Pepper Party!

It is incredibly hard to believe that we have a one year old. This year has been full of learning experiences, some fun, some not so fun. Being parents is such a new, different adventure. We had no idea what it would be like or if we would survive, let alone thrive through it all. I have to admit that the first few months felt like we were barely surviving, with some amazing times peaking through (I require at least a few hours of sleep to feel human). Then, as Pepper's personality started emerging, and we gained a bit of confidence (and sleep), parenting became such a blast. I am constantly in awe of this little one we get to hang out with every day. How did we get so lucky? I know, I know, every parent feels this way...
                                                                                                                                   or so they say.

We originally planned a small family get together for Pepper's birthday party. We thought that keeping it small was fitting for a little 1 year old that would not even remember it. But then we heard that Jeremy, Tara and girls were going to be in town for the weekend. We of course had to take advantage of their visit and have a bigger family get together! Pepper was so lucky to have so many cousins to enjoy the day with.

By the time we had cake, Pepper had used up her last reserves of energy and would have fallen asleep in her chair if we had not intervened. My mom kindly took her for a nap so that I could visit.
 Thank you to all our family that made Pepper's party very special.