Cooper turned 4!

Coopers just had his 4th birthday and it was a lot of fun! He was anticipating his birthday party for over a month, mostly because mom and dad hand made a very special piñata that he helped build. The birthday party was small and fun. We invited all his cousins and close family. His Grammy baked a spectacular Lightning McQueen cake to match his piñata and the theme of his party.

Our whole family is very aware of coopers’ allergies; it is a challenge that they assist us with at all times, however, even when everyone has knowledge of the allergies a mistake can happen. Coopers Birthday cake was baked entirely of nut-free goods. The frosting was a special nut-free product as well. Even with all the preventive measures taken to bake his cake we had an oversight- the food coloring in the cake frosting was processed in a facility that handles’ nuts and would have been enough to put Cooper into anaphylactic shock. It was a reminder of how important an Allergen Detection Dog is. While people can make mistakes reading ingredients, the service dog’s sense of smell never turns off.

Fortunately, Christina read the fine print on the food coloring bottles and we realized the mistake. Cupcakes were substituted for Cooper and the rest of the kids had cake. Cooper has an awareness of his allergies and understood why he could not have his cake. At times like that we are always impressed by his ability to adjust.

Other than the small food coloring incident the party went smooth. The Kids destroyed the piñata and candy flew everywhere! The lunch was good and all the kids had a lot of fun! We always enjoy getting Cooper together with all his cousins.

For now we are preparing for September 8th at Cool Hand Luke’s and hope that everyone can make it!

See you there!