aj's 1st birthday!

preparing for this party,

i was forced to call on reinforcements.

my best friend tari happens to be 6' 1".

honestly that's why i keep her around. :)

kidding, tari.

i have 8 foot ceilings that i obviously can't reach,

even with a chair.

thank you so much teresa lynn byfield wilson brown

for hanging up the wire for the poms!!

the decor.

my mom did the cake.

the circus performers.

my sisters.

lyle's aunts and grandma were able to make out from moline, ks.

don't ask me how far away it is.

over an hour.

too long for me to drive.

haha.

thank you to all of you for traveling out for the party!

it was so nice to finally meet all of you!

present time.

lyle's grandpa(such a sweet guy!) and my brother, lee(he's alright, i guess. :) ) 

apparently great minds think alike.

aj received 2 of the same lion...

in the same bag...

and tissue paper.

haha!!

rhonda,

you were here in spirit...

carrie had aj's sock monkey slippers here, too.

and of course this card made me think of you,  as well. :)

i got a lot of grief as i tried to light all of these candles.

it was totally worth it, though.

he really didn't get very messy at all.

my sister-in-law, jean, has a cousin in moline.

over an hour away. :)

saying their good-byes and headin' home.

the coulter's.

aj had a blast going up and down our little stairs.

so much that he wore himself out.

cousins unite!

i know we're mean...

but the boy only had ONE tooth on top and TWO on the bottom

 when i took his photos july 1st.

he's added 3 more up top and 2 below.

quite the overachiever.

as cousin aiden yelled at aj's van as they pulled out,

"have a good birthday, baby aj!!!"

 :)

party ideas came from 'under the sycamore'

and 'grey likes baby'.

we were missing a lot of the anderson family today...

my niece katie gave birth to her first baby last night!!!

a boy named avery.

famie sent this to me on my phone late and i saw it at 3 am

when the dog wanted out!

 congrats, katie and james!!

so excited for you!!!