Sweet 16

My sweet little girl is all grown up.  Today Sammy turned 16. Last Saturday we threw together a birtday party at the last minute.  We were going to do it in a couple of weeks, but we weren't doing anything that night so we thought why not.  Sammy texted 18 of her friends that were listed in her contacts and we got 8 to show up.  (Two are missing in the group picture).  The girls had a great time.  We had a pizza dinner and then they played games the rest of the night.  We enjoyed cake and ice cream and the party ended about 9:30 pm.  I am so impressed with Sammy's friends.  They are such good girls and they help each other to be even better.

Today for lunch, Brian, Kylee, and I took Sammy to Firehouse Pizza for lunch.  It was fun checking her out of school and enjoying time to celebrate with her.  Tonight is Brian's ward Christmas Dinner.  I told Sammy we could skip it and do something to celbrate her birthday as a family.  She got excited and said she wanted to go to the Christmas party.  "The whole ward can celebrate with me," she said.  She loves spending time with his ward and the young men and women are wonderful.  Not to mention we love to spend time with the Bishopric and their family.

We are so lucky to have Sammy in our family.  She is so kind and helpful to everyone.  She has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ.  She is athletic and a great volleyball player.  She has a 4.0 grade point average.  Most important is that we love each other and we are friends.  I love that we enjoy spending time together.  She shares her thoughts and feelings, her worries and her joys with me.  I am so blessed.