"My Girl's" Sweetest Sixteenth

I've been a little pre-occupied this week as I usually get when I'm on a project.  But this wasn't just any project.  This was "Project: My Girl", my first born's sixteenth birthday celebration.  And it was a surprise, which added difficulty and an emphasized focusing when I had free chunks of time.

Now I'm not gonna brag.  No, I really can't.  I just won't do it online.  I know deep down inside, no one else cares to hear all about my daughter, well except her grandparents.  Alright, I'm gonna brag.

This girl of mine has been my friend and daughter for 16 years, and I have rights to share my personal thoughts about her, however public it may be.  She is a peacemaker.  A great student.  A friend who watches out for you.  She's tall.  She can, wants to and will play basketball anytime.  An unusual fact about Chloe is that she still doesn't have a cell phone, and never complains to us about it, in fact she has embraced the fact her parents totally belong to the "Flat Earth Society" when it comes to raising their children.  She has a great sense of humor and seems to laugh about everything, including herself.  I love that about her.  She has all kinds of friends, and she is a loyal and thoughtful friend.  And I have yet to meet one of her friends I don't like.  This weekend, a bunch of her friends gathered in our backyard to pay tribute to "My Girl".  The invites went out on Friday, the party was Saturday.  I didn't want her friends to know about the big surprise until the day before, you know how things get around and then the secret is blown?  The other factor is that tradition has it around here that a mass text goes out, and suddenly the whole high school is there, including too many kids that the person who the party is actually for, doesn't even know them 70% of them.  I'm gonna say one thing right now, Chloe's friends are about the coolest and most respectful kids I know.  We had roughly 75 kids there and 7 adults, and the house ruled of fun, amazing kids all night.

They surprised.
They ate.
They danced.
They gabbed.
They played basketball, (the sport of choice around here).
They sang.
They watched film.
They sat by the outdoor fire and shared stories.
And most of all, they supported and showed love and friendship to my girl!

Here are a few highlights from the week and the big day.  I believe there are some photographs from the scavenger hunt I sent her and a group of friends on at Temple Square downtown yesterday, just to keep her out of proximity, I may share those later if I can get some downloaded from my neice's camera.

Chloe, Elsa, Maddy, Crystal, and Holly heading to the temple after school.

Birthday morning

The decoy slumber party

I told them they really didn't want to stay up all night, I knew they had big day ahead of them, but they stayed up anyway.

Surprise!

"What the heck!", my girl kept repeating over and over again.

She was totally and utterly clueless.

She was shaking for over an hour from the shock.

My girl's friends, Tag and Max helped me big time.

You see the "Wow" factor right?

Well, it's there because of these two boys that designed the ceiling.

The spot where the kids received most of the nutritional value during the evening, NOT!

 

The candy bags and invite on display.

The handpainted birthday banner, of course, ribbons and color all over.

 

Chloe loves her grandparents!

and her Aunt Lynnie.

And her Aunt Karen.

A couple of Chloe's friends performed musical numbers before we started the movie.  I wish I had have gotten a picture of Abby Lund, who composed and sang a song, accompanying herself on the guitar.  It was so sweet.  Kramer Morton sang "My Girl" and both were a hit.  I will figure out how to download the video we got of Kramer and you can see Chloe's smile and bright eyes in the background.

I really couldn't ask for better friends for my girl.