Yes, it has happened. Ella has had her first birthday - and the accompanying cake and ice cream and party hats and candles and noisemakers and punch-balloons and everything. Ella got to share her birthday party with her Grandpa Gerard (his 60th was on Monday - so we did a bit of a surprise for him) and thoroughly enjoyed eating part of Grandpa's birthday cake, too. Two birthday cakes are definitely better than one! And when one of those cakes has 60 flaming candles on it, watch out! (The Gerard tradition does NOT include licking the frosting off of the candles, so Grandpa didn't have to lick 60 candles worth of frosting before eating his cake)
So...there was MUCH cake (very tasty - and leftovers for us to enjoy!) and frivolity. And presents. Which Ella enjoyed - looking at the packages, mostly (one very large Elmo bag, in particular). Fletcher had to help her open them up when we returned home (the party was at church, because we couldn't fit 25 people in our house at the same time and maintain any level of sanity or comfort), and she was more fascinated watching Fletcher shred the paper than she was interested in opening them up herself. That will change, however, probably by her next birthday.
Here is the "standard" Barnhart birthday photo - licking the frosting off of the candle. However, Ella decided to bite the candle rather than lick it, so now the candle has teeth marks in it, and she didn't get all that much frosting. She'll learn.
Wonderful! Wonderful! Thank you for sharing with us, Snow Princess! Ella (in regards to her 1st birthday) has been so much on my mind. I have had a hard time refraining from telling anyone, remotely familiar, that it was her 1st birthday, Saturday. So wish I could have been there, and very glad to hear of the delightful party, for both Ella, and her Grandpa Paul. The pictures are so cute! I am glad to know of your endeavor to carry on the Barnhart birthdy-candle-licking tradition, however I think Ella came by the biting quite naturally, she just chose a waxy candle, instead of a pack of cigarettes!
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm pretty sure several unsuspecting patients now have a little more than they bargained for, because I myself couldn't refrain from exclaiming over Ella this week! I can't believe she's already 1, and I also can't wait to see you guys this coming weekend. I have a couple gifts that I'm REALLY excited about. : ) Thanks for the pictures!
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