The Big ONE SIX.....

It came, ever so quickly it came. As a mother you never think the day will come. It does. Faster than you will ever imagine. I hate it. I love it. My little blond haired, blue eyed girl is 16. August 23rd was the blessed event. And what and event it was. It had to be didn't it? A girl only turns sixteen once. We tried to pull out all the stops. Here is the birthday run down, excuse me if I sob uncontrollably while I type.

Doughnuts for breakfast. The best way to start the day.


Not pictured, the amazing banner and tons of balloons all hung upside down from the ceiling.









What could possibly top doughnuts for breakfast you ask? Cupcakes for lunch, of course. At Court's request I brought cupcakes for all her friends for lunch. Can you believe she is not even one bit embarrassed when I come to the high school? In fact she still thinks I am cool! She will know the truth someday.












Courtney's birthday happened to fall on a Tuesday night, which is YW's around here. So we did our duty and then took Court's darling friend Maddie out to Courtney's favorite frozen yogurt place in town.






Oh, look how old she looks, the years have been good to her.

I just have to say how much I lovee teenagers. It's such a great stage of life. Court and her friends are so full of life, fun and never ending energy. I remember those days.....barely.

Side note: We have discovered a deep fear of birds in our girl. It is quite hilarious. For her birthday she received many bird related items including a duck decoy used for duck hunting and a hummingbird feeder. See, what did I day? Teenagers are hilarious.



THE PARTY:

The invite.....


The decor....

Saturday was the chosen day for the BIG party. Boys and all. Are you ready for this? Because I certainly am not. Court wanted to have her party at my parents house in St. George. So we did. A big thank to mom and dad for that. She called it a "Dive- In Movie"

They swam.....






they showed off.....



and flirted.........



and talked.....................



and swam some more.......







and flirted some more.



Boy were they entertaining!


They had some serious fun.






While the man in yellow kept a VERY close eye on them all (with his beautiful assistant in tow).







"OHHH Dylan, you think I'm cute don't you? Well I am. Just look at my beautiful hair. "



As usual Courtney was not as interested as looking cute as she was in doing an impressive trick.






The birthday girl. Cute. Seriously cute.



On the menu: hamburgers, homemade batter dipped french fries, several salads, fruit and the most gorgeous ice cream sundae bar with hand dipped chocolate waffle bowls. Of course.... no pictures. They swam, they ate, the opened presents, they watched JAWS while they floated on rafts, they ate ice cream, and for the grand finale, Carter lit 16 roman candle fireworks! It was the perfect ending........or maybe it was the perfect beginning.

Happy 16th Courtney Anne Cluff, you have been nothing but pure joy to our family. You are the best daughter we could have ever hoped for, a shining example of gospel living and a blast to be around. You are IT. The whole package. We are so very blessed you are ours.