Mary Anne and Clan: Olivia Turns 11

Who says December birthdays have to be compromised? This year Olivia celebrated most of her waking hours celebrating on her rainy, Sunday birthday. We began our day bright and early to see and hear David Archuleta sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the Conference Center. Not only was I fortunate enough to get tickets from the lottery drawing (over 1.5 million people requested tickets), I got them for Olivia's birthday. It really was spectacular, and I'm glad Olivia liked it. Pouring rain in December did not keep every seat from being filled in the Conference Center. Now I know why. You see, I always thought David A. had a great voice, but I admit that I didn't pay all that much attention to him when he was on American Idol. However, when he began singing "Joy To The World" with the choir on Sunday, I was totally blown away. We happened to be sitting very close to the front, on the side where he entered, so we pretended he was waving right at us (who knows, maybe he was?). Aunt Susan and our friend Kristan were also with us, and I'm pretty sure that we all found him more adorable than Olivia did (she said he was "boyish", meaning that she isn't in to boys yet). He has the most pure tenor voice, and his eyes sparkled and beamed the entire performance. He has not yet been corrupted by his popularity and talent. He manages to remain humble and sweet, and yes - he does look "boyish" - still like a teenager, even though he is twenty.

Oh yeah, back to Olivia's birthday . . . Yes, it was a great start to her day. Right after the performance, Olivia wanted to get back to our church service so she could sing with our own congregation's choir. I thought we would not make it, but we happened to get there just a few seconds before it was our turn to sing. Olivia has really been into singing lately, and thankfully she has a wonderful voice.

Olivia insisted on making her own birthday dinner, so we made sure we had all the ingredients the night before. We headed to Grandma's a couple of hours before the family party, and Olivia quickly changed her mind about not wanting any help with the cooking. Thankfully my mom and I were available to help, and everyone was at least thirty minutes late to the party. Deviled Eggs and Creamy Potato Soup out of the "Deceptively Delicious" cookbook were the featured dishes. Due to the pureed carrots, both of these recipes
turned out to be quite colorful and festive. It helped that they really did taste delicous, too.

Along with all of the wonderful gifts Olivia received, and the supportive family members and friends that came, a highlight was the cake that Ben and Susan made. If you look closely at the picture, you will see that the names of some of Olivia's favorite books and book series are written with icing. It could not have been a better fit for Liv!