Happy 1st birthday Gillian!!

Hard to believe, but Gillian Grace turned 1 last Saturday. We hosted a party with all of our closest friends Saturday to celebrate. A mid-morning thunderstorm nearly derailed our grilling plans, but we had a few people come through in the clutch to save the day. Eric (neighbor) loaned us his sun tent to put on the deck in the event that it would be 90 and hot. Well, that didn't exactly happen, as the skies opened up around 9:30 before the 11 o'clock party. As it started to rain, we were able to get the tent up and functional on the deck, so I could still cook lunch for everyone.

The party was just getting started....after lunch, Gillian had a great big cupcake and daintily picked at the icing (as any polite little girl should), before sticking her icing-covered hand into her hair. Expectedly, she was not too terribly interested in the cake portion of the cupcake...but moreso in the delicious frosting.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and for those that weren't able to join us, thanks for the warm thoughts. The first year of Gillian's life has been incredible, and Michelle and I continually count our blessings for all of our friends and family, and the impact you have had on our family.

Aunt Abby was able to get some great pictures of Gillian on Saturday, so I've put in 2 of my favorites. There are plenty more, but once again, I'm working on getting them all put together.