kyle's first birthday

What a truly amazing little boy. This last year has been such a big year in the life of our little family, and he, though so little, has been such a big part of every moment. I can't even believe that there was a time that he wasn't part of our lives. He has completely changed the dynamics of this family, and for that I am grateful to his Creator.

leah's birthday party

The Cake
This year's cake theme was as girly as I was capable of doing on my own. We made a dark chocolate cake and covered it in fluffy white icing and pink marshmallows. Finally, we topped it off with 2 pink candles and a Tinker Bell!!


The Table
We decorated the table with some of Leah's favorite things. On the other side was Good Night Moon and a tea set. Because we decorated the table early, the next few nights were filled with questions about where her stuff was.

The Guests
Chip and his family, Tami, Hannah and Beau and of course Nana and Papa were all present to help us celebrate. Thanks to Tami for helping take pictures for me, but unfortunately, she wasn't in any of them.


The Presents
Of course, we must open our presents while in our princess chair!

The Fun

leah's birthday cake

Apparently, the cake was a little intimidating at first!

But, then it was okay and even a little bit cool!

Again, we need Reh to help us blow out the candles.

Funny story about the cake: The morning that I went to Wal-mart to finish her birthday shopping, I got the cake. Now, I say that I got the cake, because after I had all the groceries+ in the car and kids fastened in their seats (we'd been there 3 hours) I looked at the receipt to find that the cashier hadn't charged us for the cake (my fault, not hers). I was absolutely NOT going to go back in, so I decided to pay for the cake the next time we were at Wal-mart. So today, Nathan went to the bakery, told them what happened and got a price tag (remember those) to pay for a cake. At the register he gave the cashier the tag, paid for the order and came to the car. When we looked at the receipt, and they had only charged us $.02 for the cake. (her fault, not his) SERIOUSLY!!! Could we just pay for the cake that we have already eaten!!!

leah's birthday dinner

For a special birthday dinner, we went to Stevie B's to eat pizza and play some games.

Ski Ball was our favorite.

We tried this:

It didn't work well.
So we tried this:

Finally, we had that game figured out!

leah's birthday candle

So Excited!

Listening to Reh (Seth) Sing "Happy Birthday!"

Blowing Out the Candle

Needs Help from Big Brother

leah's birthday breakfast

We ate some yummy turkey-cheese eggs with biscuits and yogurt. And Leah got to drink her milk from a fancy birthday cup (THANKS AUNT MIMI!!)

leah's birthday hug

First thing in the morning:

crafty day

Not to give away anything about our top-secret shopping trip, but we bought some fun painting gear today. So, before dinner, we made some birthday cards for Cousin Hannah. They LOVED it!! They had actually run out of paint, but kept right on painting . I don't think Leah even needed paint. She was content to dip the brush in water, then rub it on the paper!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HANNAH!!


The Process:



The Finished Products:

seth's BIG present

On Seth's actual birthday,
we went to Putt-Putt and had some fun...
Seth-style.
My boy is obsessed with golf right now.

During our round of Putt-Putt,
Daddy and Cousin Mikaila were trying to teach
Seth how to show that he is 3 on his fingers.

Then, Daddy took Seth out to the driving range for Seth's first time.

Daddy's club was just

TOO BIG!!
Even Leah thought so!

It didn't take him long to figure out what was in that wrapping!

And Seth's was
JUST RIGHT!

seth & mikaila's incredible pizza party!!

How fun!! Thank you, Papa! Seth and Mikaila got to do the whole shebang at Incredible Pizza and everyone had tons of fun!

Everyone sang "Happy Birthday"
Incredible Pizza style to them.

They spun the wheel
... just like on Wheel of Fortune...
to get their prizes.

All the cousins had some fun with a non-hitting pinata. (I was very disappointed!) My sisters and I divided the candy equally between the 10 grandchildren and everyone thought we were crazy.

And finally, you can't leave Incredible Pizza without hours of games. Daddy, Seth and Leah even played a round of glow in the dark mini golf to finish it off!! (Mommy was busy redeeming tickets.)

in case you haven't heard

I'm estimating the latest due date given, b/c it's just easier that way if things go long! The doctors thought December 30 and the baby measured January 2. We shall see!!!!

HAPPY "^&" BIRTHDAY

NANA

HAppy biRTHdAy

HEATHER

(Heather is on the left. Don't laugh, if you've shopped at Bed Bath and Beyond, you know that can be tricky!)

I'm sorry that I messed this up!! It really doesn't reflect how I truly feel about you. I am actually very thankful to have you as a sister in law. For one, I think you take great care of my big brother and my niece and nephew. You are an incredible wife and mom! For two, every time that I have talked to you, you have encouraged me. It doesn't matter if your telling me to keep on keepin on or a crazy story about your family. You reassure me that my kids, my husband and I are normal!

You are a great example for me to follow (or at least attempt). I pray that God blesses your year to come!!

We Love You!

hAppY bIrtHDay

GREYSON

Greyson, you are such an amazing and awesome kid. I really wish that we lived closer to you and your family. You are always so sweet and good with Seth and Leah and I wish that they could grow up being around you more. I know that God has huge plans for your life (why else would He have made you so stinkin' cute and so very smart?). I pray that you will always use your ABUNDANCE of energy and brains to bring glory to our GOD.

I know that you had an awesome birthday and I pray that the year that follows will be as good. But, now it's time for my Greyson story...

I will never forget the year that we celebrated your (I think 7th birthday). As usual, your mom made a super special day for you and everyone that attended, and she made you the most awesome CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH FLUFFY ICING!! She had to cut off the top of one layer so that it would lay smooth. When I came in and saw it on a paper plate, I got an idea. I put icing on the "remnant" on the paper plate and stuck in a candle. We called you down and sang Happy Birthday to you as we presented your "remnant cake." I thought for sure that we would get a hilarious reaction from you, but YOU AMAZED US! You didn't react at all. You just sat looking at your "remnant cake" while we sang. I don't know what you were thinking, but you were going to eat that cake without a word! I will never forget that display of ooey gooey sugary sweetness.

LEAH'S BIG DAY

Leah had a great first birthday! It started out kind of rough due to teething (that I didn't realize until today), but as soon as we were with Aunt Tami, Nana, Papa and Hannah, all seemed fine. We were at Chuck E. Cheese breathing toxic fumes when we decided to go to Incredible Pizza instead. We all had a great time and were very worn out by the end of it.

Nate and I had planned to meet at Mom and Dad's to have a quick bite of birthday cake and then head to church, but -par for the course- that didn't happen. Nate was late and dinner wasn't ready, so instead, Nana made a scrumptious dinner with some of her leftovers and we ended up leaving their house after eating birthday cake and opening some little gifts (well after 9).

ALL IN ALL, IT WAS A GREAT DAY!!