Let me caveat these photos by saying for the last year of Reese's life I have felt guilty. I really 'dropped the ball' in regard to celebrating her first birthday. On Nov.12th of last year, Ben and I were on a plane home from Mexico where we attended a close friend's wedding. Upon arriving in the late evening in Grand Junction, CO, I was lucky to have a small store bought cake waiting for me- I mean, Reese. (Thanks Kathy!) It was a quiet evening with a gift or two and few balloons. I hadn't planned for any 'party' for that evening, knowing that a subsitute party would follow in Laramie with her cousins, aunts, and uncles, etc. Upon that day's arrival, I came down with a horrible flu bug of some sort. I stayed home in bed while Ben celebrated a joint party for her and Harrison. All I have in memory of this day are photos...(I don't even have these photos anymore because they were on the stolen computer!) So, with all that being said, although it was an intimate family affair, I wanted to do it right! So the family dressed up for photo ops, I purchased a beautiful custom cake that I designed, and a bouquet of balloons. I may have gone overboard with the pics, (these are just a small sampling of what was captured) but I wanted everyone who reads this blog to get the sense you were actually here!