To celebrate our Littlest.

This past weekend all Kooistras of the Marlo & Kathy variety 

arrived in Rochester for celebration

of our littlest.

It began with a dedication ceremony,

where we claimed the Truth for him,

and watched with joy and love
[is that my cutie cousin?!]

as his parents took their stand.

We rejoiced too,

in opportunity to reunite,

to tell secrets,

share some love,

and get excited for when the next cutie cousin joins us.

But the dedication was just the beginning,

because the boy just so happened
to also have a birthday party on his calendar for the day.

First though, a birthday boy nap,
so the rest of us went to a nearby diner,

got ourselves some grub,

and had ourselves a lovely visit.

And then,

we joined together with other family and friends

to celebrate our one-year-old.

There was the traditional cake-eating contest:

[Aunty Lauren has a new phone
perfect for taking too many pictures.

Plus, this boy is just too cute.]

There was also the traditional gift-opening:

and I was happy because my gift was well-recieved:

["Yes Aunty Lauren,
I promise to call you all the time on my new cell phone!"]

And though the birthday boy got the most toys,
the rest of us got gifts as well:

It's what I like to call:

Quality Time.

The next morning--before hitting the road--
 there was just a bit more of it,

 over coffee and conversation.

 
All thanks to this little one,
our one-year-old boy!