Landon's First Birthday Party - Part One

I have had about a dozen posts with photos just sitting as drafts on the blog - I just haven't had time to add the commentary.  I am taking a multi-tasking break from editing to finally add some commentary and publish them.  First up is little LT's first birthday party.

Its hard to believe that he is already one.  As the baby of the family he will always be called Baby Landon regardless of how old he actually :)

Uncle Dave brought the standard first birthday present...with his legendary wrapping paper.

My sisters house was full of family and friends to celebrate...

The big girls were very helpful unwrapping Landon's presents and showing him how to play with them.  That is what big cousins and sisters are for right?

Of course, C was excited about the Mickey Mouse bag :) And, actually most of Landon's toys.  Since as she told me the other night 'Momma I only like to play with boys toys.'

And, on the other end of the spectrum was Avery using wrapping paper to make a princess dress :)

Cambrie and I had a great time picking out Landon's birthday presents, one of my favorite part of his big bag of fun was some Disney Its a Small World books.

He is just like the girls in the family and loves to read.

Time for cake!

The usual family self portrait with two little girls with painted kitty faces :)

I love these next pictures of my nephew and I...he is my only nephew and he is oh so special to me.

Betty's 91st Birthday Party

Back in September Damon's grandma Betty celebrated her 91st birthday.  To celebrate we had a family dinner up at the ranch.  It was great seeing her outside of her house and all dolled up :)

Damon's cousin brought oysters to share...my husband was in heaven!

Cambrie was excited that Charlie was going to be there - even though they have only seen one another a handful of times she talks about him a lot.  Its super cute to see her connected with her family.

And, of course, she loves spending time with her Ry-Ry too.

In true ranch fashion, Damon spotted a coyote which lead Loren to run and get a gun.  He had quite the cheering crowd and, thankfully, Cambrie and the other littles weren't too scared of all the commotion.  The coyote got away but Loren gave him a little excitement.

This picture is so my girl...big eyes, mouth open and hair an absolute mess.  A beautiful mess.

We were happy that we brought up C's bike since Charlie loved it.  These pictures are so sweet of him and it made me so happy that Cambrie was absolutely fine with sharing one of her prized possessions.  

These two...

Damon's cousin and his family...

It got a little windy, so the birthday girl enjoyed the view from inside...

More cousins...

The next 3 photos are super precious to me...

Making a wish on your 91st birthday can be a little overwhelming.

Betty is so beautiful - such a genuine smile and I love her sweet flower.

It is not a secret that I love self timer photos (although all my poor family members might disapprove) and I am so happy that we took the time to get these pictures done.  What a fun and lovely group!

With the grandchildren and great-grandchildren...

4 generations...

The boys...

And, lastly, my girl sharing some love with her Auntie Leana.

I can only imagine what it would be like to celebrate 91 years of life.  So much change in the world has happened in the last 9 decades.  So many people have come and gone, so many memories made.  We love the family dinners (we need to do more!) and I am so thankful to be a part of Damon's family.

It has almost been 3 years since Damon's Grandma Morelli passed away.  I was pregnant with Cambrie  and during our last visit with her we shared with her that we were naming our only daughter after her only son.  I like to think she kept that as the last memory of her grandson and was comforted knowing that the Morelli legacy was being carried on in many different ways.  It makes me sad that Cambrie will not having any living memories of her, so I really treasure these times (and photos) of Cambrie with her Grandma Gehrke.