Hope's First Birthday

Our littlest Goddaughter turned one yesterday.

We celebrated together by attending Mass and having a party at Hope's house for a gang of hungry kids ranging in age from 1-15 years.  A few of them got very muddy playing in the backyard after lunch...  too bad they hadn't changed out of their nice clothes!

One 4 year old guest in particular, was very excited to eat the cake he imagined would be the

highlight of the party.

He even gave up asking for gum after Mass when he realized that might compromise his

cake-eating eligibility.

But Hope's mama made a better choice for dessert: this beautiful bowl of fruit!

Hope (with help from her big sister, Hannah) blew out her baptismal candle as her first birthday candle.

Happy Birthday, Dear Hope!