mom's birthday {feb 16}.

this year we weren't really sure what to do for my mom's birthday.  last year we had such a great time, but travis and i were both still a little tuckered out from the holiday festivities.  we've had a tea party for mom before so i didn't want to do the exact same thing again {even though she did love it}.  i was racking my brains trying to come up with something because i needed to get the cake ordered from seana.  i kept coming back to the tea party idea.  all of the sudden, it came to me.  mom has a tea pot that travis and i got her a few years ago from pier 1.  she loves this tea pot.  i asked sierra to send me a few pictures of it, and then i sent it seana's way. 

seana is staying super busy with her cakes.  i need to stop telling you guys what a great job she does. we were doing mom's birthday on saturday but seana was booked that day.  she was able to deliver it to me on friday, though, so i worked from home and waited for her to arrive.  here's what she came up with.  

 

isn't it awesome?? i don't know how she does what she does, but seana is incredible.  and the cakes always taste as wonderful as they look, which isn't always the case with some bakers.  {for this cake we did a white cake with raspberry filling}.  thank you, seana!

on saturday, everyone met up at spaghetti warehouse.  travis had to go to muskogee so he wasn't able to make it, but sierra, dakota, mom, dad, haley, justin, lindsay and parker were all there.  i would love to say that we had a fabulous time and the food was delicious ... but unfortunately the service was terrible, the food was bland and most people didn't like what they ordered.  spaghettti warehouse had been suggested because everyone was tired of the same ol' places.  in this case, however, branching out was not a good idea.

sierra was really sick and hardly ate at the restaurant.  by the time we all got back to our house for cake and ice cream, she was even worse.  she laid around freezing to death and looking miserable.

we sang happy birthday and cut into the beautiful cake.

 we wrapped up with gifts.

everyone was pretty tired afterward and ready for a nap.  sierra was still feeling terrible, so she and dakota headed to mom's house.  dad treated mom to a movie for her birthday.  and me?  well i turned into the germ queen and started spraying with lysol any and everything i thought sierra might have touched or come in contact with.  haley probably thought i was nuts.  she can't miss any more school, though, and this stomach bug that everyone has is super contagious this year.  better safe than sorry!

i love my mom so much.  she brings so much joy into my life, and i wish we had time to visit her more.  i'm glad we have designated time when she comes up every two weeks, but we don't always get to sit and talk.  i'm so grateful to have grown up with her as my mom.  i love you, mom.