To celebrate Ben's return home (he was gone all week), we made pizza. Now, you have to understand, pizza making is a time honored tradition in the Blackburn home. When my dad was attending college, he worked at a local pizza joint where he learned the basics. Over time, he tweaked and fine-tuned his skills to make what he (and all of us) thought was the perfect pizza. Over the years Jazz games, New Year's Eve parties, graduations, or any other kind of celebration called for homemade pizza. And he shared it with so many people! All my friends and neighbors and cousins ate pizza at my house over the years. He even made it several times for the young women in the stake who attended the YW conference broadcast (a little incentive for going). Anyway, you get the point.
So, now that I have a family of my own, I wanted to carry on the tradition, but the art of pizza making has always been a little intimidating to me. Strangely, the first time I was going to give it a try was right around the time my dad passed. I was planning on calling him the weekend after his passing to clarify some of the instructions in his recipe, but obviously never got the chance. I really wish I had made the call earlier... I can just hear the excitement in his voice at the chance of passing on his cooking tips to his daughter.
So, admittedly, the first few times I made it, it turned out a little scary. But, I think I'm starting to get the process down, and it's turning out pretty tasty. I enjoy doing it because it makes me feel close to my dad. I can imagine him looking over my shoulder saying, "That-a-way, Sis!" (That's what he affectionately called his daughters. Weird, but I guess that's the countryside vernacular he grew up with.) Or "Now, what makes the sauce really good is a little lemon pepper and garlic flavored olive oil." I really do think he's proud of me every time I make it.
Anyway, enough of the sappy reminiscing, but I really do miss my dad.
The dough
I forgot to take a picture of us rolling it out, so the next step is spreading the sauce... I like making it because everyone gets to participate
Sprinkling the cheese...
The yummy toppings
Ben decorated (is that the right word?) his side of the pizza and I mine. Can you guess whose was whose?
Caroline, waiting for the pizza to cook
And the finished product. It looks kind of jacked up, but it was pretty tasty.
So Ben capitalized on this opportunity to make a miniature snowman with Emily. She decorated him with little candy hearts we had left over from Valentine's Day.
Then we placed him in our front yard and left for a few hours. When we came home, we returned to this morbid scene...
Looks like our snowman was a victim of some horrendous act of violence. Nasty!
First, we had to make sure my dad was invited to the wedding. We left him some vibrant flowers that were Bonnie's colors. I had not visited my dad since the funeral, so I'm glad I had the chance to go. I know he was there with us on my sister's wedding day! 
The magnificent Salt Lake City temple where the ceremony took place
My handsome younger brothers and their wives
Bonnie, exiting the temple after the ceremony. Does she look pumped or what?
She had the most beautiful wedding dress I've ever seen. I wish I got a closer pic of the veil... it was gorgeous.
My handsome four brothers... um... they obviously didn't consult on who was wearing the colors to the temple and who wasn't...
My mom and little sister Mary and my little nieces, the flower girls
My nephews, hiding out from the rain
My mom and the four girls. Ok, someone tell me, are black nylons out of style? I wear them all the time but have noticed no one else really does. I'm not exactly on the cutting edge of style these days.
The wedding cake... isn't it beautiful?
And the reception hall... she invited 300 people to her wedding dinner and we put all the sashes on the chairs! It looked awesome
Mother of the bride
Dancing the night away...
Here's our birthday girl turning one year old, and me purposefully hiding behind her
So, I'm sure many of you know, C doesn't like to eat. We thought for sure that she wouldn't turn down a delicious chocolate chip cupcake. So we gave her a bite and check out what happened next...
What child doesn't like a cupcake??
Good thing Em and Ben were fans...
Opening gifts from Grandma Shaha. Of course, she was more interested in the water bottle and balloons than her gifts.
Sprinkling the cheese...
The yummy toppings
Ben decorated (is that the right word?) his side of the pizza and I mine. Can you guess whose was whose?
Caroline, waiting for the pizza to cook
And the finished product. It looks kind of jacked up, but it was pretty tasty.
