Claire's First Birthday Party

On Saturday we celebrated Claire's first birthday. We had such a great time! We decided to have the party at home, which lead to some creative maneuvering to hold all 50 people (give or take) that were in attendance! Claire wore a special shirt made for her by her (fake) Auntie Tammi. All the amazing decorations were also handmade by Tammi. When I told her I was not going to do a theme or any real decorating due to a total and absolute lack of talent and motivation, she was appalled! So, she saved the day with her mad skillz! The cake and cupcakes were made by Claire's (fake) Auntie Whitney and they were wonderful, of course! We had food from El Toro Bravo, a little hole in the wall tortilliaria in Costa Mesa. The food was sooo good! Carnitas, carne asada, fresh tortillas, etc.! Claire's wonderful (fake) Uncle Andrew and Auntie Kristin made my favorite sangria recipe ever. Delicious! My parents and Claire's (real) Auntie Vanessa and cousin Lucy came all the way down from Northern California, and Kevin's parents and Claire's (real) Uncle Kristian and Auntie Taylor made the drive from the central valley. And of course, (real) Auntie Mikkele made the slog in from 16th st. (a few miles away) to help get the party off its feet and keep Claire entertained. All in all it was a huge family effort (both real and fake, haha!)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP!

We all had a great time visiting, eating, praying for Claire, watching her demolish her cake, and opening presents. Of course, she was most fixated on a little box that one of her gifts came in, but she attended long enough to open every gift, say "ohhhh!' and sign "thank you." Overall it was a total success! Here's some pictures:

The happy birthday girl sporting her special shirt. The theme was birds because "bird" was one of Claire's first words and first loves.