Happy Birthday Two You!

Birthday parties are sometimes casualties of living 2,000 miles away from your family. This is something Dodd and I think about a lot now we have Bear. When we were invited to Dodd's birth sister's wedding in LA (more on that to come) the week before Bear's second birthday, we decided to make a big West Coast trip of it. He shares his birthday weekend with two family members, Uncle Kevin and Cousin Alexis. So my mom, being the family-bringer-together that she is, had a BBQ in honor of the celebrators.

Here are just a few of the MANY photos we have of a great day.

The picture below is of two birthday boys. This is Bear and Uncle Kevin. I am not an astrology believer, but these two Leos do share some common Leo temperaments. As my sister has pointed out, you can see they also share the same hairline. Although we didn't really talk about it too much at the party, all of us were thankful to be able celebrate Kevin's birthday this year. He was in a serious on the job accident over 4th of July weekend that by all accounts, should have taken his life. Over 1,000 amps of electricity passed through his body! It is frankly a miracle that he is here, totally ok, and sassy as ever. :)

We met the little cutie below for the first time. Alexis is Bear's second cousin and we celebrated her first birthday! She is so incredibly squeezable and gentle. I am so not used to girls! Bear's 2nd cousin also has an interesting cultural heritage. She is a Mexican, Peruvian, Sicilian, Irish American. How cool is that?

This is Alexis's big brother, Azulito.

And my cousin Azul, having a great time with the kids.

Chillin with the cousins.

Grandma is showing Bear the very special birthday cake she picked out for him.

Grandma knows about Bear's love of....yep Elmo! We don't watch much television at home and he's still hooked on Elmo. What IS it about Elmo and toddlers?

Most people drove a long way, like Bear's Great Uncle Joe Joe below. Uncle Joe and Aunt Marie drove all the way from the Penninsula just to celebrate with us. My friend from highschool Bronwyn, drove from Silicon Valley. My cousin Jeff and his wife broke down a few hours away and couldn't find a rental car so rented a U-Haul to get them to the party instead!

Cake and ice cream haze.

My parents have friends who have followed and prayed for Bear's journey home. We were finally able to meet them at the party. They sure understand our family, as evidenced by the present they gave Bear. A sheriff's hat, badge, and handcuffs with a note that said "We understand there's a new sheriff in town." You are dead on Bonnie and Mike! Grandpa Frank had the honor of demonstrating the handcuffs for Bear. Grandpa is somewhat an expert, since he used to do that for a living.

Opening presents and OD'ing on jelly beans.

Bear had lots of fun with so many people to play with and stuff going on but I am not sure he gets the whole concept of birthday party just yet. Matters not, we enjoyed it for him!

We have much to be grateful for.