Happy 55th Grandma!

My mom celebrated her 55th birthday this past April.  She is such a joy in our lives and we are so thankful she lives by us!

Amara and Lily made her necklaces and a card that you can see in the picture above.

I made her a semi-homemade chocolate cake with a vanilla-almond ice cream layer and brown sugar frosting with almonds and mini chocolate chips.   I've made ice cream cakes in the past, and I particularly like this ice cream recipe.  All you do is whip up 2 pints of whipping cream until it's fluffy.  Then stir in 1 can of sweetened condensed milk and a teaspoon each of almond and vanilla extracts.  That's it.  Just pour it into your container and freeze.  I use a round cake pan lined with plastic wrap.  It takes 6-8 hours to freeze, so it's best to make ahead of time.  It's so soft and creamy... just thinking about it makes me want to eat some now!

 Since she turned 55, she can now order off the senior menu at Dennys!  She has been waiting 55 years for that day!  So, good thing they just opened a Denny's in Vernal so that we could go there on her birthday!  Lily and Amara took pictures of the kids menu.  Not sure why.

Since our family went to Vernal a little earlier, we took a quick drive up to Steinaker lake and took in some fresh air and went on a short, yet lovely, nature hike. 

After our hike and dinner at Denny's with mom and Tom, we headed back to our house to sing to Grandma and eat the cake.  And for those who missed it, here she is blowing out her candles: