MONKEY's BIRTHDAY BASH

What a day, what a year, and what a celebration! Mommy and Daddy had spent multiple days planning the party but it was all worth it to see Kaden have so much fun with all of his family and friends-both big and small. We celebrated with Cousin Colton, Cousin Brett, Leah and Blake and of course we had the two newest and littlest babies, Gisele and Madisyn. Outside of the kiddos we celebrated with our friends that have watched Kaden grow over the last year and our families-Grammie Janet, Papa Tom and Grandma Sara, Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Zack and Aunt Lindsey, Aunt Becky and Uncle Adam. We also had a few special guests from Tulsa come up, Rob and his daughter Lauren. We are so lucky and blessed to have as many people as we did that came to be with Kaden on his special day and so touched by the outpouring of generosity and support for Operation Breakthrough.

What is Operation Breakthrough:  Operation Breakthrough cares each weekday for more than 600 children, ages 6 weeks to 18 years. More than 98% of the enrolled families live below the federal poverty guidelines, most far below them. About 25% of the children are homeless or near homeless, living in battered women's or homeless shelters or transitional living programs. Often they sleep on the sofas of friends or relatives, sometimes even living in cars, rundown hotels or abandoned buildings. About 25% of the children are in foster care or other placements due to abuse, neglect or other family crises. The average income of the families is $9,400. Operation Breakthrough offers multiple educational programs for the children and parenting programs for those parents in need. They make a difference each and every day.



Justin and I had decided that since we have been so lucky and fortunate this past year that we wanted help bring happiness and joy to those in need and felt that Operation Breakthrough was a perfect fit. We asked that in lieu of gifts that our friends and family bring a donation. The response was more than we could have asked for and we are truly touched by the kindness of our friends and family. We not only raised over $300 for Operation Breakthrough but we also have a full load of toys to donate! Here is Mr. Kaden with all the toys he collected for for his birthday. I can't wait to post pictures of the kids who get to play with these toys, they will be so very excited to have new toys to play with.

Don't worry, Kaden didn't miss out on any "birthday" fun. A few family and friends brought two gifts, one to donate and one for Kaden. Kaden got some much needed clothes, one particularly AWESOME Mizzou sweatshirt from Wade and Lindsey, he got a VERY NOISY toy from Uncle Zack and Aunt Lindsey which he opened first and then didn't want anything to do with the rest of the presents. He received some Hot Wheels from Uncle Adam, Aunt Becky and Cousin Colton, he got picnic table from Grammie Janet and a really cool recordable book, narrated by Grandma Sara.

All the kiddos sang Happy Birthday to Kaden and helped him blow out his candle and then he got to dig in. At first he was a little hesitant, wondering why everyone was watching him but after I gave him a little taste of what he had in front of him, he CRUSHED the cake. There wasn't a single piece of cake left in tact, he LOVED it.

We thanked everyone for coming and a little after 8, K-Man went down for night. He must have been really tired because he slept until around 7:45 this morning which is a rarity!

Thank you again to those who made this day possible. We are so very lucky and blessed to be surrounded by such great family and friends.

The cupcakes that I made.

Smash Cake

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures during the party but fortunately, the photographer did and we will post those as soon as they are available. I did get a video Kaden digging into his cake, check out my facebook page to see just how much he enjoyed his cake! (Can't seem to figure out how post on here any longer...)