Emma’s 16th Birthday Party – Post I

Dec 6
Amy

Today we celebrated Emma’s birthday.  By “we”, I mean ALL of us!  Emma’s dad and step-mom, Jess & Staci, and Aaron & I decided that since she was turning 16 and it is such a big birthday that we would hold one joint party.  We planned it as a surprise party, but I don’t think any of us were really expecting the surprises to last.  We managed to pull it off until Aaron & the girls pulled in the parking lot of the pizza place.  Miss Emma recognized too many rigs!  🙂  I cannot believe she is 16 already (well, she will be on Tuesday), but I am not going to travel down memory lane in this post – I’ll do that in the one I post on Tuesday.

Almost two years ago, Emma told my mom she wanted her to make her 16th birthday cake, and so she did . . . It was adorable!  It had a basketball, volleyball, lamb, and pig on it, and it also had a miniature three-tiered cake in the middle.  Emma loved it!  She had lots of company and help blowing out her candles.

The Cake
        

We had so much of our families show up, it was great!  Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, you name it!  Emma’s best friend, Natalie, and her boyfriend, Jordan, were there, as well.  One person we really missed was Jess’ mom, Donna, – she had to stay with her mom in Heppner.  We missed celebrating Em with her.

Jordan & Natalie
  

She is normally very self conscious about opening gifts in front of people – being the center of attention at all, really, but she was a trooper and pulled it off with  great attitude!  She got lots of money – which is a good thing with gas prices the way they are – and she even got a Kayak and life jacket just like her Nana’s.

Time to do some boating & driving!
    

The very last gift Emma received was from us four parents.  Jess found a really good deal on a car, and so we shared the cost.  We have told her over and over that we were not going to buy her  car, and that if she wanted one she was going to have to buy it herself, so we were hoping it would be a GREAT surprise for her.  As a joke, we found a picture of a REALLY big, old car, put it inside a card, and gave it to her with a set of keys . . . I think she was genuinely worried that it was the real car!  She just kept saying, “Seriously?  Are you serious?”  After she opened it, we headed out to the parking lot so she could meet her new car.

Opening the Card – Shock, I’m getting a car!
   

Emma’s New Ride
  

Happy Birthday, Big Girl!
 

I have many “reflective” thoughts about my Divine Miss Em growing up I want to share, and I will, but later on in the week.  For now, it’s enough to just say it was a perfect day!