Birthdays!!

This year, the girls celebrated their birthdays in a somewhat unusual way (for our family).
There was no butchering a pig.
There were not 100 neighbors at the house.
They were not sung a 10 minute rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.
No, this year we definitely veered off the well-beaten path of Filipino-style birthdays, and enjoyed a nice romp in the woods of 'traditional American birthdays'.

There were lots of firsts for the girls at this year's birthday celebration.
First time both sets of grandparents were there, AND all the Moffit aunts and uncles!
First time opening birthday presents in front of people!
First time having a 'restaurant' birthday!
First time a cousin has been born on Ally's birthday!

Not to be outdone by my sister, I too custom-made the kids cakes. For Daisy, I went with a rectangle, and for Ally the more rare, but always adored, square. Dad may or may not have done 80% of the work.

This guy does it all...from piano lessons to billards, my kids are going to be very well-rounded! Daisy gets her pre-party pool lesson from her paternal grandfather, as the maternal side looks on.

Now it's the maternal grandfather's time to shine as he presents the girls their birthday gifts via magic, as the paternal grandfather looks on.

As the party rages on, my brain slowly begins to melt (have I ever mentioned I'm not much of a party person??), so I hand the camera off to Kevin, and he gets some amazing action shots of the 'present-ripping-into' event.

Ally holds up a birthday card from her cousin Devon. Due to the fact that Devon's mom gave birth to Ally's cousin ON Ally's birthday, they weren't able to make it to the party - we'll considered that an excused absence!
While the girls partied and the adults visited, Neo played nicely with his cousin.

I always love being a Moffit, but some days more than others- like the day I try and throw an American-style birthday party for my girls, but have no idea what I'm doing, and forget to bring a knife to cut the cake, and forget balloons, and forget candles, and so my poor mother-in-law has to make 2 trips to the dollar store to help her party-challenged daughter-in-law save face, and my sister-in-law has to tell me how to arrange the birthday candles on the cake, since apparently I'm also geometry-challenged. Ah. Thank God for the Moffits.

All in all, I think our foray into the wonderful world of American birthdays was a success. There was family, there was food, there was fun, and my 12 year old and my 10 year old came away with arms full of presents, hearts full of love and a special memory to carry with them no matter how old they are or what continent they find themselves on!