Eight days past ONE...

June 22nd marked TJ's FIRST Birthday. It was a Friday, so Andrew had to leave early for work, and Quinn had school in the afternoon. The day was pretty routine until the evening, when we were all home together. Quinn and I had wrapped Jake's birthday present while he had his morning nap, and were keen to watch him open it before supper. Of course, Q had to help his little brother with the taped bits, but he did quite well on his own. The gift *was* a Radio Flyer Tricycle with attached Parent Control Handle and canopy. Andrew spent over 30 minutes assembling the trike that night, and we tried Jake on it early Saturday morning. What I didn't notice when I bought the thing was the minimum leg length requirement. Poor Jake is wayyy too little for it, so it was all shoved back into the box and returned to Toys R' Us. TJ is *still* without a replacement birthday gift. Please don't tell him of this when he's older. We promise to find something suitable soon...

On Saturday afternoon, the majority of the family came over for a BBQ and Birthday Cake. Without listing everybody in attendance, I will just say we had 27 adults, and 7 kids, from 5 branches of our assorted family tree. 10 of those adults were either Grandparents or Great Grandparents to Quinn and Jake, and 3 more weren't even able to make it! It is incredible how much family we have, now that I have reunited with both sides of my birth family. Love surrounds us.

Here are some pictures of the event. Jake devoured his cupcake in a much more barbaric manner than Quinn did six years ago. What a sweet face – literally!