Elise's birthday party

Obviously, this post is long overdue. I still haven't posted about our first Christmas as a family and Mike's R&R. I promise that these won't go forgotten!

Elise's 1st birthday party was at our house on January 30. We ate sandwiches, chips and salsa and queso, and a cupcake cake. We were blessed to have Elise's grandparents, aunts and uncles, 4 of her great-grandparents, and several of our friends at the party. My brother's wonderful girlfriend, Michelle, graciously documented the party so that Mike and I didn't have to worry about taking pictures. Thank you so much, Michelle! We all had a great time!

Birthday shrine and decorations

Framed invitation

HABA birthday caterpillar debut

Eating dinner

Cake time

Why is everyone singing?

Notice the icing on the wall behind her

Opening presents (look for an orange ball or a water bottle in her hands in almost all of the rest of the pictures)

Playing

Group pictures

Charming 4 of her great-grandparents

Elise and her grandparents (surprisingly this was the best out of 4 pictures)

Trying to get four 1-year-olds to look at the camera was impossible...

Sweet Austin didn't mind looking at the camera :)

Elise with her aunts and uncles

Elise with Bryan and Michelle (orange ball is gone)

Our dear friends Caleb and Julie drove down from Dallas for the party. We've been double dating with them since 2000 (and we are long overdue because of this deployment!)

Our little family. Mom, will you send me the high res version of this photo please? :)

The aftermath