HIZEE TURNS THREE!!!!!!!!!

The arrival of the long-awaited Elmo Party!

For those of you who have had the pleasure of being with Hizee during the past year, you have likely heard this sentence spoken a few times! Hizee decided the day after her second birthday party that her next party was going to be an "Elmo party." She told this to everyone she met for an entire year! And she stuck to it (even though she rarely even watches the fuzzy red guy). That's Hizee...she's a girl of her word!

The Waiting Game!

We made the mistake of scheduling Hizee's party for four o'clock on Saturday afternoon. You know how when you go on a rrreally long road trip and the last ten minutes of the ride are the most excruciating part of the journey? That is how you can describe Hizee's wait for her party. This party was a whole year in the making (or dreaming) and that Saturday (the day the party finally arrived) was torturous for Hizee! But she made it through and was pretty zonked when her guests finally arrived.
Next year her party is going to be at 9 am! And, oh yes, for those of you who are wondering, she has already planned the theme -- it's going to be a "Pony Party!"

Hizee's guests ranged in age from two to thirteen! Most of them were her buddies from the bus. The kids were so great and had an absolute blast! Hizee was the humble party princess, as she led her guests in games of hot potato, the freeze dance, a follow-the-leader treasure hunt, pin the nose on Elmo's face and the ultimate hocky stick piñata bursting experience (piñata designed by Bruce). In return, her friends showered her with love and attention...she ate it all up!

A few extra pictures from Ziko's first birthday party sent to us from a friend (thanks Jill).

THE BEAMING BIRTHDAY BOY!!!!!

ZIKO TURNS ONE!!!!

Keeping the Tradition Alive!

My mom has a tradition of making this sitting bear cake for the kid's first birthday. In fact, this is the exact cake I had for my first birthday (minus the feet...I ran out of cake batter!). Thankfully the hobby shop here in Yellowknife had this cake pan on hand.

The token family photo -- this one's for you Candace!

We had an awesome little 1st birthdayparty for Ziko with all of his surrogate grandparents and aunts and uncles here in Yellowknife. But, of coarse, it couldn't compare to having all of you here...we sure miss you!

Ziko thoroughly enjoyed his first-birthday-digging-into-the-cake experience as we assumed he would. What began as a gentle caressing of the bear’s face ended in an all out icing feast!

Here is Ziko on his "actual birthday" as we've come to call it in our home of continual birthdays and partying.

He was quick to feast on this one lonely cupcake!

Zam of the North