Emma's 1st Birthday Party in Lincoln, NE

Emma turns 1 on September 3rd, but we celebrated with family and friends in Lincoln, NE this weekend!
Shane took Friday off, so we headed to Lincoln in the morning. That afternoon we hung out with my brother and his family and my parents. We went to Target and swam at the hotel.
Saturday morning was Emma's birthday party from 10:15 to 12:30 at Lost In Fun. We picked up the cake and icecream at HyVee and headed over to the party. All the people that joined us to celebrate were:
Nana(Jen) & Papa(Carson) Blackman and Grandma(Sharon) & Grandpa(Tom) Struckman
Jared, Missy, Luke, Matthew, Nathan, Jacob and Abby Blackman (my brother & family)
Brad, Britni, Zoe, and Haley O'Keefe (my sister & family)
Stacy, Janice, Mady and Parker Ayres (Shane's sister & family)
Jared and Lindsey Jollensten (Shane's sister & husband)
Tanner Struckman and girlfriend Krista (Shane's brother)
Great-Grandma Cena Graves (my grandma)
Mike, Cami, Morgan, and Chase Prochnow (my aunt & family)
Tracy and Taya Mann, Teresa Finney (my cousin & her daughter, and my aunt)
Jon and Heather Hughes, Vaness and Izzie Mays (friends)
Jon and Kristin Jakub (friends)

Emma's baby cake (free when you order a 1st b-day cake)

Emma's pink and brown polka dot cake!

Me putting Emma's tutu on!

One very BLESSED family!

Emma had a blast pushing this John Deere car around!

Emma w/ her cousin Haley

Cousin Nathan looking studly in his new leather jacket!
We found this at Target the night before and he didn't want to take the thing off! All he needs is a comb for his back pocket!

Kristin and Jon Jakub meeting Emma for the first time!
They are expecting their first baby on Feb. 21st - Congrats guys!
(Jon and Shane roomed together at college, and Jon was the best man at our wedding)

Vanessa holding baby Abby

Emma w/ her Aunt B

Singing 'Happy Birthday' to Emma

Emma diving into her cake

'Yum! This frosting is good mom!'

The next several pictures are of Emma playing with bubbles from a bubbly machine:

Emma w/ her cousin Luke

Emma was having a blast catching the bubbles

Here Emma is checking out the guys in the room next door laying tile (Lost In Fun is in the middle of expanding their business), the guys got a kick out of her!

Below are pictures from opening presents. I can't say we don't have many toys anymore...Emma was lavished with toys! She also scored some really cute clothes, a winter coat and books!

Emma opening her new shopping cart! I was particular excited about this b/c I loved my shopping cart I had as a kid!

Emma was exhausted by the time the party was over! She fell asleep on Grandpa Tom's shoulder!

Shane, his Dad and Emma

Emma sleeping on her daddy's shoulder!

After the party, Emma was in a need of a serious nap! So we grabbed some lunch and took it back to the hotel. Then my mom, grandma and I went to Kohl's to do a little shopping. Shane stayed with Emma and took all her new toys out of the boxes, so that we would be able to fit everything in the trunk on the way home.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out with family. After putting Emma to bed, my mom, sister-in-law Missy and I made a late night run to Target! We had fun needless to say!
After getting back to the room, I spent some one-on-one time with my Grandma, then went to bed!

Emma, me, my mom and Grandma Cena
Saying goodbye Sunday morning

Nana, Emma and Papa Carson

Sunday we got up and ate breakfast and spent the morning with my parents and grandma. Then for lunch we headed over to Shane's grandma that lives in Lincoln and met his parents and siblings for lunch. We headed home a little after 1pm. Emma slept til Williamsburg, where we pulled over at the outlet mall. Shane and Emma stretched while I returned a shirt. Upon leaving, a family approached us to see if we had any jumper cables and could give them a jump start. After getting them running again, we headed the rest of the way home and arrived around 7pm.

After unloading the car, the first thing we did was put Emma's shopping cart together!

'Can dad hurry up already!'

Emma showing dad where the screws go

Emma patiently waiting to try out her new shopping cart!

Ready to roll!

There's no stopping her now!

One look on her face you can tell she loves it!

We were so blessed with a wonderful weekend, beautiful weather, and safe travels for everyone! We are so fortunate to have such loving friends and family! Thank you to everyone for making the trip and helping us celebrate Emma's 1st birthday!

I would like to dedicate this post in memory of our good friend Greg Oakes. As we were celebrating Emma's birthday on Saturday, my dear friend, Mora-Leigh was laying her husband to rest. Greg went to be with the Lord on Wednesday, the 26th after a battle with cancer. We were able to 'say our goodbyes' the Saturday before. And we know it isn't 'goodbye', but 'see you heaven'. Greg had a huge heart for Christ, and anybody that came in contact with him heard about God's love and saving grace. I pray that I can grow to be as bold in my faith to others as well!