Happy First Birthday, Shane!

There was a family wedding on Shane's birthday so we celebrated on Sunday, the day after, instead. We had his birthday party at a park on a day that turned out to be 102 degrees! Thank you, Melissa, for taking such lovely pictures.

I made cupcakes for Shane. Chocolate and vanilla, with cream cheese filling and whipped cream frosting. The chocolate were awesome, and the vanilla were dry and heavy. That's what I get for trying a new recipe!

 I asked Nathan to put the letters on Shane's banner, so he used some creative license and wrote "Happy 1st Birfday Shane!" You should be able to click on the picture to see it bigger to see the letters.

 Shane LOVES water.

 It was very hot. And Shane was very, very tired. Poor sweet boy.

 I made Shane a birthday onesie to match the party decorations.

 We skyped a little bit with Grammy Wilkins in Ohio so she could see Shane's first bite of cake and a present or two.

 "What IS this, Mama? I'm not too sure about it." Poke, poke.

 Not too bad, once you try it.

 Daddy's goatee is quite overgrown. Don't worry, he didn't help with the cupcakes! 

 He liked it. ;)

 We were really blessed--so many family and friends showed up! Despite the heat, it was great to celebrate with so many loved ones.

 Grammy Vines did the cooking (burgers and dogs) and then helped Shane open his presents. She was SO hot--what a trooper!

Happy first birthday, kiddo!

First steps!!!

Shane took his first real steps today...to Daddy!  I couldn't believe it. Once he started, he just kept going! He still crawls more than walks at this point, but he does walk a little! Here's a little video of him walking. At ten months old!

A pipe organ and old friends

Shane has been on many outings in his short life and I will write about some of them later, but this is the most recent one—Chuck Swindoll’s church! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Pastor Swindoll, he is a well-known Christian radio preacher and author, among other things. In 1998 he started a church, Stonebriar Community, in Frisco TX. According to their website, about 4000 people attend every Sunday. I’ve been to some megachurches, but I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere this big! You know you’re going to a big church when there are real po-po directing traffic a couple of blocks away.

Frisco is kind of a ways from where we live but some old friends of my family are down visiting from New York and so I decided to meet them there. I’m not sure that I would choose a church of that size to attend regularly because I don’t know how you would ever get to know anyone. I was, however, very impressed by their friendliness and the wide array of programs available for children and adults. It seems like they also have an extensive outreach ministry. I got a very different vibe from this church then some of the other megachurches I have visited, and in a good way. They had a HUGE choir and an even bigger pipe organ. I love pipe organs and this one’s pipes were spread all the way across the back of the sanctuary. They also had 3 violins, a cello, and a clarinet. I’m guessing from pictures that usually there is a full orchestra. And, they sang REAL hymns! I miss hymns, and I think that’s the first time Shaney has even heard a hymn (other than the ones I sing him). I know the sermon was about Joseph but I couldn’t tell you much more than that. Lil’ man always gets hungry during sermons—I regularly miss them!

(I totally got this pic off the church website)

After the service Uncle John took us out to eat and then we went back to their hotel and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. It was so fun to spend time with them and catch up! I hope to go see them again later this week.

Shane and Aunt Leney:

Shane and Pete (Uncle Pete? I forgot to ask him)

He was wearing a really cute outfit for church but when we got to the restaurant he had a blow out. Like, a HUGE blowout. Like, the biggest blowout he's had yet. And I hadn't gotten a picture of him in it yet. Lesson learned--take the picture before you leave the house!