Porter's Birthday Party

So some of you may know and some may not but Matt and I were expecting our 5th child and I lost it on August 2nd.  Although this is sad news and it was a hard time I was very grateful for Porter's 7th birthday the very next day to occupy my mind.  I found out on the morning of the 2nd that I had lost the baby and had to go in for a D&C that evening and I really didn't want to sit and do nothing all day so I made Porter's cake while experiencing contractions and lots of cramping.  (Doesn't sound fun but having something to do seriously helped!)  The D&C went quite well, all things considered, and we decided to still have Porter's party the next day which turned out to be a great success and the rest of the post is fun from that day:

Porter wanted a Titanic party to start with but I didn't think that horrific even in history was a great theme for a party so I talked him into an Under Sea theme.  Here is the fun invitation we sent out.  Our snorkeling gear from Hawaii is still going to good use!  :)

This is Porter's cake.  I had planned much more for it but the events from the previous day kind of ate up a chunk of my time so we had to simplify it.  Porter still loved it though.

Here are the goody buckets that we handed out filled with everything "ocean" or "fish" that I could find including a bag of sea weed (veggie straws), a school of fish (swedish fish), and bait (gummy worms)!

I found the idea for these cute little squid suckers on Pinterest and they were so fun to make.

Abi helped me make these cute little clam cookies. All the kids helped to decorate the whole house with seaweed crete paper on the walls, fish swimming everywhere, and blue balloons by the ceiling to give the feel of being under water.  

It was finally time for the party to start and Porter could hardly wait for his friends to arrive.  He even wore his favorite shark hat for the big day.

We had a great group of friends show up and only 3 kids couldn't make it.

This group sure is silly!

For the activity the kids made jellyfish and this was nice and easy for everyone.

We also had a fishing booth in the backyard where the kids each got a set of sand toys for the beach.  (I also got to put my new photo backdrop stand to good use.  :)

Porter had one big request for his party and that was a pinata.  We actually were able to find a shark pinata and it was perfect!  The kids wore the shark hat over their eyes as a blinder and they were all so excited to get the candy!

Porter was the one to officially break if open and candy went flying all over.

We went inside for cake and ice cream and all the kids were so excited - especially Porter!

We sang Happy Birthday and he got to blow out his candles.

This is what the inside of the cake looked like and the kids loved that they each got a huge piece.

There was even a container full of "Ocean Water" for the kids to drink and this silly thing was one of the highlights.  (I guess it's the little things the kids love!)

We had some pretty messy faces when everyone was done eating!

There was just enough time left for presents and Porter had been waiting for this the whole time.  After all the gifts were opened the kids played with toys and watched a bit of "Shark Tale" until their parents came to pick them  up.

Here are Porter's cute friends:

Peyton Cropper

Ryder Bryan

Jayden

Abe Sowell

Will Schroeder

Isaac Strode

Tanner Woodbury

Halle Packer (The only girl able to make it but she was a trooper!)

And of course his family!  (Tate was sleeping - thank goodness!)

Porter had a great birthday and even had a second party up in Park City with the family.  Here is his birthday haul for 2012!