birthdays

cousins matthew and josh with ellie and grandma karen & grandpa kent

in january, we celebrated grandma karen's birthday all together. it was fun having everybody over at our new home!

singing to grandma

ellie's 1st birthday!!!
ellie, todd, grandpa kent
it isn't the best photo of ellie, but her daddy is sure cute!

grandpa kent (todd's dad) thomas (my brother) and felicity (thomas' daughter)

todd, cousin felicity, and ellieellie was very lucky- two pair of great grandparents live close enough to share her birthday with her: grandpa & grandma smith (todd's mom's parents) and grandpa & grandma newman (todd's dad's parents)i love my new kitchen. we were able to get about 20 people in it for dinner.
some of the crew enjoying our cafe rio salads... yummy!!!grandma karen reading to ellie and cousins felicity, milo, and quintonellie's birthday cake. everyone got a cupcake with a "paw print" on it (a thin mint and 3 extra large chocolate chips)our little family.
i've never made a decorative cake before. i was really scared. between my mom and sisters, jessica & kim, i got enough nerve & a great idea to actually make it.ellie wasn't sure what to do with her cake.so todd got her startedhe actually had to help her a lot.grandma smith visiting with ellie.she is so cute with ellieellie sharing with grandma karen. cousins annalise & milo were near to watch ellie's progress.while she did eat some cake, ellie mainly enjoyed smooshing her hands in it.happy birthday, our little one year-old!