Grace's Second Birthday, The Party

We had a small family affair for Grace's birthday back on April 4th.  When I say small, I mean 35 or so family members from the Wilson and the Deterding sides, and a dog.  We love getting both sides of the family together-- there's a lot a laughter, a lot of kids (young and old) running around, and a lot to be thankful for!

One thing I was thankful for were these cute and delicious M&M speckled peanutbutter chocolate eggs.  Steve and I ate half of them before the first guest even cast a shadow on our doorway:

The birthday girl in her new frog rain boots, eating the rusted railing on our porch: 

She loved hearing the birthday song!  She got to hear it twice, because on the first go-around I forgot to hand someone a camera:

My Dad and Leah:

The dog was Bella, my cousins' new puppy:

Grace got an inflatable Elmo kite for her birthday, and Steve has rediscovered the art of flying a kite.  Have you flown a kite recently?  It's impossible not to get a smile on your face and feel a rush of adrenaline when you finally get it up in the air with all the string let out:

I haven't even looked at the pictures my sister took on my other camera.  I need to do that soon and post them!!  She took pictures of people and presents and food.  The only other things I had on my camera are some details from the party~  Martha Stewart helped me create these flowers to hang from the ceiling:

Cake Pops.  Where have you been all my life??  Mom Deterding and April helped me make about 40 of these little birds and ladybugs the night before the party, and they were delicious.  Go make some!