Happy Birthday Mark & Graber

It's birthday time again on the blog.  Mark celebrated his birthday in September and Graber turned four in October.  Lori is known for baking delicious birthday cakes, but this time I asked for something different -- a Key Lime Cheesecake.  I'd seen the recipe in a recent cooking magazine (yes, I read cooking magazines) and thought it would be a good change of pace.  

The other change was that all three of us contributed to the final product.  Lori started the process by making the cheesecakes and crust.   However, they had to chill overnight and she was flying out the next morning.  So I jumped in to make the meringue topping.  And Grant was more than happy to use the torch to toast the meringue.  

The pyromaniac at work

The birthday boy.  There wasn't room for all the Happy Birthday candles, so I just put in "HB".   And as you can see, even that didn't work out so hot.  

Lori's sister, Carol, was visiting so she, Grant and I played Monopoly.  Usually I get killed in that game, but my birthday luck came through and I was the property king.  

Later that week (on my actual birthday) I made a chocolate cake to share with colleagues at work.  This was a recipe that Lori had found in a different cooking magazine and made several times.  It's a very chocolately cake with a frosting that is essentially whipped fudge.  It is soooo rich.  But good.  So I took it into work where I just about killed some of the locals.  They are not used to rich chocolate American style desserts.  

Probably not the prettiest cake that's ever been baked, but it tasted good. 

In October, Graber turned four.  He doesn't get to choose his cake.  In fact, he doesn't even get any cake.  But he does get some treats and new toys.  The treats he eats in about 5 seconds and the toys are chewed and destroyed within an hour.   And he wonders why he doesn't get more presents.  

Graber before his birthday......bored and hungry. 

Waiting patiently for his presents

His favorite toy.  A soft ball with a squeaker.  It even lasted a week until the squeaker broke.  Then it wasn't fun anymore.  

This is Graber after his birthday.....tired.  

This picture doesn't have anything to do with our birthdays.  It's just a shot of the canal behind our home. 

You may have read about the big windstorms in the UK and Europe last month.  We were not spared.  The neighbors had a tree fall across the road.  We lost the top of one of our trees.  Grant & I cut up the branches (by hand) and piled them by the road for pick up.  Once they're cut up, the piles look much smaller than the felled branches.