MICHAYLA'S 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!!

We had so much fun on Michayla's first birthday. During the day Michayla and I just hung out at home getting ready for the big party in the evening. There were many people that came to her party and TOTALLY blessed her with presents! (Thanks to all who were so generous to her! She totally plays with just about everything!) She is turning into such a little girl. Sometimes I can't believe all that happened in the last year. She went from this tiny little baby who just lays around all day and sleeps to a little girl who walks, talks, eats real food, and plays all day. Thanks again for all that you have poured into her life and blessed her with over the last year! Enjoy the pictures from her 1st birthday party!

Here's the birthday girl...

...playing with her friend Lillie!

Kevin's brother Darwin and his fiance Krista! Kevin's brother Gary and his little girl, Taylor! (Doesn't she look just like Michayla when Michayla was three months old?!)
Michayla's special birthday cake hand-made by Mommy!
So, Michayla was not your typical one-year-old. She was not too into her cake and ice cream at all. We think it was because all the people were staring at her and she got shy! How cute! However, as soon as everyone else started eating and stopped watching her, she went for it! Many of her friends and family that came to her party Ready to open presents Michayla?!

She was definetly learning towards the end how to rip them open!

She was also learning quite well how to pull presents out of the bag!

Michayla was so excited about all of her new presents she was showing Kevin and I one of her new books!

Then after the presents she was off to play with her little friends again (especially Lillie!) She was able to stay up as late as she wanted and eventually konked out around 10pm! What a full day for such and little girl (turning into a big girl!)!

Hurst, Gaither and our Christmas!

Just thought I would combine all the pictures into one post, since it takes me so long to post anything! :)

The first Christmas was with Kevin's family! Michayla did not quite understand unwrapping gifts, so I helped her a lot! She sure had fun playing with her new quack quack ducks though! Boy are they loud! :)

Our newest niece, Abigail and Kevin's sister Wendy! Aren't they so sweet!

Kevin's father reading the Christmas story to all of the family on Christmas with our nephew Dustin on his lap. Dustin is also Wendy's youngest son!

Now...off to Indianapolis! We left on Friday morning to drive all day and get out there about 6:30 pm on Friday night. Saturday morning was my extended family Christmas with the Gaithers. They were all so excited to hold Michayla! It took awhile for her to warm up to everyone, but she finally did and had fun being held and opening more gifts!

Her Great-Grandpa Gaither was the first one that wanted to hold her. It was neat to see that part of his heart come out for his great-grandchildren!

My crazy, but really cool uncle Rick. He always plays "Santa" every year!

Michayla playing with her new hippo, which she loves! This was one of her present from my parents.

Michayla eating her apple! She loved this thing and would carry it around and chew on it every once in awhile. Yeah, it got really gross! Oh well...it's Christmas right?

We drove home from Indianapolis on Christmas Eve so that would could be home in time to start our own family traditions on Christmas day. It was so much fun to have a kid on Christmas! Brought a whole new feel to the day! Kevin and I had fun playing Settlers A LOT! Then in the evening we were able to hang out with our good friends Ryan and Denise!

The Leaf Raking...what? Isn't it winter!

Yes, it is true...Kevin and I did not get to raking leaves until the middle of December. Sometimes it takes us awhile to do things around here. However, luckily it wasn't too late and we were able to get the majority of them before a major snow storm! Michayla was having fun, but cold!

Kevin and I had a lot of fun working in our yard together. It has been a long time since we got to work together since I have been working on Saturdays so much. It was an adventure for sure!
What we would do is rake the leaves into big piles and then load them onto the blue tarp. We would then pull the blue tarp up the hill and dump them into our woods. The plan worked wonders, although several times the tarp was extremly heavy! It was a workout for sure! :)

Michayla was so cute! When she would get cold, she would crawl to us. So, we would pick her up and hold her awhile, rub her hands and little cheeks to warm her up, set her back down and then she would go play again!