Leila's First Birthday Party

My little girl is one year old and I had to plan her first birthday party.  I am not much of a party person, and even less of a planner, so I was pretty stressed out about it for days (okay, weeks) beforehand.  But it turned out great!

Picking a theme was a no brainer since Leila absolutely loves Elmo.  That red, furry monster has saved my sanity on more than one occasion--especially on long car trips.  Once that was determined, Pinterest became my new best friend and set about making decorations and party foods.  I also made an adorable Elmo "one"sie and tutu outfit for the birthday girl.

Elmo's favorite foods are pizza and bananas

I made the smash cake but ordered the cupcakes

A Year in Review

The guest list started off looking a little sparse with just my parents and Annie, but filled up fast once we realized Perkins would be in town. Jason's Aunt Patrice wanted to bring Leila a birthday present, so her and her granddaughter Sydney got a last minute invite.  And then Jared was able to stop by too.  We even Skyped Jason's parents for most of it too.  Thanks for making the time to help make it such a special night for Leila (and her mother)!

Birthday Girl

Lots of Helpers

Straight for the chocolate mouth

After the party was over and the birthday girl had been bathed, Alicia and I gathered our girls for one more set of pictures.  This time they were all wearing the princess dresses I'd made for them!  Leila would not sit still (of course) so in just about every picture she is about to jump off the couch.  But they all still looked cute and the dresses turned out really well (if I do say so myself) I really enjoyed making them.  In fact, I already made another one for Sydney and am planning another one (or two) for another friend of mine who recently had a baby girl.

When the Perkins Come to Play

My cousin Alicia, her three girls, and her mom all came to Utah from Arizona to visit over General Conference weekend so I took full advantage of as much play time as possible!  We went up Saturday so the boys could all go to Priesthood together while the girls played and ate pizza.  Okay, so most of my time was spent chasing my busy one year old all around the house trying to keep her from falling down the stairs or tearing apart my grandma's plants.  She does like to explore new places.  Regardless, it was still a fun time AND I finally got to meet the newest addition to the Perkins clan, Brynn.  What an angel!!  I don't think I heard her fuss for more than 10 seconds all weekend.

Sunday we went back for our usual post-Conference family gathering.  Before dinner we dragged all 10 of the great-grandchildren out to take some pictures since they were all in the same state for once.  Of course getting 10 little girls to sit still and all look at the same place was virtually impossible, but we still got some good shots.  And then we took all of the energy back to my grandparents.  What a crew we've become and I loved every bit of it!

Quite the legacy!

I got talked into driving back up the next day as well (okay, so it didn't exactly take a whole lot of arm twisting).  This was a lot less formal and the older two Perkins girls were warming back up to me and were really sweet with Leila.  I even looked up once and Aubrey was just sitting next to Leila in a protective/playful way and managed to get this picture.  My mom saw it later and remarked that it reminded her of another blonde and brunette pair of cousins--Me and Alicia!

 Tuesday morning we met up for a wonderful day at the Hogle Zoo.  My mom even took Annie out of school and got my cousin Ryan and his girlfriend Jessica to join us.  We were a little worried the weather wasn't going to cooperate because it was pretty chilly first thing in the morning, but it warmed up nicely.  The southern group got there a little before everyone else so we had fun watching Leila play with the water ball.

The zoo has been undergoing a series of improvements to various areas and this summer re-opened the bear area.  They did a really good job!  We caught a show of the sea lion/seal trainers and were mesmerized by the swimming polar bear who was putting on his own show.  We also ooo-ed and awww-ed at the two-week old baby giraffe.  There was an awkward tortoise moment that will forever be ingrained on all of the adults memories while the kids were blissfully unaware.  Hailey loved having Annie race her around in the stroller.  It was a great day and my mom even suggested that this may just have to become a tradition for Leila's birthday.  Of course that means the Perkins will have to be here every year too!

Auntie Sluffer

Fascinated

One bird in the Cuckoo's Nest

One Happy Little Girl

Sweet "Little" Baby

The Zoo Crew

Our last get together was when they came down for Leila's birthday party.  But that gets a post all of its own.  Thanks for a great trip to the zoo everyone!

Fall! Glorious Fall!

I LOVE FALL!  By far, it is my favorite season.  The only trouble is that it never lasts nearly long enough.  This year I was determined to enjoy as much of it as I could, so we took many, many drives up the canyon.  One night we took some KFC up to a picnic area and just enjoyed being outside.  Other times I just drove with Leila during the day.  Thankfully she usually fell asleep without too much of a fuss.  We did a portion of the hike to Stewart Falls as a family (when I realized Leila has outgrown the carrier we currently have...time for a new backpack).  And my dad took some family pictures for us one Sunday afternoon.  I am satisfied.

Canyon Picnic

The Beginning of Fall

Lovin' her Daddy

Colors, Colors Everywhere!

Stewart Falls

Trooper

Happiness

A Grandma's Love

1, 2, 3!!!