Outer Darkness Delight

Warning. I am not a food photographer. The fact is, this cake doesn't have to look good, it just tastes good.

New York cheesecake sandwiched between two layers of flourless chocolate torte smothered in a cream cheese chocolate ganache frosting.

This thing is way beyond decadent. It's worse than sinful. It's awful close to dangerous.

The cake took three days to make. The time is more of a factor of the lack of multiple spring form cake pans than anything else, but even if we could cook it all on the same day, it would take most of a day to build.

As good as this thing is, I still have a few ideas to make it better. Next time I make it I will increase the ganache so that I have enough to make a well on top to hold a pool of mixed berries.
And then on top of that I'll balance a great big dollop of fresh whipped cream. Oh yeah.

We took this beast to the ward Pig Roast and dessert bake-off. Our cake was the first to be devoured. People with eyes bigger than their gastronomic capacity took huge hunks of cake but were only able to consume small portions at their table. Walking around I saw alot of partially eaten cake on tables being shared by everybody at the table. This cake should serve 36 people. I would be surprised if 12 people got a slice of this cake.

Unfortunately, we did not receive the adulation that should have accompanied such a feat of baking prowess. The missionaries judged a clearly inferior banana pudding, cookies, and the Bishop's pound cake to take the prizes. But we are not sure if the judges actually had an opportunity to taste our entry, it was gone so fast. The winning entries were still being thrust into the hands of the people that left the dinner before cleaning their table area. I think as a punishment.

Wildlife
A small glimpse at some of the fauna found in our neighborhood.

This little bugger was nearly 4ft long all stretched out. He has been around the house for a while. Last year he lived in a hole in the bricks in the bathroom window sill. He would sun himself right outside the window and Alayna would watch him. This year he got big, ventured out into the yard and took up residence under the shed. He has been seen all over the yard and startled Stacy and Alayna on the front walk. He also found a friend about his same size and I saw them get into a fight. There is at least one more snake living under the shed. It is actively being stalked each weekend.
This turtle was found on the road just down the street from the house while Stacy and Alayna were on there morning constitutional. A neighbor moved the turtle to the grass to protect it from oncoming traffic. Alayna was a little intimidated by the turtle and wouldn't have her picture taken with it.

The turtle survived.

It Had to Happen

We purchased a toilet paper stand for Alayna to give her a little more independence in the bathroom and to give us a break from participating in every visit.

Alayna thought the new stand was too much fun. Not only did she completely unravel the roll, she kept on going and started rolling the paper back up in reverse. It was kind of cute the first time.
The second time was definately not cute. I got an angry "Do you know what your daughter just did" phone call at work.

The third time was the charm. No more toilet paper independence.

Easter 2007

Alayna had a busy easter this year. The ward had an activity that involved making an easter bunny goody bag, dyeing eggs, and an egg hunt in the baseball field.
Of course Alayna had too much fun. She held her own against the bigger kids and came back with a full basket.
The day before Easter, Alayna was invited to a birthday party for a friend that also included an egg hunt. Again, she did very well picking the brightly colored eggs out of the wild Florida bush.
But she had to be kept on task during the egg hunt. She was much more interested in digging in the sandbox. She dug a hole next to the dump truck and kept going until the dump truck was completely hidden with sand and she was digging in moist sand. Very persistant.
Mom set up a small egg hunt at our house on Easter Sunday. Alayna found some more eggs filled with candies that Dad decided wouldn't be safe for her to eat.

She also discovered chalk eggs and the joy of drawing on the driveway.

Automo Bile

I saw this at the dollar store. I love imports. I used it as an example in my international business class that I am finishing up this week.

It's a. . . .

Stacy went to the hospital today for her ultra-sound. She was lucky enough to go to the Winnie Palmer Hospital. This hospital was a cross between a hotel, a Disney resort, and really good medical care. A very nice experience. The nurses were very nice and attentive.

While Stacy was laying on the table, she started to get pretty pale and uncomfortable. At one point she felt ready to pass out. The rest of the ultrasound was done while Stacy lay on her side. So she didn't get to see very many of these pictures until after the nurse was done.

This picture shows that the nose and lips are intact. No cleft palate. Whoo hoo!!

This photo proves that I am the father. Look at that giant foot! All six toes and everything!

OK, its time for the big reveal. We were lucky enough to find out the gender of the baby during this ultrasound.

If we are lucky, this will be the last time our boy's genitalia is posted on the internet.

Are you ready for the name?

Cavell Hogentobler Jensen

Cavell is Stacy's maternal Grandfather's first name and Hogentobler is Paul's Great, Great, Grandmother Amelia's maiden name (I think, I need to double check).

This is a big name, and I'm sure it will not fit into the boxes on standardized tests, but it is rich with nickname possibilities. Cal, Hogan, Toby, Gun. I'm sure we'll settle on a name when we meet him and get a feel for his spirit.

Putting Away the Silverware

Alayna likes to help put away the silverware. Warning, this video is almost 3 and a half minutes of a two year old putting away silverware. It's cute for the first minute, and then only grandmothers will be able to appreciate it.

Remember, you were warned. Watch this movie a second time at your own risk!

Razorback!!!

Alayna's favorite new game is Pass the Pig. We received the game as a gift from the Litke family at Christmas. Alayna has gotten quite good and has beaten her parents more often then not.

Pass the Pig has two plastic pig shaped "dice" that are thrown and how they land determines the score. Each pig position combination has a name and Alayna's favorite is Razorback, when one or both pigs land on their back.

Click Here to go to a computerized version of Pass the Pig!!

Alayna's American Idol

This is an experiment in video blogging. If this works, you will see a video of Alayna singing into her microphone. She is quite the diva. After the talent show, you will be allowed unprecedented access into a behind the scenes view of Alayna preparing for the next show with her hairdresser.

Key West part II

We went to Key West last weekend for work and our 9th wedding anniversary. Normally when people think about Key West, they think about drinking large amounts of adult beverages, fishing, snorkeling, and wild nights along Duval street and Mallory Square.

Now I'm not one for the drinking so we didn't go to any bars. Stacy does not like fish so we didn't go fishing. Stacy is pregnant and gets seasick laying in bed, so we didn't go on the glass bottom boat tour. Alayna is not a very strong swimmer yet and quite poor at holding her breath, so we couldn't go snorkeling. So we were left with walking up and down Duval street and Mallory Square.

I was able to go to Key West on the company dime because of a job that needed done in the area and I am the only bi-lingual (semi) person qualified to do the job in the company. So Monday morning I left the hotel room and went to work while Stacy and Alayna got to linger in bed, enjoy the continental breakfast and walk a short distance to the Butterfly Conservatory.

While they were enjoying the butterflys I was in a 100 year old house wrestling a toilet. Yes, in addition to all of the high-tech wheelchair stuff I do, I also do some minor plumbing. My job was to remove a toilet, install a 3" pedestal underneath, and reset the toilet on top of the pedestal so the client will not have to sit down so far and make it easier to stand up. In theory, this job can be done in about half an hour. I predicted two hours, but was afraid it may take up to six. Because the house is so old and the flange and piping was so old, it took four hours and two extra wax rings to accomplish my mission.

So keep in mind that I started off my anniversary up to my elbows in another man's sewer pipe and toilet.

So the highlight of the day is picking Stacy and Alayna up after spending the morning with the butterflies. Alayna was ecstatic and of course very cute in her picture on the butterfly bench. Alayna had her picture taken on the same bench during her last visit, but the picture cropped the bench. As cute as she was, people wanted to see the whole bench, so here's the picture as requested.

And if you like the bench enough, here's the pricing. You'd really better like that bench if you purchase this. Alayna is sitting on the large bench. She has expensive taste.

Key West is also famous for the chickens that roam free throughout the island and are protected by law. Some people have taken to feeding them and keeping them around their homes, but many of the chickens walk around and eat the scraps from tourists. Alayna was fascinated by these baby chicks and their mother and father. She told us that the baby chickens and the mommy chicken stay home and the daddy chicken is getting ready to go to work.

Another chicken on Mallory Square

Mallory Square is the home of the nightly sunset celebration on Key West. The crowd gathers and street performers entertain for a couple of hours. There are fire jugglers, acrobats, a guy that trains cats (no really), the one man band, and the ever present "guy painted in silver". The street performers are fun to watch for a while, but they are very aggressive in making people feel guilty until they give them money. A little bit of a turn off.

After the Sunset Celebration, and dinner at an incredible Cuban restaurant, we head to Duval street to look at shops and find a dress for Stacy we noticed in a window the previous day. On our way back to the hotel, I have Alayna on my shoulders to help speed up the walk. And I notice that my back and neck are suddenly warmer and wetter than they just were.

Already resigned to my fate, walking down Duval street in Key West with my daughter on my shoulders, her urine rolling down my back, and my pregnant wife trying to keep up, I feel even warmer and wetter as an even bigger stream pours down my back. Luckily Key West is warm enough that a man can walk down the street with a soaking wet shirt back and nobody thinks twice. In fact, I'm sure there are plenty of people that come home with stories about being pee'd on while walking on Duval street, my story just doesn't involve any alcohol consumption.