Yesterday was Mercy’s third birthday. While thinking about the birthday, Taylor got this notification from a video three years ago that I wanted to share. This is Rosie, the day before she became a big sister.

So what do we do for such a special kid’s third birthday? One thing I admire about Taylor is her ability to not give in to pressure, and keep things simple and manageable. This party was no exception.

She often says, “just do one thing”, and the one thing we did was a balloon-twister for the kids, at a local park.

Instead of inviting our own friends, and Rosie’s friends that we have gotten close with over the years, Mercy’s friends were invited, including her friend Maren that we have heard so much about. Basically, Mercy ignored everyone else and played on the slide with her friend:

They also had their cupcakes together

Thank you to everyone that came. Even though Mercy knocked the cupcakes off the counter 10 minutes before we left the house, the cupcakes were smeared, but remained in the containers. The result was a messy, but still edible, cupcake.

The balloon twister was a lot of fun.

A lot of family and longtime-friends were able to make it. Including Matt, who I have seen once since Christmas.

At home, Rosie read Mercy a special story before we went to bed the night before. The book is “Birthday Monsters” by Sandra Boynton:

Then, as is custom in our house, there were balloons to wake up to:

Finally, the big present, and something we got for free from a neighbor down the street, our own bouncy-house.

So, this is a short post this week. Taylor made it all happen and the way she can put these things together with such grace is pretty cool. Thank you Tay for being such an awesome party-planner/mom/wife, as well as a good employee where you work.