Party TIME!

We had Mika's 1st Birthday party last weekend. We definitely tried to do it smaller than we have in the past. It was less stressful and less things to do the day of. I think we've found what we like. Jordan and Amanda decided to throw a wrench in the less-stressful party plans by having their baby the day before! We dragged the kids around on our errands that day and tried to finish everything as fast as we could so we could go see little Eli that evening. He is adorable and deserves his own post which I will do soon.



We had Mika's party at the same stake center we had the other two children's parties.



Amy and the kids surprised us by flying in earlier for the party. I was screaming and jumping up and down. It was the best surprise. Also, Uncle Les and Aunty Kanani flew in just for the party too. It was so nice to see family and friends.






(so good to see aunty and uncle)








we didn't reserve aunty Jeanette's bouncer in time. We found this for cheap and it also came with a free pinata. A HUGE pinata.




We had a performance group put on a show this time around. No balloon guy, no face painting, just a show. Simple.


Our birthday girl was all smiles at her party. We sang her Happy Birthday and she only ate the cake after I cut into the cake part. Aunty Amy had fun decorating her face with the icing. Mika didn't like eating the icing much.




Looks like Ani and Malakai stole a taste too


She had a quick bath in the kitchen sink


Dane's cousins. We were so glad they could come. They have such cute and respectful children.



The party turned out pretty good. We had a mishap when the butcher cut the kalbi meat wrong and we had to just use it. Dane was disappointed when he spent hours bbq'ing and he thought the meat was too tough. The flavoring was great, but they sliced it wrong. Learned our lesson on that. Ordering the chicken and cakes were winner. Made it so much easier not worrying about it. It also takes three cars to transport one hundred balloons. Just for future reference!

We really couldn't throw these parties without all the help from our family and friends. We had all the aunties and my mom in the kitchen cutting and putting together salads and such. My dad brought his sound system and the kids & Aunty Kehau were helping us set up tables and chairs. Aunty Meliss spent most of the morning watching the kids and was the nanny for Mika at the party. So nice to have all that help. Thank you everyone.


Our birthday girl... It was tiring and crazy, but we love this little girl so much. We just had to look at her smiley face and feel so grateful to have her in our family.