The "After Party"

My parents were able to sneak away at the last minute and showed up for Phoebe's birthday party. The next few days were fun for the girls to have some grandparents, auntie, and cousins to play with.

Phoebe's expressions are so telling they make us laugh. Who needs words to communicate when you have looks like these?

Papa and Tessa levitating.

Tessa loves cousin "Wibiff". Tim loves saying Wibiff in his deepest bass and sound like a frog. Tessa doesn't even say Wibiff anymore, she says Lizabeff but we still enjoy calling her Wibiff.

Didn't mind the lighting on this one because their smiles were so real.

Day trip to Patagonia Lake, 10 or 15 miles north of the Mexican border. It was surprisingly warm considering the elevation (4000 ft). Tessa got right in and even went under a few times. I tried to explain to her that we don't open our eyes under water in a lake.

The peak to the right, directly above the little white buoy is Mt. Hopkins, which is north, near us, and has an observatory on the peak at 8585ft. It was a weird perspective.

Mexican buffet brunch, a typical Ziegler outing.

Reid Park Zoo, playing in the splash area.

At dinner the balloon man made her a chihuahua, which she named Copper in honor of our neighbor's chihuahua.

She asked me to feed him a Scooby snack.

Eight is Great!

Phoebe's eighth birthday portraits - She's always had a baby face, and I love that she still has dimples on her knuckles, but this crazy phase of grown up teeth mixed in with empty spaces and baby teeth is a telling sign that she is growing up. Eight years ago we were spending as many hours a day in the hospital as we could arrange with her birthmom, the hospital and the adoption agency. We were worried about all the rules, her birthmom's emotions and Phoebe's baffling health concerns. The fact that 9/11 had just happened was too much to process in the NICU. We just wanted to bring her home and sort it all out later. We wanted to take her to doctors of our own choosing, not the ones the hospital assigned. We wanted to show her off to our family in person, not with stacks of photos that all looked the same (because how many different angles can you take of a sleeping baby?). Maybe our paparazzi style introduction to photography is what caused her to hate the camera for years. Thankfully she seems to be somewhat more tolerant of it in recent years and we are able to record the smiles, the looks, the moments that make her who she is. I never knew such love until the day she was born and it grows year after year, if that's even possible.

Phoebe's Enchanted Garden Party

Phoebe turned eight this month and we decided it was a good year to have a "big" party for her. I wanted this year to be special because in our culture the eighth birthday is a milestone year; a milestone which Phoebe does not need to participate in - being baptised. Her innocence keeps her safe from the sorrow of the world but I still wanted to create some special memories on this birthday. Her birthday present was a 15 foot trampoline set up in our newly completed backyard, so the yard became the perfect party location. A friend passed along a website that had fantastically frilly party favors, so the backyard get together became an enchanted garden party inhabited by fairies and knights. A neighborhood friend makes fancy cakes and I commissioned a girly cake and cupcake bouquet from her. Another friend is an amazing cook and together we came up with an appetizing spread, that she offered to prepare almost exclusively, so we basically had a caterer! Jen made tandoori chicken with tzatziki sauce, baja chicken roll ups, spinach dip boule, crudite platter, pizza rolls and pigs in blankets. I added chips and my famous guacamole, my niece Elizabeth made PBJs and cut them into garden shapes with cookie cutters, my friend Amber brought the ever popular Rice Krispie treats and my friend Jessie brought a big bowl of fruit that totally made my dad's day. It was an amazing spread and I'm sad that I didn't think to take a picture of it.

As soon as the kids (21 total!) arrived most headed straight for the trampoline. While waiting for a turn on there (Tim did a great job refereeing the jumping to prevent injuries) others couldn't wait to slip'n'slide. I had some games planned but the kids were staying busy playing on their own so why bother? Eventually the kids meandered towards the food (where the 13! adults had already been happily sampling) and replenished their energy. I had planned to hand out the party favors at the beginning but it actually worked out well to hand them out halfway through, because the slip'n'slide had been retired and the jumping was more organized so we didn't have any broken wings or sword injuries. When I brought out the cake I set it on a kid's table to be in Phoebe's line of sight and a crowd of fairies quickly gathered around it. I couldn't even light the eight candles before someone blew them out again, or reached out to grab one. I eventually got them all lit, continuously, while we sang to Phoebe who loved it. I invited the fairies to help blow them out "on three" and my sister and Tim both cringed in disgust at all the germs that went flying. After cake and cupcakes were consumed some of the kids were begging to see their gift opened. Phoebe received some awfully cute clothes and fun toys. As the guests were leaving they were given one last token to remember the day by; a "magic wand" made from pretzel sticks dipped in chocolate (also made by Jen!). I'm so grateful to have such awesome friends and wonderful family who care enough to give their time and energy to make Phoebe's day extra extra special (not to mention my life so much easier!). It was a wonderful day.