party hardy!

What an darling little angel of a tike I was this year... I say this without hesitating, because if you'd seen the amount of fuss that was made over me yesterday & all of the piles of gifts that I got from my family & friends, you'd think that I must have won the Nobel Peace Prize or something. Gosh I am fortunate to have so many loving, giving people in my life!

Mom carted me around all stinkin' week last week while (mixed in with finding things for our new house) we searched and planned and picked and bought all kinds of goodies for my party. We were so busy with the holidays & with painting over the past few weeks, that mom only left herself a week to throw everything together. Thank goodness Gingi & Popi were kind enough to let us host the pow-wow at their place, since our house is not quite in "party shape" at this point. You'll see from the photos that we had all kinds of cupcakes, cookies, and fruit. We also had a big table of dips, mini-corndogs, sausage treats, etc.... but mom somehow forgot to take a photo of that table & the Giant Pinwheel bouquet that served as decoration until we passed them out to all of my friends as favors ;o) Mom and KK also put together "M&M cookies in a jar" for the guests to take home.

Us kiddos had our own little table with our own sippy cups. Thanks to a great idea from Gingi, we were able to re-use a few of the million empty paint cans that we used while painting our house last week. Mom & dad turned them upside down & covered them with table cloths to make mini-stools for us munchkins. There was also a big banner with photos from the past year hanging on the windows.

Once all of my friends arrived, we got busy playing together with some of the fun toys.... my new tent (a gift from my G & P) was a huge hit, as was the kitchen that Gingi got for me a while back. Even the boys were enjoying cooking up some goodies. When it was time for me to blow out my candles, I knew just what to do! We all chowed down on the cupcakes (you'll see some of my friends really liked those sweets!) and then got busy opening gifts. With the help of all of my friends, I opened lots and lots and lots and lots of great gifts. Whew... it was quite a sequence of events I tell ya, but I think a girl could get used to this kind of thing!

Once everyone headed out the door with their giant pinwheels & jar cookies in hand, I got to open a few more gifts (yes... you heard me correctly.... MORE GIFTS) from my parents & grandparents. Among the wealth of gifts, I got a cool new red sports car from Daddy, Mommy, DooDah, & KK! It plays some fantastic music & even has a remote control, so that until I learn to drive it with the pedal myself, dad can help me cruise around with the remote. It took me a little while to warm up to the idea of sitting in it, but I immediately loved the radio & talking blinkers! I also got a new big pink overnight bag to match my turquoise (Grier's Goodies bag) with my name on it from Gingi & Popi. Uncle Bryan, Caroline, & Aunt Bebay also let me open gifts from them, too.

Like I said before... I don't think any little girl is luckier than this one. My family & friends are the best in the west & I am so grateful to have each of them in my little life. I hope you enjoy the gazillion photos below! You'll see that indeed... we "partied HARDY!"