Matthew Beninghove's 3rd Birthday Party

(I've recently started taking pictures for friends and referrals to improve upon the gift the Lord has given me.)

February 17th, I photographed Matthew's birthday party!  He's such a sweet little guy and I loved his "firefighter" theme.  (His party was held at the Fire Station on 360.) 

The birthday boy!!

Matthew's brother, Micah.

Micah was absolutely loving on Daddy and he would give me a huge smile when we put a firefighter hat on him - so cute!!! :)

Some of the firefighter decor:

Around 10 AM people started showing up for the party!  Once everyone was together, the children played a game.  I forgot what it was called, so I'll have to rely on you to fill in the details!

Listening to Mrs. Beninghove instruct all in attendance on how to play.

The game went as such:

Mrs. Beninghove had a little disc-shaped thing in her hand that would call out one of the shapes on the floor.

Then the children would have to rush and get to those shapes and do whatever the speaking disc told them to do.

The kids had lots of fun going back and forth across the floor!  It was a little frustrating to some of them because there weren't enough squares for everyone to get on but they ended up doing group huddles! :)

The next game they played was Hot Potato!  Almost all of the children played this and they had lots of fun throwing it back and forth, passing it, etc.

In a circle...

The one with the "potato" is Matthew's sister, Maddie.

Isn't Matthew cute?!

After lots of laughing and smiling (I had so many pictures it was hard to pick 3!), they went to the tables and decorated their firefighter hats with stickers!

Once everyone finished decorating to their liking, it was time for cake and ice cream!

Mrs. Beninghove made a beautiful cake.  It really looked like a firetruck: 

Lighting the candles.

Blowing them out!!

Once the cake was cut up everyone got to eat!  Along with cake, popcorn, fruit punch drinks and more, they had ice cream sandwhiches!

Here are some of the faces of the children as they ate their ice cream sandwhich:

Everything was absolutely delicious!

My cousin, Cadence, really enjoyed her cake!!

Yummy!

Getting cleaned up!

Justus...another of my cousins!

Sometime after eating my sister, Lexi (right), picked up Micah and he layed his head on her shoulder.  He really is a sweet little boy!

Before presents, some of the little ones went over to the pool table that was there and started playing with the balls

   (Thankfully they only got a few squished fingers!)

Matthew

Two Mamas fellowshiping.

Once all the plates were cleaned up and thrown away, Matthew opened his presents!

As I was taking pictures all the children were inching closer and closer to Matthew.  They were all so excited to see what he got! :)

'

Once all the presents were opened, everyone got their coats on to go listen to the firefighters and to tour the firetrucks!

Going in!

Listening to one of the firefighers talk.

After they finished talking and asking the children questions, one of the firefighters got all dressed up for us in his fire gear.  The little ones weren't quite sure what to expect! :)

Once he was all dressed, the children were allowed to touch him, his equipment, and everything!  They wanted to make sure that the children were not scared of them in case they happen to get a call to their home.

Matthew never came up and touched them at all.  He stayed at a distance and watched! :)

After the children had their full contact they were allowed to enter the firetruck!

Lining up!

Once they finished touring the back of the truck, another kind firefighter put them up in the drivers seat. 

When everyone had gotten their fill of the truck, firefighters, equipment, etc. they stood outside for a group-children picture!

Everyone then rushed into their warm cars and the party was officially over.

Before we left, Matthew was allowed to go and sit in the fire truck some more as the special birthday boy!

The firefighter that was with him allowed him to turn the siren on and everything!  I think he got a little scared but it was still neat hearing it up close like that!

Mrs. Beninghove and Micah were both nearby when the siren went off.  Micah got scared and laid his head on his Mama! :)

In the bay.

We stayed and talked to the firefighter some more before leaving.  Maddie, Matthew's sister, was sitting on the fire truck as we all listened...

Some details of the firetrucks:

And the fire station:

Leaving...

So that ended Matthew's 3rd birthday party!  Before I close up this post, I want to give you my favorite picture of Matthew from the day:

Delighting in Jesus,

Kimber :)

P.S.  - Just for the record, I took 395 pictures at his party (not counting the deleted!)