First Birthday Celebration!

Nolan, you precious thing.  You are very loved, and your first birthday showed that fact in neon lights.

Your mom and dad picked out very few present for you -- but yet look at the mountain that you ended up with from friends and family who went out of their way to bless us.  Wow!

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As soon as Dad got home, we dug right into the presents.

You got a great book from Mr. David and Miss Marion!

And an awesome dog touch and feel book from Mitra, Mairtin and Milo!

This baby laptop takes me back to a certain May 2nd snow day.  Ring a bell, Steph??

Fun flashlight from Aunt Rachel and crew

Pausing for some hydration. Gotta reserve your resources.

A musical train from Aunt Lizzie

- A comfy rocking dino with a seat -- selected with generous funds sent by Mokie and Granny

And a Construction Site book from those wonderful Sviggums

And this was a super hit -- a rocking horse from Grandma Debby!

I guess I didn't photograph the stacking cups and cars with ramp that Nana and Papa sent you.  I am saving those gems (and a few of these!) for a day when we need a new distraction in our midst.

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So, new toys and paper are flying, but what do you want to play with?

- the tags

- Khaki's ball

- an empty box

- and a tent that you've had for months.

Classic.

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Opening the last gift, this time from Julia and her guys...

...and what does the tag say?

?????

We were so confused.  Who are these people?!  Oh, Amazon - good try...

-- Thankfully the box contained the right gift!  Wonder if Olin got a "Happy birthday, Nolan! Love, Julia" card?!  Too funny.

It's a riding truck that we KNOW we love because Eliza had one in Texas!  Way to go, Julia!

Mikel helped break it in right away by zooming and careening Nolan all over the living room and kitchen in it.  That thing can really fly on the tile!  Such a dad game.  :)

 

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Then it was cake time!

One of Mikel's colleagues makes beautiful cakes for a bargain.  I just told her I thought a cowboy theme could be cute - and this is what she produced:

We were amazed!!  Some people are just so talented.  And not only was it lovely to look at: Mikel ordered vanilla cake with lemon cream filling.  Oh my, it was divine.

As you can see, the cake is huge!  Luckily we had the Stewart family coming over the next night for dinner so they could help work on leftovers.

She even included for Nolan his very own smash cake:

It took him a while to really get into it....

...getting closer...

"Guys???"

"Not so bad....."

"Who wants seconds?!"

"What do you mean 'All Done'?!?"

It was a happy day for a happy boy and we are very happy parents.

Thank you so much to all of you who remembered him and us on Nolan's first birthday.  You made it so special - even from a distance!