Adam and Bears birthday bash part 2

Here is part 2 of the festivities. I know I left some people out amidst the craziness of the party. I really wanted to get a picture of the moment the piñata bottom fell out and the kids all dove for the candy, it was such a great moment to see!

how many bottles of coke do you think Adam snuck today?

Iron Chef Jason Bretzke with cupcake oven mitt

I personally love this photo set of Lenita and I. I don't remember what was so funny but she is just so gorgeous and fun and I adore her so much. 

pups all lined up for their photo shoot

Atlas stole the show! 

the pup and people "doggy bag" bar was a hit, although maybe I should label better next time?

Super Mom! 

Matt was having trouble with his princess puzzle, luckily Mya was kind enough to help! 

This is the picture I asked Adam to take.  We were in the very corner of this before I cropped it

look at this sweet little baby?! How can you not love that little face!!

Doesn't this color look amazing on her? She's so cute I can't even stand it! 

Time to blow out the candles, boys! 

Adam got cupcakes, bear got pancakes. Everyone got happy.

Adam opening his presents and cards with sheer delight

I can't even handle how fabulous Kim is...all.the.time.

Boys enjoying birthday presents! 

Sweet little Sampson, I love my nephew!!!

Happy happy dogs.

Music by Alejandro Salas

I love everything going on in this picture! 

the boys...oh wait...

now the boys! 

Love this group shot of everyone! Bear of course has to be front and center! 

goofy Bear! 

Momma and Poppa Hicks are the greatest! They had just gotten back from a trip to Alaska, I'm sure were exhausted but still came to celebrate with us. So thankful for them! 

Bear was happy to help with cleanup

All in all, I would say this party was a success. I'm still finding bits of balloons that Bear helped pop and pieces of puzzles and legos from Adam strewn about. It's all worth the time spent with great people to celebrate two of my favorite boys. 

Adam and Bears birthday bash Part 1

After running around like a crazy person for the past few days we finally got to celebrate Adam and Bears birthday yesterday with some of our favorite people. It was full of food and drinks and music and laughter and these two boys were spoiled by the great company as well as gifts (even though we said not to bring anything!).  In fact at this very moment Bear is sitting behind me crying at the dining room table because he smells cupcakes and treats and apparently the 3 I already gave him aren't enough (treats not cupcakes). Adam has snuck so much candy from the candy bar I'm absolutely puzzled as to how he's not sick yet. 

I had to compile this into 2 separate posts because I took so many pictures and I absolutely love way too many of them. I loved seeing everyone, it was a beautiful mixture of old friends and new and I feel so blessed to be surrounded by these people to celebrate 2 special boys in my life.

Do you see Bear?

I wracked my brain forever on what to do for gift bags. I knew I would use the pull string piñata for the kiddos so I wanted something more for the adults. I considered doing mini bottles of wine but not everyone drinks and we had a few teenagers so I ended up making red velvet cake pops, sugar cookies and "puppy chow" which is chocolate peanut butter covered rice chex!

The Breakthrough moment of the day was Bear figuring out how to carry a balloon without popping it. He became obsessed with them over the week and we had many a casualty due to an overzealous pup.

Adam got a surprise bike as a birthday present from dad. All he's wanted to do since is ride that bike up and down the street.

look at that new bike smile!

Soon all the pups showed up!

Stephanie Bretzke: Dog Whisperer

Food was plentiful. I was so nervous about running out that I may have gone slightly overboard.

fresh caprese, tomatoes from dads and my garden, basil from our deck garden.

We also had steak, burgers, bacon wrapped-sage rubbed chicken, hot dogs, grilled corn, cherry tomatoes skewered on rosemary from Steph and Jasons garden and lots of drinks and snacks. We are pretty excited about all the leftovers today! 

This beautiful lady above, Stephanie, came over early and helped me prepare food, set up, decorate, clean (you name it) and is the main reason everything went off without a hitch. Between her running around and doing pretty much everything and Jason cooking we averted near disaster. I am telling you people, she is superwoman! I don't think this party would have been possible without her. In fact, that has become a recurring theme in my life. Man I really owe her dinner!

Pretty much right after we had everything setup people started showing up, it was perfect timing.  Again, I have Steph, Jason and Momma Hicks to thank for that.  They just took over and blew my mind. I would still be scrubbing and doing dishes 2 days from now if it weren't for them.  They are truly incredible!

So nice to see the always lovely Jessica and Alex who came up from DC. Can't wait to do a winery and antiquing day with them soon!

Don't you just love little Lilly's supermodel pose?!

Khyree and Bear had fun tackling each other. Maybe Khyree can teach Bear a thing or two and he can become an athletic pup! 

Matt telling a fantastic story about food, I'm sure.

Part 2 coming soon!