You’re not going to know who this birthday girl is in these pictures.  This is Gracie Mulder, sister of Will Mulder, daughter of Steve and Erin Mulder.  This was her first year birthday party that Brittain and I attended.  I’m not sure if you will be able to see from the pictures, but this party was unbelievable.  The food, the cake(s)…what can I say?  It was a party planned by Erin Mulder.  Who would expect any less?

A brief photo shoot before leaving for Gracie’s party:

Seth and the birthday princess:

Gracie’s dad and brother:

Emma Kate quickly took some time to pose for the camera:

Emma Kate points out the lady bugs on Brittain’s outfit:

I’m sure that Brittain had no intention of eating that chicken nugget, but she had to at least act like it so that she could get attention from Emma Kate’s mommy:

Miss Erin breaks away from the party to hold Brittain:

I didn’t catch the moment after this, but if I had, you would have seen Emma Kate kissing Robert.  Robert must have known what was about to happen.  What do you think?:

A few years ago if you asked me what my Sunday afternoon plans were after church, I would tell you that we were going to my grandmother’s house for lunch.  This was my dad’s mom, “grandmama” as Cec and I called her.  It was a tradition…for how many years I don’t even know.  You could always count on who would be there – Grandmama, Aunt Janice and Uncle Terry, Aunt Linda and Uncle Mickey, and then the four of us (and our spouses after we got married).  Since Grandmama passed away a few years ago it’s been difficult to continue on this Sunday afternoon tradition.  Brittain is here (and she requires a nap right after church) and Cec and Matt are now in Athens.  The wonderful thing about our family, though, is that we’ve carried on.  It’s not like it used to be, but we still make time to spend together as a family.  Aunt Janice and Uncle Terry hosted a great afternoon on this particular Sunday.  It was wonderful food and a wonderful time to all spend together.  I thank Grandmama for starting this, and for keeping us together.  She’s still with us in spirit, even though not in body.

Aunt CC and Uncle Matthew arrived a few minutes early:

I can only imagine that this is what Brittain thought when she looked outside on this day.  I mean, I even thought it for a brief moment.  This snow day was especially rare.  I don’t know if I’ve ever seen snow like this before (from what I can remember, at least).  I loved it that Brittain was able to experience it and enjoy it and take it all in… and that’s exactly what she did.

We tested it out right when the snow started falling:

“Okay.  I think I’m ready for this.”:

Eventually we decided that we were cold enough, and perhaps we could still enjoy it from the warmth of the inside…and maybe eat a little pizza, too.:

The day certainly wasn’t complete without some hot cocoa.  (I love this picture):