As you all know at our house you get to pick your own birthday cake. If the birthday person wants one shaped like a car I do the best I can to accommodate them.
December 24th is Sean's birthday. After Thanksgiving he gets down my cake books and slowly flips through them deciding on what kind of cake he wants. So far he has chosen malted milk chocolate, last year was burnt sugar cake. Both worked out great, and thank goodness were just regular round cakes. (I am dreading the year he wants a crazy shaped one.)
This is the book he has picked out all his cakes from.
This year the fates were against me. This year his cake decided to not cooperate with me. The edges were full and tall but the centers fell. They were like brownies... only not.
The centers were literally goop. I cooked them the correct time, I tested them with a knife and it came out clean. I say this as a disclaimer to my abilities as a baker. I
FOLLOWED THE DIRECTIONS!! Maybe it was the high altitude. Yeah, that's the ticket. It was the high altitude. (wink wink)
After dumping that cake I turned to my shelf of trusty cookbooks. Ah ha, Pillsbury will save me!! Chocolate Sour Cream Cake. Worked like a dream.
So, now we have Sean's Chocolate Peppermint Layer Cake. Hope it tastes good or I will just sit down and cry.
Happy Birthday Sean-Dad! We love you!!
She did it all on her own. She chose her outfit. I about burst into tears I thought she looked so sweet and cute. She is growing up so fast and surprises us every day with her talents. 
We love you Grace. You are beautiful and we love you tons!
