Holly's Sweet 16

I am not sure how it happened, but I blinked my eyes and when I opened them, my oldest child was already 16. Where did that time go? The Bible has it right when it says that life is a vapor! We have been planning this special party for Holly for many months now - since her birthday is not long after Christmas, if we don't get a head start, it doesn't happen!

First, though, for her actual birthday she got to pick her favorite foods - our typical tradition for our family. Breakfast was homemade scones with homemade lemon curd, lunch was chicken salad sandwiches on croissants and pasta salad and dinner was homemade corncakes with black beans and sour cream - better than the Cheesecake Factories! For dessert, she asked for Strawberry Cheesecake Pudding Pie - mmmmmm!!!

We planned a very special party for her. She was able to invite everyone that she wanted to invite and we opened up our home to them all and served taco bar goodies. Wow - it sounds really simple when I write it out on here like that! She didn't really want a theme, just color scheme - brown and blue, so that is what we did. We set up the back yard with tulle, lights, tables and chairs, the fire pit, etc. and the whole thing looked very simple, but nice. Here are some picture highlights:

The entry - very simple, but all about Holly. Wasn't she the most adorable baby???!!!


Our VERY special and dear friends - the Thomas family - came over and worked tirelessly on Friday AND Saturday to help us be ready. Honestly, I don't know what the party would have been without them! They are such awesome blessings to us - it is so nice to have people in your life that you know you can count on at any time to be there for you!


My sister, my niece and her boyfriend surprised us by making the trip up from Boynton Beach to be here for the party. Family - another blessing!


Guests - in no particular order, beginning with Jack and Patty:


April and Melissa - 2 of my dear friends who helped make sure that the party ran smoothly and everyone had plenty of food. They both cooked, helped clean and set up. I am so thankful!

Cara and Madilyn:


Tim, Andrea and Bella:


Diane and Abigail:


Caitlyn, Darrick, Manisha and Houston:


Leslie:


Amber:


Cindy and Danny:


Sister Shirley:


Sister Jo and Brother Tom:


(R to L) Whitney, Kaley, Chris Ann, Carrigan, Sydney, Katie and Chelsea:


Holly, McKenzie, MaKenna, Perry and Holly:


Caleb, my dad, London, Brendie, Kir and Andrew:


Candace and Peter:


The Cake:


Cake Balls - made by me, Holly, MaKenna and April:


Waiting in line for cake:


Caitlyn, Beth, Helen, Dawn, me and Nina: (Helen, Dawn and Nina were my other helpers who kept the food and drinks coming to our 65 guests!)


(L to R) Kaley, Katie, Caitlyn, Priscilla, Megan, Holly, Perry, Holly and MaKenna around the fire pit:


Girls just wanna have fun! They had so much fun playing in the retention pond beside our house - throwing a football, running around and just plain acting silly:


Perry and Holly - friends from the Deland church:


Holly had a great time and truly enjoyed the party. God smiled on us with no rain until the party was over (a very specific answer to prayer!) and with plenty of food to go around (kind of like the story of the loaves and the fish in the Bible, but that is a whole nother story!), with good friends, good times, laughter and peace like only He can give. He truly smiled on us when He chose us to be Holly's parents. She is an amazing young lady and I am excited to see what God has in store for her future. Thanks to everyone who had any part in making her day special!