The Mechanist, MD officially becomes a Dr. Anderson, DO

We got to travel to Missouri to watch Evan's brother, The Mechanist, MD (if you remember our Christmas Cruise Shirts), graduate from A.T. Still University.  It was pretty cool.  I know his wife, The Strategist, is really proud of him. As she should be!  Plus, we got to see the whole family! Minus The Diva.  She is serving her mission in Utah and will be gone until next summer.  Can't wait to reunite with you Sister Anderson!  It really was a good trip, and I can't wait to see the fam again later this summer for The Executioner's wedding!

 Brothers!

 The Anderson Men

These are the only pictures I took.  I was sick most of Friday and slept through about everything.  Then during the ceremony Saturday I was sitting with The Muscle (age 4) and then took pictures of the Dr. walking across stage with his camera so my SIL could watch while she wrestled The Face (age 18 mo.).  Evan is disappointed that I didn't take more so I said, "You have access to OUR camera too, dear."  With a smile of course.  he said, "I know, just my whole life I had this vision that the woman would take care of that."  Eye roll.  Oh well.  Better luck next time!

Congratulations Dr. Anderson!  The whole clan is proud of you and your big accomplishment!

Evan gets older

Evan celebtraed his 27th birthday recently, and for some reason it feels much older than 26.  Or so he says.  I've always thought he was old =P

The decorations! I enjoy coordinating colors 

The Birthday boy :) Even he matches! 

He has been on a quest for a pair of headphones to love. 

He had to check himself out.  That is "Pink Freud" on the bathroom wall there.

A water bottle!  This is also something he has been searching for.  He has a Tervis, but doesn't care to lug it around.  He thought he wanted one of those plastic ones with the hard plastic straw, so we got one of those from the Tillamook Cheese factory.  It isn't spill proof, so it didn't pass the whole test.  I said to him, "You need a Nalgene."  What is a Nalgene? he asked.  THIS IS A NALGENE!

 And of course, an Avengers lunchbox.

With dinner set out.  He requested strawberry cake, chicken salad, gourmet soda, and exotic kettle chips 

The cake.  Not-quite-as-good-as-Aunt-Julie's-but-good-enough-strawberry-cake.  With chocolate detailing.  I love my icing tips :) 

Happy Birthday Dear Evan! 

Cake smells so good!  We were on our way to FHE so we did pictures, at the cake there, then came home and had dinner haha. 

Ta-Da! 

 Grapefruit Soda

 Sour!

 Chicken salad on crescents

Mr. Grassroot elegance put the candles in at FHE.  Evan is REALLY OLD!!

And that is the story of Evan's birthday!

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

This is one of my favorite cupcake recipes.  The batter comes out smooth and chocolatey with a touch of cinnamon.  Also, it's dairy free.  Ultimately, it's a little lighter as far as cakes go, no butter, no eggs.  It uses a combination of vinegar and baking soda to get the fluffy bubbly consistency.  If I knew more about the science of baking I would try to substitute that into more recipes, because I'm convinced that is what makes it so smooth.  Though it could also be the shaved chocolate in the batter, kind of a melt in you mouth experience.  Either way, delicious!

I like to top them off with a cinnamon buttercream icing, and a sprinkle of cinnamon and shaved chocolate (for the pretty factor).   Today I made these for Evan to take to school.  I figured if his stress level was any indication of the overall department stress level, they needed something sweet.  I used my star tip on my fun icing bag to frost them.  I'm still figuring out how to get them pretty, but they are more pretty than the butter knife method, and more consistent than the ziploc bag method.  I'll get there!

 Pretty Little Cupcake

The Tower!  I love my little cupcake tower