Brace Face, Metal Mouth, Tin Grin

Elle got her braces on two weeks ago. She now has a mouth full of metal and we have a bank account not so full of money :)  They are pretty expensive - like, $8,000 expensive, but we know it is worth it to have a smile you can be proud of.  I had my braces put on when I was 12 too - my teeth were overcrowded like Elle's but they were also terribly buck; the result of sucking my thumb til the age of seven.  Even though I didn't want braces I'm so glad mum and dad made the sacrifice to get them for me.  I can't imagine what I'd like look now if I still had those bugs bunny teeth!
She had a fair amount of pain 4 weeks ago when she had four teeth removed in order to open up some room for the crowded teeth to move into.  And the first two days of having braces was pretty painful too - a feeling I remember well.  But she is doing great now so that is good.  Two weeks down, 2 years to go.

Cooking up a Storm

Our Stake Ball was on Friday night and I was asked to be the caterer.  It was a big undertaking - finger food for 500 people but I was keen to give it a go!  Without my usual cooking buddies Mum (in America) and Crystal (new baby) I asked my sister in law Kelly to be co-chef with me.  I knew it would all work out when we had our first meeting and both of us had come up with the same list of foods to make!

So, food for 500 hungry mormons.  Needless to say it was a huge job!  To save money we made almost everything from scratch.  Our menu included mini wildberry cheesecakes, fudge brownies, chocolate truffles, lemon meringue tarts, caramel slice, cream puffs, mini carrot cakes, german chocolate cupcakes, savouries, sausage rolls & quiches, spring rolls & samosas, asparagus rolls, salmon and cream cheese crostini, beef crostini, fruit platters and 2 types of cheeseball and crackers.  Yes, we were literally cooking for days!

We had lots of happy eaters and recieved lots of compliments and thanks.  The best compliment we recieved was from the ball organisers who wrote us a card and said "we loved how you all worked together and looked like you were having fun doing it" - Jonathan, Laugharne and the kids were a HUGE help on the night and worked like little soldiers for hours and hours.


The theme of the Ball was 'A Night of Magic' and the colours Red, White & Black.
We made aprons to match and Kelly made the amazing cupcake tower
(built by Warwick Builders/my cousin Carl)

The food

The Warwicks working hard in the cafe kitchen

80's Party

Crystal as an 80's bridesmaid - I even did her hair in a french roll.
 I found my outfit many years ago at an op shop - got the top for 50 cents!

Julie turned the big 3-0 on Saturday and her sister threw a suprise 80's party to celebrate.  Luckily for me, Crystal AND Julie, I just so happen to own three fantastically tragic 80's outfits!  All that was needed was half a can of hair spray, too much blue eyeshadow, some bright red lipstick, a pair of pointy stelittos and we were good to go!  One thing's for sure, I would not have liked to have been a teenager in the 80's - it took forever to tease up my hair like that!  Worth it though, I won the prize for best dressed!  (or should it be worst dressed?)