happy 1st birthday brooks!

"Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" -Luke 18:16

today is the 1 year anniversary of the birth of my baby nephew, brooks christopher juengel. i cant believe it has already been an entire year - but im even more excited for the many years to come! this past saturday, chris and meredith hosted a birthday party at their house. lauren, mom, and i were in charge of picking up the balloons on the way, which made for quite an eventful car ride.

but don't worry! we made it safely with only one popped balloon.

upon arrival, it was clear that meredith had been a busy bee preparing the house for all the party guests. the food was delicious and everything was perfect for brooks' birthday!

tons of people showed up to celebrate the little man.





he was walking all over the place and hes literally days away from walking by himself!



yay presents!

this picture just makes me miss my seester so much. im glad she got to stay for brooks' birthday party, but i wish she never had to go back to CA!

let the present opening begin.



brooks was so talented at ripping the wrapping paper.

and he got so many awesome gifts!

new clothes!

new shoes!



after the presents were unwrapped, it was time to eat the cake.

make a wish!

brooks was given his first piece of cake and you know what he did?

nothing. well, he put his fingers in it - but that was about it.

eventually, meredith assisted and helped him to taste it. i think he liked it?

or maybe not? haha

and then the fork came out. success! and let me tell you, that cake was DE-LICIOUS.



overall, the party was a huge success. i loved spending time with the whole family and i especially loved capturing brooks on camera - hes a hoot. hope you had the best birthday little buddy! I LOVE YOU!

the end to a great week

"I thank God for every time I remember you. in all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy that God who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." -Philippians 1:3-4, 6

friday was our last full day in holden beach, NC. it was absolutely gorgeous outside the entire day and everyone took advantage of the beautiful weather. the tennis pros were at it all morning while mom, mere, brooks, and i watched from the sidelines. there was plenty of pool time and card games and le tour de france viewing. all in all, it was a perfect end to a great week of family bonding.

casually making out with brooks

mmmmmmmmWHA

dad making noises in his mouth with brooks - i would have to say that brooks is actually better at this than him.

after dinner, we went to the local italian ice shop - sunset slush!

they literally had every flavor you could think of. i decided to go with watermelon and green apple. lauren got a root beer float. all successful choices.





family pic op!

they had mini chairs for mini people!



loved hanging out with everyone. :)

model.

that night, we made chocolate chip cookies and watched 'the bounty hunter' - good movie. can you guess who dressed brooks for the night? ... yep, chris.

while waiting for the cookies to finish, brooks literally climbed inside the dishwasher. ha

i am so blessed to have been able to spend the entire week with my family at such a beautiful house at our favorite beach! i cant wait for many more trips to come! love you juengels!!!

"if it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." -Romans 12:18

we all scream for ice cream!

"for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." -Romans 3:23

the highlight of my day on thursday was the fact that we were all going to go get ice cream after dinner. i spent most of the day with mom, mere, and brooks at the pool, while the rest of the family played tennis for the better part of three hours. after we were all reunited, we hung out and played some card games, snacked on triscuits (a new obsession of mine), and applied aloe/aftersun multiple times.

brooks is a very musical child - he can play the harmonica and the tambourine!



i wish i could add sound to this picture - brooks was laughing so hard at the fact that he kept hitting the ball out of his daddy's hand!



for dinner, we went to boone docks - it was the perfect cure for everyones seafood craving.



brooks was flirting with the lady at the table next to ours the entire time.



after dinner, it was FINALLY time for ice cream!! first, we went to the scoop, since i had never been to that ice cream shop before.



they had homemade fudge that looked absolutely delicious!

and life-size ice cream cones!

dad and i were the only ones to get ice cream from the scoop because they were out of chocolate and cookies & cream, much to lauren and mom's dismay.

so we went across the street to our normal ice cream stop. this was where i realized that their ice cream was homemade, while the scoop's ice cream was not. i got a little upset, but now i know for future reference: dont go to the scoop. its just not as good - PLUS they were out of chocolate. lauren: "how can you be out of chocolate??"



lauren was happy, dad was content, and i was dreaming of ice cream from fantasy isle. maybe next time ill be screaming about my ice cream.

that night, we all enjoyed a beautiful sunset and time together as a family.

i spent about 20 mins running around after brooks, trying to get a picture of him and lauren in his UCSD shirt.

needless to say, it was a big fail and these were as close as i got.

in fact, this was the face that let me know i should stop. brooks was clearly trying to tell me that he was over taking pictures.