BBQ & Bocci Ball

At Brisco's birthday party, we discovered that he is a major fan of the Motley Que barbeque pork.  When the Motley Que Crew entered the 2011 Auburn Hills Barbeque Cook-Off, we were so thrilled to be invited to hang at their tent!  It was the state championship barbeque cook-off!

Dom joined Brisco at the event.

They had a blast.

The food was more than amazing.  It was award-winning!

Brisco posed with Zach and his mom.

Below (on the right) is Zach's dad, Mr. Z, a.k.a. Mikey Z.  He is a key member of the Motley Que Crew.

It was victory, after victory at the award's ceremony.

2nd place:  Chicken

9th place:  Ribs

1st place:  Pork

(Even though pork is his favorite, Brisco was a little startled by the loud applause.)

1st place:  Brisket

Overall:  1st place!!!

That's right:  The Motley Que Crew were the 2011 Grand Champions!

Mr. and Mrs. Z and their teammates.

Look at all of those trophies!

And they qualified for the national championship!

Zach was especially proud of his dad 

(and mom...she puts in lots of work, too)! :)

#1

That same day, we celebrated Aunt Joann's 60th birthday. 

We had a lovely dinner and played a family favorite:  Bocce Ball!

Brisco transitioned into his second party outfit.

It was a long, fun day!  Brisco was trooper!  He loved helping his daddy collect the heavy Bocce balls.

We highly recommend Palazzo di Bocce in Auburn Hills.  The food was delicious, and the Bocce ball courts were in excellent condition.  It was a nice, clean, family-friendly party place.  Great job, Uncle Gil, Dria, and Brittnie.  It was the perfect way to honor your mom on her special day!

1st Birthday Party

Since we've be celebrating for 3 months, we're calling it
"Brisco's Birthday Quarter 2011!"

 Opening his first birthday gifts:  beautiful books from Uncle Mike, Aunt Leanne, Eden, and Lil' Bit.

 Instead of a big birthday cake, we opted for Cake-Pops.  It was quite an undertaking.  I would only recommend it if you have lots of help!

  "When is everyone coming over for my party?"

 Before the party, we made the cake-pops.  

7 adults + 7 hours = 300 delicious cake-pops = 1 special little birthday boy

Each had to be individually wrapped...

 The final product was well worth the effort.  Everyone loved them!

 

 Thanks to help from our wonderful family and friends, we were ready when guests started to arrive!

We had a great play area for the birthday boy and all his friends.

 When Brisco woke-up from his nap,
it took him a little while to get ready to party.

Brisco wore his fancy #1 sock monkey t-shirt with bow tie.  

He was way too cute!

 After a few minutes, he was ready to start entertaining his guests.

 Thanks to our family, the meal was so delicious.
Thanks to Mr. Mike, Brisco was able to serve the most delicious pulled-pork sandwiches to his guests.

 "MOM!  Not in front of all my friends!"

 Brisco did sample the cake-pops,
but he also had his own sock monkey cake.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

 "I don't know about this!"

 "Oh wait...that's pretty good."

 "More please?"

"Now that's some good cake!"

Gamma peddled cake-pops to all the guests.

 "I think I've had enough."

 As you might notice from the TV screen, we had a little storm come through and had to move the party inside.  It was present time so Brisco didn't seem to mind.

Brisco helped Mommy write down his gifts.

 You can only hold his attention for so long, then it's time to play.

I've never seen Brisco do this:

It was the cutest thing ever!
He grabbed little Domenic and gave him a huge hug!

These three guys had a blast!

We were so blessed to have so much help.  Thank you to all of our friends and family for making Brisco's 1st birthday such a special day for us!