There were times I wanted to jump up and down and yell, “Abby’s ONE! We did it! We made it through the first year!” and there were times in the day where I just wanted to hold her and marvel at how good my life is. Abby is a gift. A gift I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’m grateful for. When we were setting up, I couldn’t even talk about her without crying. I’ve just been so overwhelmed at how wonderful this last year has been. It’s had a richness to it that I’ve never felt before. 

I’ve learned SO much. I’m working on that post right now, too. But I just wanted to thank everyone who came for Abby’s party and to everyone who helped with it. I hope I don’t forget anyone, but I probably will.

First off, Heather J. This party would have been NOTHING without her. She made it classy. She’s got an eye for detail and a brain for making sure everything is arranged. I would have been completely lost without her. She even paid for half of the party. I tried to tell her ‘no’ but she YELLED at me, “STOP TELLING ME MY BUSINESS!” I like her. Thank you, Heather. You put so much time and energy into making it great. It would have been so whitetrash without you.

Mikaela J. for ALWAYS being my little helper. She’s so good about coming to my house and helping out and spent most of Saturday being ordered around WHILE she was holding Abby. She’s the sweetest thing and loves Abby as much as anyone (if not more).

Erin H. She came to my house three times on Thursday to make sure I was staying on task. She came and cleaned my house when I was on crutches. She’s always available to do whatever is needed. I love her for that. She had a hugely busy day on Saturday and spent every spare minute she had helping out with the decor, the food, etc. She also took pictures at the party and kept many of the guests entertained.

Misty Kim– made 6 dozen rolls (or so) the last of which I ate the other night and was so sad that they were gone. They were delightful. She also packed her kids up and came to the church at my beck and call to let me in. She helped with the setup, took those AMAZING pictures of Abby and of all of the decor.

Pam, Amy N., Randi G., Jill H. for making and frosting those delightful cupcakes. There were five million of them and I didn’t bake a single one.

Mary T. for bringing her body weight in watermelon and for taking Peyton for a total of 400 hours the week prior.

For Sarah G. and Brian S. along with my family : Katie and Travis (that’s another post coming), Angie and Joe, for helping get the food all ready and for going early to finish all of the setup. Also to Sarah G. and Brian S. who ran back to my house to get the right music playlist on my ipod. Seemed silly, but it was important to me.

To Kelly A. for keeping Carter all Saturday while we ran around and set up.

To Brenda Reinbold for coming early and taking pictures- I can’t wait to see them!

To everyone who stayed after to take down everything another huge thank you.

And a HUGE thank you to everyone who donated to bring Noah home. We recieved $150 at the party and a bunch of other people said they donated online. You guys are the best. It’s truly a great cause for a fantastic family.

Also a big huge thank you to King Henry’s Candy. They supplied most of the candy for the candy bar. Did you try the candy? Did the peach rings taste so wonderful that you have to only buy that brand because now all the other brands taste like ear lobes? Right? And they’re the only ones that make cinnamon bears that are the PERFECT texture.  They’re an awesome company. Next time you stop at a gas station or anywhere that sells them, pick up a bag. I’ll post their website as soon as it’s available (Henry himself told me that they’re working on one. Because we’re super tight now).  It’s so awesome that people are so willing to help other people they don’t know and will probably never meet. Says good things about the kind of business they run.

To Travis, Katie, Angie and Joe who drove all the way from Utah to go to the party. Such an AWESOME surprise. Made the night maaagiiiccccalllll.

Ug! I’m so sorry if I’m forgetting you. Call me on it. Or I’ll be so so mad. My brain has been so fuzzy today, I’m not sure why.

Anyways, the night was an awesome success. It was so perfect. It was to me cathartic. It gave me a couple of months to think about something so fun. To look for cute craft projects and think about decorating. I really needed that. There were some days where it was a welcome break from thinking about things that were hard.

Thank you to EVERYONE who came. I’ve never felt so loved in my entire life. I’m SO grateful for the friends we have in this area. On Sunday we talked about service. Someone said that you get what you give x10. I hope that’s true because it would make our ward very richly blessed for all the service they’ve given us this last year.

I’m positive that Heavenly Father saw our life, our situation and decided that he could send us Abby because for every situation that’s a little bit tough, he’s put us in a place where the love we receive and the people we are blessed to have in our lives make up the difference. And then some. Since Abby was born our ward, our neighbors, our friends, – everyone- has taken her as their own. No one told me they were sorry or that they were sad. No one treated her like anything besides complete ROYALTY from day one. And she is. Princess Abby.