Happy Birthday, Preston!

Thursday night we got to celebrate Preston's first birthday with the Hollemans.  And they know how to throw a party. Kristyn outdid herself with the food. Amazing appetizers and every topping you could imagine for your burger. Plus the best chocolate chip cupcakes I've ever eaten. (In fact, I thought about them all day today and invited myself over to have another tonight. They were that good.) It turned out to be a beautiful evening, so we ate outside on the patio (once the smoke cleared from the wild flames coming out of the grill. At one point we thought the house might catch fire...maybe it was the wind?) As we were eating, several flies made their presence known buzzing persistently around the food. And Lily FREAKED out anytime one got remotely close to her. Or her food. Or me. Or my food. I mean, like screaming at the top of her lungs! She's never reacted that way to bugs before, but maybe this is a new phase. To get her mind off the flies, we moved into the front yard and distracted her with The Swing. This is not just any old swing hanging from a branch. No, this swing is suspended from a wire cable (capable of supporting somewhere around 1000 pounds) and anchored to two pine trees so that you can swing in all directions. Serious fun. Lily couldn't get enough. And as if that weren't enough excitement, next came the pinata! But since all of the kiddos were under the age of 3, the dads ended up beating it down. (And might I add that Josh had the final blow...way to go, babe.) Oh, and I just have to mention that about two hours into the party, the Bleeckers realized that the brake lights on their truck were on. When Michael went to turn them off, he realized they'd left the truck running that entire time! Whoops! We all had a good laugh at that one. All in all, it was a great night celebrating the life of little Preston. We're so thankful we get to walk with the Hollemans and watch Preston grow up! Love you guys!