Elmo Party

Yesterday was a whirlwind of FUN!  As soon as Anthony got up from his nap he was greeted with his surprise in the backyard and shortly after his friends started coming so they could play, jump, laugh and have fun together.

I'm glad we bought instead of renting the jumper for Anthony.  He loved it and had a great time playing in it.  It really was more fun with friends so hopefully we'll be able to have more get togethers in the near future before it turns too cold.  (I guess then Mark is going to set it up inside the house.  I'm sure that will be interesting and blog worthy...)  Just remember: The Hansons have a jumper and will travel!  Hope to see you in your backyard or ours soon!

I'm definitely not a Martha or Rachel when it comes to cooking and hosting an event.  I've decided I would much rather go to a party rather than have one at our house.  Unfortunately, it all boils down to my lack of skills in the kitchen.  

However, I was very excited for Anthony's party and wanted to do something fun and special.  I got the crazy idea to do everything in sand buckets all because I wanted to make a dirt cake, which actually turned out really yummy! - with worms sticking out of it and a shovel/blade to scoop out the "dirt".  

Yesterday was a beautiful August day - not too hot or too cold with just a touch of fall in the air. We decided to open presents in the garage partly due to space and to enjoy the beautiful weather.  

Anthony wasn't completely interested in opening all of the gifts.  Once he saw one he would want to linger and play with that one instead of moving onto the next gift.  (Actually, that's probably the polite and PC way of doing things.)  Luckily, he had his pals CJ and Rylan to help him out with the remaining presents that needed to be opened.  

We were super excited that Ed, Sally and Ben made time to come to the party.  Anthony lived with them for a short period of time before he was adopted.  This family breaks down all stereotypes or horror stories  you hear about foster parents/foster homes.  They are wonderful and completely genuine in their love and character.  Hopefully we will stay in contact throughout the years so Anthony can always know who loved and cared for him the first 18 months of his life.  

(On a completely different note, it would be fabulous if future children of our could have the Ed and Sally "experience" before coming to live with us.  It would be a complete joy to interact with them again and know that our child was in loving hands before he or she came home to us.  And on another completely different note, how exciting to even be thinking about baby number two!)

Once again, it was a beautiful day.  It was great to be surrounded by our loved ones celebrating a little life that has brought such joy to Mark and I.  We are blessed.