Here's Brooks with his cake, made by our friend Laura. She's the best!
Feeding so many people was a little nerve racking, but I made about 10 lbs of meatballs the week before and froze them. Then the day before I roasted sausage, peppers and onions. My mother in law boiled all the pasta. We borrowed many electric roasters. The grandmas and Aunt Anna made salads. With all the help, the food turned out great. We had way too much, but people went home with leftovers happy to not have to cook the next day!Aunt Anna and our good friend Debbie with newborn Colin in the Bjorn...he's a little Irishman, their first son with 3 older sisters.
Bridget, Carter, Molly, Leah and Trent
Amy with the twins, Emma and Riley
Uncle John with Brooks
My brother Matt helped us create a playlist and the kids had a blast dancing. It was so much fun!
We hired a juggler, who was really funny. He kept messing up though, which was also kind of funny. The kids loved his show and even came up unexpectedly and gave him a big group hug at one point. Here's Carter volunteering for one of the stunts.
They all balanced peakock feathers on their hands before he later balanced an ironing board on his head. Getting the kids involved in the act kept their attention. All but Elliot, he kept swinging the feather at Elizabeth, trying to get her attention.
G-ma holding the birthday boy.
I posted a slideshow with a lot more pics. The ones of Brooks eating his cake are the best. He was slow about it at first, but eventually he dove in face first! All went well till the clean up crew arrived. Then he had a meltdown. It was a great party, a lot of work to put together but well worth it. Now that he's one, it's like he's one of the gang. Brooks is joining in with the other kids. While they run around, he chases them crawling. He smiles at them and gives them hugs and waves to them when he goes down for his naps. They look out for him too. Last night, we had a babysitter and he cried quite a bit when we left. But Maddy said on the phone that she loved the way the other kids worked so hard to help settle him down. Don't get me wrong they all fight at times, but it's heartwarming to see them look out for eachother, even the littlest one who can't really play with them or bring much to their entertainment. They want to sit with him and talk to him. When we tell stories at night, even though he's asleep in the other room, they make sure I mention Brooks as one of the characters because at one he's a big part of the fam! We love you Brooks. Thanks for being our sweet little boy!
