Happy Birthday Briella!

Briella is 1 year old!!!   I can't believe it!  Time is flying by.   Yesterday, July 15th, Briella had a fun but simple birthday.  Matt stayed home with the kids because Connor wasn't feeling to well, so Briella started her day with a nap, as usual.  :)  Then I got home from church and she took another nap - such an exciting life.  :)   After that the festivities began.  We opened presents as a family (which included our dear friend Linda Kuck, from church).  Briella wasn't quite sure what to think or do with the presents but good thing she has a big brother to show her the ropes.  He helped open all her presents (and even got a couple of his own from family and friends - so nice!).   Then we had dinner and the best part - birthday cake!   I made a Jello poke cake with cool whip as the frosting.  Connor helped frost the cake and get everything ready.  Briella loved it when we sang to her - you'll see from the video below.   She was so cute!!  She dug right into the frosting but wasn't quite sure how to eat the cake, I think it was too big.  She figured it out though.

It was so fun watching her and remembering this past year.  She is growing up so much and changing everyday.  I love her and we're so grateful she is in our family!  Her smile is contagious and just lights up a room!  We love you Briella!

Here are her accomplishments for the year and some of her likes (just a few, there are many more!):

- Crawling (army crawl sort of - her own twist on it!)
- Smiling  (big cheesy smiles!)
- 7 teeth (4 on top and 3 on bottom)
- Trying to keep up with her brother
- No more baby food, only big people food
- Says, 'Mama', 'OH' (as 'Uh-Oh), 'Dada' and many other sounds/words we have yet to understand
- Loves books about baby animals
- Loves to eat pasta, broccoli, potatoes, and most all fruits (blueberries and watermelon are her favorite)
- Hates peas (just like her mama!)
- Her favorite toy is her caterpillar that has her pacifier attached to it (WubbaNub pacifiers - love them!)
- She loves Uncle Joe (Katelin's hubby) - they became best friends this past June while we were all in Oregon.
- Nicknames:  'Baby Girl' and 'Bright Eyes'

Happy Birthday Briella!

 This is the card Connor got for her.  It was an Angelina Ballerina card - very cute! 

 Making sure all the toys worked well!  :)

 Connor was such a good helper!

 'What do I do with this cake?'

'Oh, I got it!!'

Here's a video of the birthday celebration!

Fun in early July - Columbus Zoo & Carillon Park

     Just after the 4th of July we went with the Buschelman's and Montminy's to the Columbus Zoo (it's free for military and their families during the week of 4th of July).  It's a big zoo with lots to see!  It was fun going with friends.
     Later that week we went to Carillon Park here in Dayton.  It's a huge park that tells all about the history of Dayton.  You'd be surprised how much industry and business used to be here in Dayton.  It was a happening place!  (The park reminded me a lot of Nauvoo or Kirtland church history sites.) They had the first school house there that we got to tour - it was neat.  They had the original Wright Flyer (the first airplane the Wright brothers built and flew), a building that had a bunch of old trains in it and they had a smaller train that we got to ride around the park.  It was a lot of fun!  There is so much more there we didn't even have time to see.

Columbus Zoo

 Connor and Michael chillin' with a bird.  

 Our 'boat' ride with the kids.  It was a little stressful getting on and off the boat with the kids because it was still moving!  :)  Slowly, of course, but still moving.   They failed to tell us that and we were expecting it to stop and then the "helpers" said 'go ahead and get on, quick'.  It was quite funny!!!  They ended up stopping it because we didn't do it right (we had to many kids in one seat/bench).  :) 

Carillon Park

 Fun carousel

 Wright flyer

This is the cute train we rode through the park.  It went faster than I thought (lots of wind blowing in our hair!)  :)