Jayne's 1st Birthday Party

We had so much fun celebrating at Jayne's birthday party. We had some friends and family over to celebrate with us. We opened presents, watched a video of Jayne's first year and had cake & goodies. It was so fun to see everyone and to focus on our sweet girl. Here's a bunch of photos from the party day! 

We did a gold,white and pink pinwheel theme for the party

Jayne loved watching the giant pinwheels spin

We had so much support from family and friends. Jayne is so loved and blessed. Thank you everyone for coming!

(matching!)

Presents! (I'll put video up next time of Jayne opening her presents. She was so cute...definitely knew what she was doing!)

After presents and the movie, we let Jayne dig into her own cake

How is my baby 1 year old!?

It was a perfect day, celebrating our beautiful little girl. 

Happy, happy birthday to our little miss!

Jayne's 1st Birthday

The littlest Bennallack in the house has turned one! I cannot believe it. Our baby is one year old. Jeez.

This little girl has changed our lives. We are so blessed to have her and I often catch myself just looking at her and thinking how special she is. I'm forever changed by her sweet spirit coming into my life. She'll never know just what she did to my heart one year ago. 

Her actual birthday was special and simple (her full party followed a couple days later). We started the morning with a mini-pancake cake, courtesy of Mr. B. She was excited about it!

The rest of the day was "normal" and then that night we went to my parents to celebrate/watch the BYU game. 

Jayne opened a couple presents and spent the night playing with her new toys. 

Happiest first birthday Miss J! We love you so much!

Jayne - 1 year old

Guess who is 1 year old! 

I cannot believe that a year has already come and gone with this little miss in our lives. We love her so much and can't wait to continue to see her grow.

 Happy Birthday Jayne!

NYC 2014 - Day 4

Our final day in NYC started off at none other than Shake Shack. :) 

We actually met Phil's work friend from Australia there, who just happened to be in NYC as well. Perfect timing!

Then it was off to see Grand Central Station. I particularly loved this. I love history and culture and this building had it all. Such a cool place to see in real life. 

From there we made our way to Battery Park to catch the ferry to Liberty Island for the afternoon. Its near the financial district so we stopped in Wall Street for a pic with the Charging Bull

 

And enjoyed the great views of the One World Tower.

After quite the process (lines, security, etc.) we were on our way to see Lady Liberty. 

Like I said, I love history & culture. I love thinking about and picturing how life was "back then"...so Liberty Island was right up my alley.

You arrive facing the back of the statue...

...but with a fantastic view of the city

Ellis Island

 We listened to the audio tour here and there (between feeding Jayne goldfish and people watching) while we made our way around to the front of the statue.

And guys, she is amazing! Honestly, one of my favorite parts of our trip. I just felt so grateful for freedom, opportunity and America while looking up at her.

She overlooks the harbor and the city just across the way

After spending the afternoon standing in awe and just taking in the beauty of Liberty Island, we got some (amazing) fresh lemonade and hopped back on the ferry to the city.

We took it easy for a bit back at Michelle & Clark's place to recover. Trekking NYC in the summer is tiring stuff! We put Jayne to bed and then headed out for one last hurrah in NYC.

^^With our Juliana's pizza in tow (you must eat at Juliana's if you're in NYC), Phil & I hung out on the Brooklyn Pier. Its the perfect place to just sit and take in the beautiful city at night. 

How can you not love NYC? Its stunning.

And that's a wrap. We loved our time in NYC. We saw a lot, ate a lot, spent time together a lot and had A LOT of fun! I want to go back already! Until next time NYC!