Happy Golden Birthday!

 Today was Heidi's "Golden Birthday," meaning her birthdate and age are the same number.  Big Fifteen!!

How has the time flown by so quickly?  This year she will be starting up Driver's Training and she will have completed her first year of high school.  Next year she will start to date!!!  Eeeeek!!!

 Of course, even when you are a kid, the world can't stand still just because it is your birthday, even though as parents we sure try to make it happen!  Heidi had a band concert tonight, so we were a little rushed doing dinner before, then a little rushed doing the party after because it was getting late.

 A few weeks ago I got a cake from Costco that we all really loved.  It was a rich dark chocolate, with a raspberry filling, and a chocolate ganache icing.  Heidi requested to have that cake for her birthday.  I didn't want to buy one, though, so I came up with my own concoction......It turned out delicious!!!

 It's a four-layer double chocolate cake, with raspberry filling, rich chocolate frosting, and crushed raspberries between the layers.  Then the outside is covered with a creamy chocolate mousse icing.  Even the kids said it beat Costco's cake, hands down!!

As for gifts, Heidi got what Ethan called "old lady gifts," but she was happy with them!  We got her a really nice memory foam topper for her bed, which she was thrilled about.  She also got a heating pad (don't worry, it was a request), and an IPod docking alarm clock.

Overall, it was a pretty fun party.  Ethan even helped Heidi to remake her bed with her new mattress pad.  She told me that he was wishing that he could get one too, because she is going to have the softest bed in the house.  When she suggested he ask for one for his birthday, he said he wouldn't want to waste a birthday gift on that.  It could wait until Christmas, ha ha!!