Ryan's 1st Birthday Party

For Ryan's first birthday we had an Red Wagon theme Aqua and Red party! It was crazy fun planning AND I really think my little man had a BLAST at his party! He was exhausted afterwards and took a nice long nap :) Anyhow I had a ridiculously fun time planning this little shindig and I am a little sad that it's all over. But then again....there is always next year :)

We hosted the party at our house which I was pretty adamant about. I guess I am just a little sentimental about some things...I wanted to celebrate his first year in the house that we brought him home to.  I was a little (ummm ok A LOT) worried about our house being so small and that it was way too HOT to be outside, but I think it ended up working out just fine. Originally I wanted it to be an outside party... but since the weather has been above 100 for 28 days so far I realized that just wasn't going to happen. We tried to make it somewhat bearable outside with some fans and an umbrella and then I also rearranged the furniture inside to open it up a bit more.  So the final count was 36 adults and 15 children (ranging from 2 months to 8 years) all moseying around some small square footage. I'm not gonna lie...it got a little hot, and I am sure our AC was working way overtime (sorry kevin) but it was worth it :)

I am so grateful for my FAMILY because they were so helpful preparing for this party. There is no way I could have pulled it off without them. First of all my brother Nick was so awesome and watched Ryan ALL morning long while we were getting ready. Ryan doesn't see him very much (because he lives in Florida) but I am pretty sure he is obsessed with him now...I think we are going to need to start skyping or something. He will need his Uncle Nick fix. 

My brother Steven and his sweet girlfriend Claire were also so super helpful and showed up early to help run errands for us. They picked up all the food and also ran a last minute errand to get more ice when we realized that most of the ice we had was already melted! yikes! 

Of couse my mom and dad we amazing. My dad helped with all the heavy lifting and then also fixed our doors - yes so random, but our house is ridiculous and shifts so much (especially in this heat) anyhow our front door was a major pain to open and close, our guest bathroom door didn't lock (yikes), the laundry room door didn't shut AND the backdoor didn't lock. Whew - that's a lot of door problems. Plus he helped cut up the fruit for the fruit cups! And as for my mom, I think it goes with out saying how helpful she was. She is like having a double body around who knows exactly what needs to be done and then does it.  She can clean like no other and fixes the place up so that it looks sizzling. I LOVE my T :)

AND of course there was KEVIN. He was amazing! If you know Kevin then you know how he feels about parties....he is a fan of them unless he is hosting AND then he is ok until it's game time, which is when he pulls the "hmmm do we really want to do this?" attitude that drives a party fanatic (aka ME) NUTS. Anyhow, he was PERFECT. Enthusiastic, cheerful and super helpful. He helped set up all sorts of crafts and also did some handyman work with my dad. 

So you are probably wondering what I did??? Well, with all the help I had I was able to relax and go to the SPA. HA just kidding :) Just checking to see if you were still with me. Having everyone's help made it super awesome for me. I was able to relax and run a couple last minute errands. Of course I helped setting things up and then I was able to get ready and most importantly take some pre party picture! Yay!

Ryan's 1st Haircut

We went to Snip-its today and you got your FIRST haircut! (Perhaps you recall a little snipping done by mom back when you got your helmet off, but this was your first TRUE haircut.) 

I had never been to Snip-its before but they have quite a production going. It's pretty darn cute too. Here you are waiting with Yia Yia

How could I child not love this? There is so much stimulation....

Buckling in

Getting that hair wet

Mid-cut

All done...and getting a little angry

 All done and checking out. They give you a card to insert into this machine and it makes some LOUD noises and spits out a toy. Oh my....Fantastic Sams has nothing on this.

After your haircut Yia Yia T took us to Zoe's! Yum yum. You were much more interested in flirting with a little girl (around you age) across the restaurant than eating. What a bold man you are. It was adorable!

Happy birthday!

Ryan's 1st birthday was this past Sunday and it's so hard for me to believe that I have a ONE year old! This past year has been the best year of my life - so much more than I could have ever imagined, but I won't go on about it ...I'll save that for his 12 month post!

For breakfast Ryan had some turkey sausage and pancakes! yum yum!

I made a cake for the little man. It's the same cake that I made for Father's Day. (I know, I still haven't posted that recipe). Anyhow, my super yummy secret cake is pretty popular and it's actually better known as a "Better Than Sex" cake. Yes, thats right. I made my one year old a cake called "Better Than Sex". That's weird. REGARDLESS of the name - it's pretty amazing and it's super easy to make. 

I made the topper using these free mini cake bunting printables from TomKat studio.  

Playing with crayons at Matt's

Hanging with Audrey

Mommy forgot to give you a piece of cake - thank goodness Aunt Sarah remembered!

Looking sizzling!

I am working on his 12 month post but probably won't get around to posting much until after his party on Saturday. I have had so much fun planning his party and will probably go through withdrawals once it is over. Oh well, I guess I can always start planning for next year! lol!

Ryan's 1st birthday Invitation

Originally I was going to make Ryan's invitations but in the end I decided it would be less stressful to have them made. I knew I wanted to focus on party decorations PLUS the custom party pack that I ordered from DimplePrints included an invitation so I might as well use it!

I love it and am so excited for his party! Here it is below (I used some of my fancy photoshop skills to blurr out the personal info).

Montana Trip - Daily details!

Thursday: hanging around the lake house

We took a walk along the lake midmorning and Ryan slept most of the time. Once we got back we played down by the lake. Ryan LOVED throwing rocks into the lake - he thought it was so funny. He also got to ride on the Aqua Glider with his cousin Ethan - so cute! Later we took the boat out and the kiddos went tubing! Ryan even went (with dad of course) and he seemed to enjoy it. Well, I don’t know if he enjoyed it, but he didn’t mind it. He was somewhat expressionless. For dinner that night we took the boat to a restaurant in lakeside. The food was yummy and when we got home we celebrated Ryan’s birthday!

Hanging out on the dock with Grandma!

Ethan & Ryan on the aqua glider 

Celebrating Ryan's birthday with cake! He loved the cake and his gift from grandma & grandpa.

Friday: Kerr Damn and Polson

There is still so much snow up in the mountains and it is causing the lakes to be a lot more full. The damn was running really heavy and it was super cool to see. The was a little hike down to the viewing area and I especially love the warning signs to watch out for BEARS and MOUNTAIN LIONS. Goodness, wasn’t sure about all that, but luckily we didn’t see any crazy wildlife. After our mini hike we stopped in Polson and checked out the Farmers Market. We picked up some lunch and had some gelato as well! Yum Yum! Mary cooked another amazing meal for dinner

Saturday: Wild Horse Island

On Saturday we took the boat over to Wild Horse Island to do a little hiking and have a picnic. It was uneventful as far as seeing any wildlife (which I was totally ok with) - there are horses (hence the name), big horned sheep, and even bears on the little island. After a little bit of hiking around we headed back to where the boat was to have a lakeside picnic.

Sunday: Big Mountain & Whitefish

We headed up to Big Mountain so I could do the Alpine slide - woot woot. I had no idea what it was so we decided I needed to try it. After we did some alpine sliding we headed up the mountain to do a little exploring. The views were AMAZING! 

And that, ladies & gentleman is an Alpine slide....

Little man fell asleep while we were hiking around.

Monday: Kalispell water park

The men went fly fishing so we went to the water park. We stopped and got some yummy burgers on the way and ate them at the park then headed in to swim. The water was surprisingly warm - well except for the baby pool which was FREEZING! We hung out mostly in the lazy river which was fine by Ryan. 

Love that SMILE!

Tuesday: Glacier National Park

We headed up to Big Mountain so I could do the Alpine slide - woot woo. Today was our "real" hike day. We headed to the park bright and early. The Hales and grandpa didn't come (they had done this trail before we arrived) so it was just us and grandma. I was a little worried about bears but the trail was somewhat busy since the full park wasn't open yet (there was still too much snow). Anyhow Ryan was our noise maker (to scare the bears away) and he was quite good at it. 

We made it!

And as we were leaving the park we saw a BEAR!!! Thank goodness it was on our way out because if it had been before I might not have wanted to hike!

The rest of the pictures are on Snapfish and you can view them here!

Our Montana Trip

We had a blast visiting Kevin's parents up in Montana. His sister Sarah and her kids were also in town visiting so it made for a fun time!

We left Dallas on a Wednesday around 11:45am and after a stop in Denver we arrived in Kalispell around 3 in the afternoon. Ryan was so excited when he saw grandma & grandpa waiting for him in the airport! On a side note, traveling with Ryan was a bit different this time - much more challenging :) He is a busy little man and wasn't really interested in napping. All in all he was a good trooper - just more challenging this time around. He wasn't to thrilled with the 40 minute car ride to the house but we finally arrived and it was worth it - I think Ryan would agree with that as well.

When we arrived Ryan happily greeted his cousins and went straight to playing! He was so happy to be able to stretch out those little legs of his. We hung around the house and Mike & Mary cooked up some yummy dinner . The next morning Ryan actually slept in! I couldn't believe it. I think we finally got up around 8am (which is 9am Dallas time - and that is just unheard of!)

View from back porch - Ryan with Aunt Sarah

Every morning was so nice and relaxing. We were usually the first ones up (not the first day!) Anyhow, we would get up and grab coffee and hang out in the playroom. One by one more family would wake up and join us in the playroom and kitchen area. There is something so wonderful about having a big family all together - plus it was great entertainment for Ryan! The kids would have pancakes/waffles and sausage and then we would get ready for the day.

We made a plan of action for the week:
Thursday - Relax at the house (long walk by the lake, tubing, boat ride)
Friday - Visit Kerr Damn & Farmer's Market in Polson
Saturday - Wild Horse Island
Sunday - Big Mountain & Whitefish town
Monday - Men went fly fishing and we went to water park
Tuesday - Glacier National Park - Avalanche Lake Hike
Wednesday - Heading back home :(

To me, this was the PERFECT amount of activities and relaxation time. Most of the time our activities would take place mid-morning to early afternoon and we were home in time to sit out by the lake and of course start happy hour at 5! The weather was absolutely amazing - it was so nice to be able to sit outside without sweating. I even had to bust out long sleeves!

We had so much fun and I know Ryan is going to LOVE going up to Montana each summer as he grows up. It was so nice to get away from everything and to get outside so much! I remember growing up and playing out in the woods at my Yia Yia and Papu's camp in Pennsylvania. It was so much fun catching salamanders, playing with my brothers in the creek in the woods and roasting marshmallow in the campfire at night - such fun childhood memories and I can't wait for Ryan to make his own up in Montana.

A little longer

So we just got back from an amazing trip up to Montana where we visited Kevin's parents! We had a blast and I have so much to share BUT we left our router up there so I have no Internet! Stay tuned... Until then I have a few pics on my iPhone













- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

July 4th weekend

We just got back from our yearly 4th of July weekend trip and are exhausted! We had such a blast catching up with everyone, soaking up the sun and eating lots and lots of yummy food!

We got a picture of the (almost) whole group  - but we are missing a few grandparents. 

Weekend highlights/memories:

• Jim Terry doing a back flip off of the boat - girls will be prepared to have a dismount for next year! lol!
• Playing washers & football chair
• Floating in the lake - which was SUPER low and very warm
• Women pumping room - my how times have changed!
• Kevin's top 10 lists - Jacob and his DIPS
• Our view on fireworks changed this year - Kevin was so upset because they were so LOUD and our babies were sleeping!!! Luckily they all slept through them!
• Meeting new baby Ben. Speaking of....

And welcome to one of the newest members of the gang - Benjamin Terry! What a doll!

Ryan and Marin hanging out

Picture of all the kiddos - as you can guess this was pretty difficult to get. We hope to get one each year!

Daddy and Ryan

hanging with uncle rob

Laura and Ben

Jessyca, Marin, Natalie and Reese

hanging with my little man!

Just hanging around

Ryan was such a busy little man. He crawled all over, was pulling up on everything, swam like a little fishy in the lake and danced like a crazy man with uncle rob. He also started clapping on Saturday - so cute! We have been working on this for a while so it's super exciting!

My little firecracker!

Ryan LOVED Zoe (Cobly's dog). She was so sweet!

And a BIG thank you to the Terry's for hosting once again! We always have such an amazing time and they are such wonderful hosts!