A Name, a Blessing, and a Birthday

March 6, 2011 was an eventful day.

First of all, it marked two years of this adorable girl's life.

Second of all, this young man was blessed.

Which led to an epic party, with lots of people and food.

It was a great day! 

To elaborate a little more... We had so many family members to invite for Ammon's blessing it was incredible. Brigham and I counted 71 people, and that was if we invited the bare minimum.  So many came to support us that the entire chapel was filled and the overflow had to be opened. Despite his uncles' best intentions, our boy was named Ammon Samuel Tappana and he was blessed to be strong mentally, physically, and spiritually. He was also blessed to be a great help to those around him, to his current family and future siblings (oh boy!). He was told he would serve a mission and find a worthy girl to take to the temple. Many of my family members bore their beautiful testimonies  during the meeting and the spirit was very strong.

We ended up having about 55 people fit in our basement and it was full but not overcrowded. I made 76 miniature cinnamon rolls (I believe my brother ate 20 of them himself), two plates of deviled eggs, a giant bowl of bean and corn salsa with chips, and provided many varieties of juice. Thanks to the help of everyone we had plenty of food and drinks and Lydia had a delicious Elmo birthday cake (note: I wanted to stick the candles in Elmo's eyes, it would have been hilarious, but I didn't). 

 It was so nice to have the support of so many friends and family and to be able to share this day with them. Most of my immediate family could not travel down from Washington, and the support of everyone else made it much easier. We were showered with gifts and love!

As for this birthday girl, despite being devastated that we dragged her home, depriving her of her reward of nursery after sitting politely through sacrament meeting, she warmed up and had a blast.

Wow, Lydia is two! She is so spunky and smart these days. Despite just turning two, she knows her entire alphabet and associates all her letters with different Sesame Street characters (for example when you point to an "E" and ask her what it is, she says, "E, Elmo."). She also knows her colors, shapes, animals and sounds, and can count to ten. She memorizes other people's names faster than I knew possible. Usually you just have to tell her someone's name once and she remembers from then on, even if she doesn't see them for a long time. 

She is a girl in every way, loving purses, jewelry, pink and purple, shoes, dresses, and getting her hair done. She is obsessed with Sesame Street and Elmo, dancing, books, and swinging. Lydia  is a great help for her age and she loves her little brother :)

We are so blessed with these two and we were blessed to have a day to honor the both of them. Luckily, we were able to have Katrina there to take some family pictures as well.

 Thanks everyone for your help in having such a fun and wonderful day. And for those that couldn't make it, we missed you and love you!