Ethan's First Birthday Party

I know I posted some pics last week on Ethan's actual Birthday (the 22nd), but we had his party on Saturday so now I'm going to post some pics from that!

What a fun time! First Birthday parties are all for the parents, aren't they? Little E was overwhelmed, I'm sure. But he was a trooper! He played and hung out, ate cake and opened presents without a clue what all the fuss was about. During the day when we were getting everything ready, Gil kept telling him "You don't have any idea that Mommy and Daddy are doing all this stuff just for you!". Someday he will be able to look at these photos and the video and have a great laugh!

One of my favorite photos from the day!

It was so nice to have a summer party outside. Lucas' birthday is in November, so we are always stuck inside for his party.

Ethan's shirt was custom made by Alison Berry. Thanks, Alison. I love it!

He grabbed his first lick of frosting!

On to bigger and better things...I'll take that candle!

He LOVED my cousin Patty's cane! She would bang it on his tray and he would laugh like crazy! Who needs toys?

(Still laughing at Patty!)

I still can't believe he kept that hat on that whole time!

My sister Shelly and Lucas.

Lucas kept wanting to take a picture with Ethan, but he didn't quite get it that he was squeezing the dickins out of him! Lucas came running over to look at the photos on the back of the camera. He looked at one and said "That's not what I wanted. I wanted Ethan smiling." So we did it again and this is as good as it got!

He was loving this book. He loves books that have the little buttons that you push. After we opened this, he could care less about the other gifts.

Lucas was showing us his dance moves while this little drum was playing music. We were all cracking up!

He loved banging on this little xylophone.

Thanks, everyone, for a great time! Same time next year!

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Oh, where has this year gone? I can't believe my little boy is one today! It seems like just yesterday that I was delivering him here in our home, in a tub in our bedroom. What an incredible birth experience that was. We are convinced that his mellow personality is a direct result of his gentle water birth.

I squeezed him a lot today. Squeezed and kissed. He's so kissable, but today he was especially kissable. I asked God to help me remember today - holding him, hugging him, kissing him on his first birthday. It's days like these that I want to remember forever.

And with a cutie like this, who wouldn't want to remember it forever?!

Checking out his new puzzle from Gram.

We went to dinner to celebrate, and oh did he love riding in his car seat facing forward!


We are doing his official party with a cake on Saturday, but we just had to have a candle for him and sing Happy Birthday. So we used a fig newton, or "Snoot" as our family has grown to call them.



That's Daddy moving in to blow out the candle before he grabbed it!

He downed that cookie in nothin' flat. Nothing left but the liquid snoot dripping from his fingers!

Happy Birthday, sweet sweet! We love you so much, little man!

How many things can I jam pack into one day?

Hit the ground running this morning. Nursed Ethan and hopped in the shower. It was "Crazy Hat" day at Lucas' Vacation Bible School today, so I whipped that up real quick. Out the door. Drove Lucas to VBS in Silt.

I actually got to spend about an hour in the office while Ethan napped.

My little daycare guy came at 11am, and thankfully he was ready for his nap.

Ethan woke up at 11:20am. Nursed again. Made Lucas a sandwich and snacks for his lunch. VBS is over at 12:15pm, so I have been taking his lunch so he can eat in the car on the way home. Grabbed some Cheerios for Ethan and hopped in the car.

Lucas was playing outside when I arrived. He won the "Crazy Hat" award! He was very excited. The ladies at VBS keep asking me if he has any food allergies, because he refuses to eat the cookies or drink the lemonaide. All week. I asked him why he won't eat the cookies and he said he didn't want to get sick (we have told him that too much sugar makes you vulnerable to colds and other sicknesses). I asked him why he won't have any lemonaide and he told me "Because their's is yucky. It's yellow". Hah! We always have raspberry lemonaide, so it's pink.

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home. Forgot my wallet. Got lucky and had some cash in the car.

Back home. Walked in the door and Ethan dropped his sippy cup on the wood floor and woke up Isaac. Ethan is hungry + tired = cranky bug. Made Isaac's bottle. Ran some fruit through the food mill for E. Gil fed E while Isaac begged at the bottom of the high chair like a puppy waiting for scraps.

Heated up Isaac's lunch. Ran that through the food mill (that I had to wash after Ethan's fruit went through it). Gil put E down for his nap. Fed Isaac. Cleaned lunch dishes. Decided that the nap I had really hoped for was definitely not going to happen.

Put brownies in the oven for my mom's birthday dinner tonight. Changed Isaac's diaper. Heated up leftover teriaki tofu from Zheng's for my lunch. Discovered that I hadn't set the timer for the brownies. Hmmm. What time did I put those in the oven?

Sat down to eat my lunch and catch up on my favorite blog (Jodified Photography + Design), which I hadn't read in 3 days. Dryer buzzed. Folded clothes. Finished cold leftovers. Took brownies out of the oven. Got a call from Isaac's dad that he would be late picking him up. Turned off the oven that I forgot to turn off when I took the brownies out.

I guess I will have to wake up Ethan so I can nurse him before I take Lucas to his swimming lesson at 4pm. Rush back in time to make Mom's bday dinner. And wrap her gift. And sign her card. So why am I still sitting here typing?

Gotta go! I'll post a photo of Lucas' winning hat tomorrow! Happy Birthday, Mom!

Kelsey and Taylor

The big day finally arrived for Kelsey and Taylor! And what a gorgeous day it was. We were worried about the weather because of the crazy spring we've had, but it was a perfect day. Taylor was most handsome, and Kelsey was so beautiful! We couldn't have asked for better subjects. I think this is going to be the longest post ever, (1) because there are so many photos I want to share, and (2) because this is my family so I'm going to post a ton of photos (Kelsey and I are first cousins)!

When Kelsey was getting her lipstick on, someone commented on how beautiful her lips are and said "people pay big money to have lips like that!".

I love this shot of Kelsey getting ready. I really like that she is dark, but you can see just enough detail - the glimmer on her lips, the little highlight on her cheek, the light skimming across her neck and collarbone, the ringlet of hair that falls down her neck, the glimpse of her far eye, the contrast of her necklace and dress. Your eye dances around those things, then it goes straight to the brush.
Gil's great shot of the guys getting ready.
What a gorgeous portrait of Taylor that Gil took.

Taylor's gift to his groomsmen were these monogrammed leather flasks. Way nice!

Taylor's mom, Kacy, seeing him for the first time - and fighting back tears.
This is the cutest shot of the girls admiring Kelsey. I love that it wasn't posed - they were actually just standing there seeing how beautiful she was.
This was a great old barn that Gil found to shoot the boys' photos (ok, so it was the neighbor's garage!). What a handsome group!
We got to do some of the photos at Taylor's mom's house before the wedding.
This was the moment Kelsey and Taylor saw each other for the first time. These are the moments that are sooo worth the bride and groom seeing each other before the wedding.
And we can't forget "Boss", the ring bearer.
One of my favs...



I love this shot of Gil's - the black and white gives it a magical look.
The flowers were done by Lynn at The Flower Mart. She always does a fabulous job. We've worked with her on a lot of weddings, and her work makes our job so easy.

What little cuties! She was waving and saying hi to her mom.
Kacy had many tender moments watching her son get married.

The ceremony and reception were at the Dallenbach Ranch in Basalt. It is stunning with the river right behind them.

And the proud father of the bride...
Like mother, like daughters - beauty abounds.
Melissa Miller at Peak Party Rentals made the cake. It was gorgeous and delicious.
Woody's Rollin Smoke Bar-B-Que & Cookshack did the food. The fixin's were great, the salad was superb, and I heard the meat was lovely (we are vegetarian :) )



More tears from Mom...

I wouldn't usually blog about this, but you know the little dance DJ's do to see who has been married the longest? Well...
My Grandpa and Grandma won (Kelsey's grandparents, too, since we are first cousins)! They have been married for 63 years! Did you catch that? Sixty three years! I think this is the sweetest picture.
Since this is my blog, I get to post photos of my kids! :) Here's Ethan dancing with my sister, Shelly.
And more of our kiddos - Lucas having a great time with my sister, Monica.

This is the nice shot of Kelsey and Taylor feeding each other the traditional first bites of cake. Let's just say this is the most polite thing I could post, since they both ended up with so much cake on their faces, someone had to bring them a packet of baby wipes to clean up with!

Thanks, Kelsey and Taylor. We had a blast. And we were honored to be such an important part of your special day! Our love, M & G.