1st Birthday Party!

 We debated and debated on when we should celebrate Luke's birthday and finally decided to celebrate the day before, on Sunday October 4th, so that more of our family could participate (and it worked out better that way with Chad's work schedule).  We spent all week preparing for this big day of Luke's!  The treats, the decorations, the meal, the cake...it was all done with love for our little guy!  We went with a minion theme and it turned out great!

We had a great turn out today for the big party.  The weather turned out great so we partied outside, which was so nice when it came time for clean up.  The kids had a blast playing in the sandbox and running around the yard.  Luke enjoyed lots of snuggles with his aunts and uncles and Nana.  He was extra snuggly for everyone and they all enjoyed it.

For decorations I made a bunch of minion faces out of paper plates and scrapbook paper.  I was pretty excited with how they turned out.  We scattered them and photos from the Camera Shy shoot down the center of the picnic tables.  I had pictures of Luke printed off, from his monthly blogs, and hung them from our "Christmas card" frame. (About an hour before it was party time, Luke got curious and tipped the frame over, snapping one of the ropes of twine and ruining the display.  Thank goodness for duct tape).  I had small water bottles decorated with yellow paper and googly eyes to mimic minions.  And for the "thank yous" we bagged M&M's and minion shaped graham crackers in little clear ziplocs with a saying that said, "Thanks a "minion" for coming to my first birthday party! Love, Luke"  It was fun going overboard on the decorations and looked great!

For lunch we did Cafe Rio style pulled pork salads.  Chad smoke two huge pork roasts on the Traeger grill.  He started them around midnight the night before and finished cooking them this morning.  Our food prep went great and we had pretty much everything done and ready to go.  About an hour before the party started I started to panic a little about how it would all come together.  Luckily Grandma Cheryl, Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Tiffany showed up to pitch in, it was much appreciated!  We let everyone play and visit for about a half an hour before dishing up lunch.  Lunch was awesome and everyone loved it.  We had all of the fixings for a great salad.  Chad even made a bunch of cheese quesadillas for the kids to munch on, they gobbled them right up!

When it came time for Luke to open his presents big brother Tyke was right there to help!  In fact, a few of the older kids enjoyed helping Luke out too.  He didn't seem very interested at all but Tyke was sure excited about all that Luke got!  Luke got most excited about all of the treats he received, M&M's and Gerber Cheetos, especially the mini M&M's!

After presents it was time for cake!  Luke was still too excited about the mini M&M tubes to really care about the cake.  There was a slight breeze so we didn't have a lit candle while singing happy birthday to him.  He thought it was pretty funny that we were all making such a noise singing to him.  He got excited and hit the cake with one of his M&M tubes, smearing yellow frosting all over.

 We stripped little guy down to his diaper and gave him his very own plate of cake and ice cream.  He wasn't too sure what to do with it but soon caught on.  He didn't eat it as well as we thought he would but he enjoyed what little bit he got in his mouth.  He was a yellow frosting mess by the time he was done!  I gave him a quick bath and got him back out to his party people for some more attention and loves.  He enjoyed every bit of his party!  The food, the loves, the attention, the presents and the cake.

After cake and ice cream the party was pretty much over.  Everyone was eager to leave and get home to watch the last session of General Conference.  The timing worked out great because by the time everyone left we were all ready for naps.

Luke's presents (Thank you Aunt Stephanie for taking notes!)

A shirt, pants, hat, Gerber Cheetos, color changing dog and $10 (Nana)
Tiny dumptruck that teaches about the letter "D" (Great Grandma Gisela Clayson)
A giant set of 6 cars (Uncle Trenton & Aunt Rachelle)
A dump truck that makes noise and hauls rocks (Uncle Seth & Aunt Stephanie)
Set of 3 trucks (Uncle Chris & Aunt Danielle)
Paw Patrol story book, two bags of M&M's, and $10 (Great Grandma Jean)
$30 (Grandpa Terry & Grandma Cheryl)
$10 and two tubs of mini M&M's (Uncle David & Aunt Tiffany and Uncle Alex & Aunt Heather Jo)
Clothes, water bugs bath toy, Little People pig pen set, story book, dance and move robot, and new sippy cups (Mommy & Daddy and Tyke)

Our boy is sure loved and was spoiled well by his family!  Thanks everyone for coming and supporting our Bubba Lu on his big day!  Happy First Birthday Day Luke!!  We love you so much!