MaKenna's 14th

14 years ago, I gave birth to an amazing and beautiful girl who has grown to become a special blessing from God - MaKenna! It was such a sweet thing to see Holly become a big sister and watch their relationship begin. Today, they are best friends! Much has happened in her 14 years of life and we had a lot to celebrate for her special day.

Then:


Now:


As our family normally does, on your birthday you get to choose all the meals for the day, plus you choose the dessert! So, MaKenna began her day with Cinnamon Ripple Muffins - homemade by Marmee (that's me!) Lunch was "Gourmet Grilled Cheese sandwiches" - made with turkey, various cheeses like parmesan, colby jack and provolone, tomato, mayo, and basil - mmmmmmm!!! For dinner, we made Dinner in a Pumpkin. For info on how to make this, check out my post here. For an extra special blessing, she got to share all of this with our dear, dear friends - Aunt Kimi and her 3 awesome children! How great is that!!!!



For dessert, MaKenna chose something different for us to try - Homemade Fried Ice Cream! Oh boy - it was amazing. Here is how we made it:

First, let the ice cream soften enough to scoop it out into balls. Place on cookie sheets and freeze until firm, about one hour. Next, beat 3 egg whites in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 3 cups crushed cornflakes with 1 tsp. cinnamon. Roll ice cream balls in the egg whites, then in the cornflakes mix. Repeat to make it awesomer! Freeze these again at least 3 hours. When ready, heat oil (we used coconut) to about 375 degrees. Use a slotted spoon and fry the balls one at a time for about 10-15 seconds only. Take them out and place on a paper towel. Serve immediately. We served with caramel sauce, whipped cream and marachino cherries! Oh my goodness - these were amazing!


We didn't do any sort of party this year, but instead, she asked for me to take her and Holly to a tea room in Mt. Dora, so that is just what we did! We started her special day at the flea market in Mt. Dora - just walking around and looking at everything, enjoying a beautiful crisp day and each other. Then, we headed to Mt. Dora and the Windsor Rose Tea Room. Here are the girls at our table:


For lunch, we ordered the Tea for 2 - for all 3 of us! There was so much food. We had a variety of tea sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, lemon curd pastries and shortbread. Plus, we had 2 pots of tea. (We even had leftovers!)


Outside the tea room:


After lunch, we enjoyed the rest of our day walking around downtown Mt. Dora window shopping. The day we went was so pretty here - cool, but not cold, clear sky and sunny. What a beautiful day to spend with my 2 favorite girls in the whole universe!