Jocelyn’s birthday fell five days after the moving truck delivered our furniture and boxes (upon boxes) to our new home in Los Gatos, California. Not only was life crazy from moving in, but I also had the genius idea of getting a play house for Jocelyn’s birthday and the assembly needed for said playhouse was INSANELY time consuming and challenging. (WHAT was I thinking?) Well, I know what I was thinking, I was thinking of my daughter and how her eyes lit up at a playhouse she saw at a house we almost got in another town and I wanted to recreate that in the home we chose. So bless John, in his exhaustion and amongst the chaos of our move, he was working as fast as he could to assemble the house before her birthday. Despite us managing to find the tools he needed amongst the 300 boxes jammed in our garage, he didn’t get it put together in time for the little party we threw, but as you can imagine, it was still a sweet day of celebration and he did get the four walls and roof up. (What a guy!)

We have a handful of friends here in Silicon Valley already and the Harvey Family is one of them. They are actually a family we followed from Fort Wayne to Apple a couple years after they moved. It’s a huge blessing that our kids have some instant friends here who only live about twenty minutes away. I knew I couldn’t throw one of my usual grand birthday parties (Next year, it’s back on!) but I figured I could manage ordering a cake and pizza and the Harvey kids would make it magical. So join us for Jocelyn’s birthday, her first in California!

Jocelyn woke up to a mountain of presents from my mom and aunt. It felt like Christmas morning, especially since they tucked in goodies for the rest of us too. (Thanks mom!!!) The celebration continued later at our apartment, where we had some gifts stashed from us and John’s parents. I had wrapped Jocelyn’s gifts in some scarves and purses from my closet at the apartment since I was in such a pinch from moving craziness. Joss was NOT impressed with my eco-friendly wrapping style, but she loved the gifts. Miles was bored, as you can see.

The day after her actual birthday we had the party at our house. Here’s the crew of kiddos! (Sorry, couldn’t get all the kids in. Our house is a bit smaller now, not as much room to back up for a photo. Ha!)

Joss changed her mind at the last minute from a Hello Kitty cake to a Peace sign cake that looks straight out of Justice. Good gracious girl, you are like a little tween already! (Yikes!)

The cake came from a local bakery here in Los Gatos, Icing on the Cake. Not only was it gorgeous and exactly what Jocelyn asked for, but it tasted amazing! The berry frosting tasted just like strawberry ice cream, which pretty much blew my mind. Frosting that doesn’t taste like Crisco? I didn’t even think it could be done. I’m hooked.

After cake and pizza, we set the kids free on the house to play, play, play with the grown ups chilled.

Paper-Rock-Scissors stand off between Miles and Jenna in the hallway. Adorable to see these two expressive kiddos play.

Happy birthday to our precious Jossy sauce! We love you so much and think you are growing up to be such a vibrant, loving and creative little firecracker!

Jocelyn is such a joy and blessing in our life. I found this photo of her as a baby and her infectious laughter will always be one of my first memories that stand out in my mind. She’s our little exclamation mark.