Emerson's Big Day!

Emerson King was excited for his very first birthday party!
One year old... I get overwhelmed thinking about it...overwhelmed in a good way... so amazed at the gift we were all given...

Seeing my baby boy holding his baby boy... that overwhelms me ... watching he and Emily as parents... parents to their son... I'm in awe...Emerson got to meet his great-Uncle John for the first time...
his great Uncle John and great Aunt Becky...
Emerson's cousin, Benjamin, came to help celebrate the big day. Benjamin asked him why he was wearing an A's cap...
Whatever my little one year old grandson said, made his Aunt Becky laugh. His cousin Benjamin just clapped his hands, "Good answer, cuz, good answer!'
"I'm glad you came to my party, Ben! We're gonna have so much fun!"
Emerson was so excited!
"Aunt Becky, look at all my friends who came to my party!"

"I know, sweetie, you are one loved little boy!" his Aunt Becky told him.
"Hey, what about me? Am I a loved little boy too?" asked Ben.

Emerson just looked at his cousin and almost laughed.

While Emerson was enjoying his party, his mama and her dear friends, Kristy and Gloria, worked on getting everything set up. This is the same Kristy and Gloria that made the adorable train birthday cake...and the cupcakes...and gave Emily one of her baby showers... like I said, "dear friends..."
These precious little girls were getting ready to get their bands...their bands that gave them unlimited rides on the carousel and the train...
Emerson was talking to his mama...wanting to know when he could ride the train and the horsey. (That's what he called the carousel...'the horsey'...)
Emerson had both of his Mimi's there...his mama's mama and me, his daddy's blogging mama!
Emerson had his God-father, Christian, and his son, Wyatt, there to have fun with...
Along with both of his Mimi's... Emerson had both of his Papa's... his daddy's dad and his mama's dad...
This made little Emerson King one happy little man!
What a fitting cake for a little guy who has a REAL train to ride at his party!



It was a bit difficult to manuever around the uneven grass, so his Papa held his hand while he strolled around visiting with all his friends...
Emerson asked if he could have a picture with Kristy and Gloria...and his mama, of course.
He was a little unsure how to tell them how much he loved his birthday cake...
so he just gave us a big smile...

Emerson loved riding on his Daddy's shoulders...
He realized the view from up high was really different from the floor-view...
He surveyed all his friends...
When someone said, "There's Emerson! How big is Emerson?"

Emerson raised his arms up as if to say, 'THIS BIG! I'M ONE YEAR OLD NOW!" His Daddy is sure proud of his little guy!
Emerson's big cousin, Blake, was trying to figure out what he wanted to do...should he play ball...or ride the carousal ... or ride the train... or eat something? Um???
Emerson took his first spin on the carousal...with his mama holding him tight!
His cousin, Benjamin, rode the carousal with him... and his mama, too!
His second cousin, Natalie, also rode the carousal...she's a big girl so she told her mama she could do it all by herself. (Never fear, her mama just let her THINK she was doing it by herself... she was very, very, very close!)
Emerson's Daddy decided to join the 'horsey' fun...
He was watching his little guy pet the horsey...
Emerson and Benjamin's Great Uncle John wanted to join the carousal ride, too. He took over watching Benjamin...
Emerson was trying to figure out why the horsey was going up...then coming down...

Natalie...what a little doll!
Wyatt and his Daddy were happy to be at Emerson's party...
Cash, Katrina, Wyatt, Christian, Gabe, Emerson, and Emily... great friends!
Bestamor was loving feeding her newest great-grandson, Brody.
There were also swings...which Benjamin definitely enjoyed!
Gabe was enjoying visiting with UJ and Bobby...
Jason and my guy enjoyed a beverage together...
After Emerson had his beverage - water - he decided to take a little break from all the festivities...
Emily took a little time to relax and visit with Jessica, Kristy, and Gloria...
Now, if you look closely, you can see water on the balloons...that came from rain...from the dark cloud that gathered and let loose with about a 15 minute rainstorm... Donnie and Benjamin took shelter under a tree, eating some watermelon while they waited out the storm...
Our spirits were not dampened one bit...no sirree...we just congregated under trees and had a grand ole time...
Bestamor and Diane just visited under an umbrella!
Mia had just woken up from a little nap. She is just slightly older than Emerson.
ahhh... the rain stopped... the sky started to clear...
Lisl came to let Emily know how happy she was to celebrate Emerson's first birthday...
UJ, Bestamor, Andrea (in background), Aunt Becky, Papa Ron, Aunt Lindsey... all hovered around the cooking hamburgers....
I love this picture of Emerson's Papa and our baby girl, Emerson's Aunt Lindsey!
Cash and Katrina... I love Cash's red jacket with his mama's gorgeous hair!
Emerson's parents... MY baby boy, Gabe, and MY sweet daughter-in-law, Emily!
Also celebrating was Kim, Emily's friend, with her baby daughter, Leia, and her older daughter, Kendal.
Wyatt was loving the party!
Benjamin was loving his cousin's party too! His Daddy was letting him check out the balloons!
Not only the kids, but also the grown-ups, enjoyed riding on the train...
Emily and Emerson took a ride...
Christian picked up his boys, Wyatt and Cash, after their ride...
Benjamin was reminding us that he also wanted to ride...
His sweet mama put him right on the train...

Stephanie and Brody were just relaxing for awhile...
Blake decided to try one of the cupcakes...
Mia and her mama, Anna, were watching Emerson play baseball (just kidding)...
Kirk... well, I'm not sure if he was overjoyed for his picture to be taken... Actually, his son, Blake, may have just taken his cupcake...
Donnie, UJ, and Gabe were still busy barbequing after the rain cleared...
Greg was loving holding his newest grandson, Brody...
Cali, Gabe's friend, Bobby's daughter, was also enjoying a cupcake...
Emily was delighted that so many friends were having fun at Emerson's first party!
Benjamin was curious if anyone was going to play golf. I apologized and told Benjamin that we'd play a little later. He was OK with that....

He asked me if I had noticed he wore his golfing hat....I reassured him that I had noticed.
As the weather continued to warm, Bestamor, with her grandson, Kirk, and her great grandson Blake, talked about how much Emerson had grown in his first year!
Greg continued to kiss his Brody...
and Diane was playing with Blake...
As it was getting time for birthday cake, Gabe showed Emerson how to wear a birthday hat!
Diane and I took pictures of each other taking pictures...
As Emerson sat down to have his first birthday cake, the paparazzi was out in mass...
His mama was soooo proud of her little man...

We sang...I cried...Emerson clapped...and then - as a proper little man - first decided to remove the candle before he dived into the cake... the engine of the cake...
He wasn't too sure about eating a train! So his Mama and Daddy gave him a little help!
After his first bite...Emerson gave everyone a HUGE smile and clapped his hands!

Yummers!!!
After picking off a few bites, not wanting to make too big of a mess in front of all his friends, Emerson just decided to bend down and eat it without even using his hands!
That didn't work as well...so he went back to just taking off a piece at a time...
He clapped again...this cake was indeed tasty!!!



Emerson's demolished train engine...
When he heard the word 'demolished', he was a little worried that he'd done something wrong!
We reassured him that we loved how he had 'demolished' the engine...

"Whew, I was scared..." said Emerson.
He started to sing Happy Birthday after hearing all his friends sing it to him earlier...
He even clapped for himself...even though we gave him a standing ovation!
Jason was giving Gabe a congratulatory hug...
Blake was trying to figure something out...
while Bestamor was just in awe of Brody...
Nathan came with his mama, Jenn...
Bestamor and her baby boy, Greg. Now you have to understand, in my opinion, a baby boy is still a baby boy, no matter what their age!
Blake discovered the bubbles...
UJ, Aunt Lindsey, and Uncle Donnie watched their nephew, their one year old nephew...
Diane loved watching Stephanie play peek-a-boo with her newest grandson, Brody...

Bobby and Cali decided it was time to go... they came around to tell everyone good-bye, and to tell Emerson how much they enjoyed his first birthday party...
Cali really wasn't ready to leave, but her Daddy tried to explain that it was time...
Mia told her mama, Anna, that she didn't want to go home either.
Blake was hoping he could have some more bubbles...
Emerson was ready to hop back on his Daddy's shoulders...but his Mimi decided it was a good time to take a picture...
"Oh Eme...you're such a big boy!" his Mama exclaimed.
I'm not sure what this was about...but it was obvious that UJ, Uncle Donnie, and Aunt Lindsey were having a great time.
Aunt Becky and Bestamor had a lot to talk about...
Becky wanted to recycle all 3 of her beer cans... (that's not exactly the truth...I doubt if she even had a sip of it!)
Emerson wanted to take one more ride on the train...so this time, he got his Mama and his Daddy to come... they were only too happy to ride the Choo-Choo with the birthday boy!
Mimi and Papa shared a piece of watermelon...
Aunt Becky and my guy, who commonly call themselves 'the outlaws', were enjoying spending time together...
Cousin Blake decided to end the party by hopping on a horse....Cousin Benjamin decided to hop on a horse too...
And, of course, the birthday boy hopped on a horse....
He raised his arm in the air, just like he watched those cowboys do on rodeos...
At the end of the horse rides, Benjamin told Emerson what a great time he had at his party...they were going to shake hands, but Emerson was just exhausted after his big day...so his cousin just patted his hand and said,

Happy Birthday, Emerson...
Emerson had a great day...a great party...

and now he was enjoying having his Daddy just pick him up and hold him awhile...

Happy Birthday...Happy 1st Birthday, Emerson King!