Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Will turned 38 on November 13th! We celebrated a few days later after he returned from the men's retreat for our church. The kids and I had so much fun getting ready for the big party. Zane made this crown for our "king for a day," and I made him one of his favorite all-time meals: Filet of Beef au Poivre, steamed artichokes with lemon mayonnaise and baked potatoes. We had such a wonderful evening celebrating the best husband/daddy in the world!!!


The boys LOVED this card we found that plays "Wipeout" when you open it. :)





Big Daddy got lavished with lots of love on his special day. Each of the boys made a wonderful birthday card; I couldn't help but smile as Levi dictated to me what to write on his... too cute!


Will requested that I bake this cake that made the cover of the most recent Bon Appetit Restaurant Issue: Chocolate Cake With Fleur De Sel Caramel Filling from the Vanilla Bake Shop in Santa Monica. Its layers consist of the most delicious cake topped with bittersweet chocolate ganache, decadent caramel with sea salt and toasted almonds... four times! This is a little piece of heaven and definitely a recipe I will keep and make again and again. Though I would consider this to be a dark chocolate adult cake, the kids absolutely loved it, especially my little gourmets: Levi and Titus. As for the birthday boy, he said this very well may be his new favorite.