Big Birthday Weekend!

This past weekend was Brooklyn's big birthday weekend.

It started with a visit from her Mimi, Opa, and Aunt Katie. Mimi and Opa came in Thursday night, and then Aunt Katie came in on Friday afternoon. However, while Aunt Katie arrived, her bag did not. So, we spent a couple hours at the airport waiting for the next flight from Atlanta to bring in her luggage. We waited.....

...and waited....

and waited. But eventually, the bags did show up!!

Aunt Katie was good for entertainment!! :) The rest of the evening was spent decorating the church and spending time with family.

Saturday was the big day! It was a very sweet little party - perfect for a sweet little girl!

Brooklyn was able to spend time with family and friends. We are so blessed to have such special people in our lives!

Brooklyn and her best buddy, Ella.

The best picture I could get of the birthday crew: Trent, Ella, Brooklyn, Logan, Emerson, Soren, and Nate.

Brooke and Mimi (wonder where she gets her "Lizard Lips" nickname!)

Brooke and Nana

I love this picture of such a sweet moment with her great-grandmother, Nani.

Brooklyn's cousin, Logan, and his parents, Chad and Darnell, drove in from Grand Rapids just for Brooklyn's party. We are so happy to have them back in the state again! It really meant a lot to us for them to be at the party!

Pop and Grandma Mary

Time for cake!! We ended up going the entire morning without a nap, so there were a couple of tired moments throughout the party, but all in all, I thought she did pretty well.

She had a phone call - I hate it when that happens!

Clean-up time! We definitely utilized our resources and used the giant church kitchen sinks to help with de-icing our child! :)

We opened several beautiful and thoughtful gifts from everyone. Unfortunately, I was helping to open the presents and Darren was videotaping, so I didn't get any actual pictures. Afterwards, we cleaned up and spent the rest of the day hanging out with Mimi, Opa, and Aunt Katie.

Saturday night we went out for dinner and Brooklyn wore one of her new outfits she received for her birthday. Aunt Suzette and cousin Allison picked out this awesome outfit! Nice taste ladies - Brooklyn said you are allowed to shop for her anytime!! :)

The next day, before Mimi and Opa left town, we all went out for breakfast. Here are a couple more cute pictures to end a very long blog - thanks for hanging in there! :)

I just want to say thank you to my mom and sis for helping me this weekend - I couldn't have done it without you!! Thank you to everyone for being there to share this special time with us - we love you all!!