First Birthday Party

For Evelyn's first birthday I made her favorite dinner, Fried Rice, and this beautiful cake with homemade frozen yogurt. Grandma Sheri and Grandpa Darrell joined us for dinner. 

Evelyn loves Fried Rice but I guess she wasn't in the mood for peas that night. She would take a big bite of rice with carrots, peas, egg, ham, etc. and just spit out the peas. Every time, pop, pop, out they would come. It was hillarious. Ryan got it on video.

I think the other kids were more excited for her presents. She just loved playing with the bows.

She loves books so she was ready to be done with presents when she opened this book. Usborne books has such a nice selection of board books for babies.

She definitely didn't know what to do with the candle on her cake but it got taken care of by the rest of the kids.

Evelyn's first birthday was an emotional rollercoaster for me. It wasn't so much because she's my last baby as it was that I couldn't believe how fast this year went by. I look at this year as someone might who has just climbed a mountain or ran their first marathon. I did it! I made it through a crazy year with five kids and although Evelyn had no schedule, rarely gets more than two hours of naps during the day, gets shuffled in and out of the car constantly and gets manhandled by all her siblings she survived. And she is a pleasant, happy, beautiful person to be around. She fits right in to this crazy house and adds a dimension that I couldn't have anticipated. Cameron loves to read her stories, Eden will play dolls with her, Austin wrestles and chases her all over the living room while she squeals in delight, and Dallin holds and comforts her when she just needs to be loved. Everyone in the family has a special relationship with her and each of their talents shines in the way they treat her. I never anticipated seeing so much love in and around one little person. Our family has come together to help take care of and raise Evelyn. The load is not on my shoulders alone and I appreciate everyone's willingness to help. It allows me to help everyone else in their own turn. I think I am just in awe of how family's can come together and get closer during challenging times. The Lord definitely knew that Evelyn needed to be a part of our family and I'm glad I had the faith in him to take that leap.