Gazette photo by Andrew Wallmeyer Kris and Rick Tierney with their son Kyle at his seventh birthday party Saturday morning, which they estimate drew 600 people to Lake Elmo Elementary Saturday morning.

LAKE ELMO - For a moment, the frenetic activity of Kyle Tierney's seventh birthday party came to a standstill, as the hundreds who had gathered to celebrate in the Lake Elmo Elementary gymnasium gathered around to watch the 6-year-old blow out the candles on his cake, with a little help from his father.

"Wanna do it again?" Rick Tierney asked his son, seconds later.

"Yeah!" was immediate response, and the candles were relit. When they were extinguished again, the crowd erupted, and Rick and Kris Tierney gave their son one more big birthday hug.

Soon, the party was back in full swing, with kids, parents and family friends enjoying the carnival-like atmosphere.

But despite all the smiles, the celebration was bittersweet: after years of treatment and surgeries, the Tierneys knew there was nothing they could do to get rid of the rapidly growing tumor at the base of Kyle's brain, and they didn't know how much more time they would have with him.

Kris Tierney said their goal is now to make every minute count and celebrate their blessings, and throwing a big birthday party seemed like an ideal way to do that.

Still, the Tierneys said they had no idea the party would grow to such enormous proportions.

"A few weeks ago, I mentioned the idea to a friend of mine from (the District 834 Early Childhood Parents Advisory Committee), which I've been involved with for several years now, and a few days later they called and said, 'We'd like to do it. You don't have to worry about anything.'" Kris Tierney said. "Between that group and our extended family, they took care of everything, and it just took off."

Tierney estimates about 600 people showed up at the party, which was held at Lake Elmo Elementary Saturday morning.

"We were so overwhelmed by the number of people who came; we couldn't have imagined that," she said.

Neither could Kyle, who will turn 7 on Jan. 26.

"He had no idea how big this was going to be. He couldn't comprehend it," Tierney said. "He thought it was just going to be another birthday party, with his friends from school, but this was amazing.

"You should've seen the look on Kyle's face when he came into the gym before people got there," his mother continued. "He was like, 'Wow! This is cool!' And then when we told him it was for his birthday party, he just got so excited."

Rick Tierney said his son was so excited the night before he had trouble sleeping.

When the family returned home after the event, Kyle and his 4-year-old brother Ryan took long naps, Kris Tierney said. Since then, they have has been reviewing pictures and videos from the event.

"We were a little nervous that he was going to be overwhelmed, but I think the fact that everywhere he looked there was someone he knew kept Kyle going. But he was pretty wiped out at the end of the day; he's diminishing pretty quickly," she said. "I don't know how much of all of it he took in, but we've been sitting here going through pictures a lot, and he's really enjoying that - just remembering everything that happened and all the people he saw."

Those who attended the party said they wanted to let Kyle and his family know that they remember and care for them, too. Many have since left notes to that effect on Kyle's Web site, www.kyletierney.com.

Kyle's grandmother Barb Tierney said the fact that hundreds turned out for an event planned on such short notice shows how much emotional support her family has received.

"This is totally unbelievable. You can't even put it in words," she said Saturday. "There's a lot of love in our family and a lot of love for this family in this whole area, and respect for what they've gone through and how they're handling it. It's been completely awesome. ... All along, everybody wanted to know what they could do to help, and here it is."

Kyle's other grandmother, Pat Katzmark, agreed.

"This is just amazing, it's overwhelming, in a good way, because of all the support for our family, and for Kyle," she said. "Kyle's such a strong boy, and a good boy, and it's clear he's affected and touched so many people here."