Its Ellie’s First Birthday and its time to party! It was actually a small celebration with close family and friends but fun was had by all. Ellie seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the people in her house, but she warmed up eventually. Shaun and I had planned to have people enjoy our patio as well as the house, but unfortunately the day turned out to be a scorcher! Nearly 100 degrees! We still BBQed, but most of the party stayed inside where the AC was going full blast. Thank goodness we kept things small otherwise no one would have fit in the house!

It is very obvious that there is a lot of love for our girls. Ellie was given a lot for her birthday, including a handmade hat from Jackie Escobar. Her hat matched her birthday dress perfectly and Ellie looked adorable in it.

Birthday cake time was a blast. Ellie wore her birthday hat, well… just for a moment. When the cake was first brought out, Ellie went straight for the candles and of course looked around at us like we were nuts for singing. We werent that bad! But once the candles were blown out it didnt take long for Ellie’s fingers to find her way to the cake. Once she realized that it was ok to tough the cake, she was all over it. It didnt take long before the cake was demolished and all over Ellie. Abby, Emily and Harrison helped a little too and snuck a taste when they could.

After cake was done, it was time for presents. Once again it was obvious how much Ellie is loved. She recieved a lot of beautiful things from clothes to toys and a few cute dolls. Ellie played a lot and loved her presents, even though she had no interest in them as we opened them. She was more interested in a puzzle that Abby had received from Grandma Zoe. Boy, was she great at that puzzle!

While it was a hot day and a small party we all had a wonderful time. My parents made it all the way from Montana and had the chance to see some people they had not seen in quite some time. Friends and family talked, laughed and had a wonderful time. It was yet another successful birthday party!