), but Carl was not exactly in the mood to drive around (and get a Mac). From the corner of his eye he sighted Jiffy Lube and so Carl's car got pampered. Well, Jiffy Lube indeed stands for its name and our car's pampering was done in a JIFFY. So we spent another 30 minutes at a nearby Starbucks waiting for L&L to open. We were getting hungry - but we know L&L is worth the drive and the wait. We were the first customers - Carl devoured his chicken katsu and I feasted on my bbq ribs.
I called the Jordan River Temple and made sure they were open. We made a quick trip to the Asian market in Sandy to pick up some stuff for Carl's birthday dinner the next day.We headed to the Jordan River Temple, and feasted on the amazing spirit of the Lord. All our frustrations were gone and we both felt wonderful. It was an early afternoon session (around the time I usually take my naps), and I won't deny I've dozed off a couple of times - but it was an edifying experience none the less. It was a rainy and windy and cloudy day - but it was beautiful. We headed home at around 4pm, and we thought of visiting Jasmine and her family but it turned out they were having the day out as well. So we headed home to Provo. Carl got a haircut, we took a nap (I know, nap time at 5pm) when we got home, then I started on Carl's cake after dinner.
Carl wanted a guitar cake this year. As you know, he's fallen back in love with music and playing the guitar. I didn't have enough time to buy a guitar cake mold online, and buying one anyway is sort of a waste of money because I probably won't be using it again for quite some time. So I decided to "sculpt" one. Good thing I scaled it small - small enough that I didn't need to work on it for more than 3 hours. If I wasn't pregnant, I'd conquer any size cake - but I just don't have the stamina to ice cakes and roll fondant this time. Carl shared my concerns and he asked for a small cake - so nice of him! So I only used one 13x9 rectangular cake, and I didn't layer. I also didn't use much fondant, and so rolling wasn't much of a pain. I worked on it for about 2 1/2 hours and even then I was exhausted. But Carl loved it - it was his perfect birthday bass guitar cake!
When the cake was done, I exiled Carl in the bedroom and was not allowed to see my other preparations. I took out his gifts and placed them beside his cake, and placed his happy birthday banner on the wall. I thought of getting a pinata (hahaha) but then I changed my mind. We'll do it next year - not for him, but for the baby. When it was time for his to see the surprise, he came out, was SURPRISED, blew his candle, and we went to bed! We were both exhausted, and so we decided to open his gifts the day after, his actual birthday, during birthday breakfast.
For breakfast, I made scrambled eggs and french toast. He opened his gifts and he loved them. We called his family and he talked to them while I prepared some stuff for lunch before we headed to church. We went to church, and Carl went home after sacrament because Jasmine's family was joining us for lunch. I had to stay in church to make sure there was someone in the chapel library, and then went home. Jasmine, Scott, and ate Keana arrived at around 11:30 and Keana was so excited holding up a little balloon tied to a small gift bag for Uncle Carl! We had a hearty lunch, and Carl blew candles again, this time with Keana. Keana loved blowing candles, we probably did it 3 times.
Jasmine's family went home around 3:00 and Carl and I took a quick nap before we resumed preparations for his birthday dinner. We had chicken-pork adobo, pinakbet, fruit salad, cake, and some of our friends brought other desserts. We had friends over and we played board and card games. The house was REALLY loud for a Sunday afternoon! But we all had fun... the rockstar had a blast - and that's the most important thing.
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