What a day!

First if all, I have no idea how to make the pictures show up anywhere else but right at the top of my posting. I would have preferred these pictures to go at the bottom, and in the opposite order. Any help would be great!

We definitely did not have a quiet Saturday at home today. It's a rare Saturday that Joe doesn't have to work so we took full advantage. This morning I went to a Visiting Teaching/Relief Society Birthday event at the church and got to spend the morning socializing with some great ladies while Joe took Abby to a photo shoot. Yep, my girlie gets to be in a promotional ad for a local photographer! I don't have pictures yet but you better believe I'll get them up when I do!

This afternoon, we headed to the mall to watch the Children's Miracle Network Cake Decorating Challenge. This is the third year it's been held and the second year we've gone. It was so fun to see all the predecorated cakes that were out for judging. I didn't have my camera and didn't think to take pictures with my phone but there were some pretty cute and creative cakes. Norm Davis (who is much shorter in real life that I had ever expected, I think he's MY height!) and Lora Mahaffey, winners of Food Network Challenges, were the guest judges. There is a live, 2 hour cake decorating contest as well where all the decorators create their cakes in front of the audience. Pretty fun to watch! My friend Carrie-The Cake Goddess-has participated all 3 years and this year she took First Place! Her cake was a pumpkin in the process of turning into a carriage! The kids also got to decorate (and eat) their own cupcake. At the end they raffled off all of the 12 cakes from the live contest. We were really hoping our number would get called but alas, no free cake for us. At least our raffle money was going to a good cause!

The hightlight to our day was our evening activity. Carrie, the cake goddess, and her husband have a hot air balloon. Her husband was looking for crew and passengers for a flight this evening. I jumped right on the opportunity! We didn't get to fly this time (got to put in some crew time before we get our chance) but Joe helped get the balloon set up and ready to go, then we jumped in the van to "chase" the balloon so we could help take it down when they flight was done. It was so amazing to get close and take part in getting the balloon all ready to go. The kids had a good time but weren't quite as enthused as Joe and I. When the balloon touched down in a plowed out corn field, the kids and Joe ran through the mud to help pack it up and put it away. Rachel and I watched from the comfort of the car. We had such a good time we told Troy to call us anytime and we'd love to help out again. Eventually, we'll get our turn to hop in the basket and see the earth in a way we've never experienced before. We can't wait!