Julie's 15th Birthday

We began celebrating Julie's birthday when she arrived home from camp at 5:10 PM.  While Jimmy was picking up the girls, I busily baked cupcakes (both chocolate and vanilla), set the birthday table, and wrapped all of her gifts.  I was placing the last gift in front of the fireplace when they drove up the driveway!

 Julie with her gifts

The first thing we did was to watch Julie open her gifts.

Jimmy gave her a new Garmin running watch with a heart rate monitor.

 This is the letter opener that Clay made for Julie.

And my gift for Julie---an apron!  Julie is always helping me in the kitchen, and she frequently borrows one of my aprons.  I wanted to make one that was just for her!  I finished it Thursday morning--the day of her birthday and the day she was coming home from camp.

 Julie's colorful apron

Friday night, Julie had a Fabulous Fiesta for her 15th birthday.  She invited several of her friends over for a Mexican themed supper and then an outdoor movie in our backyard.  Since I had been so busy with VBS and sewing, I had not had any time to tidy up my basement (where the girls would be sleeping) or decorate for the party.  Thankfully my dear friend Heather came to the rescue!  She brought her girls a couple of hours early, and while I finished the cooking, she cleaned the basement (complete with vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom) and then decorated for the fiesta.  She even brought me a Mexican dress to wear!

 The girls (and me in the while Mexican dress!) posing in front of the movie screen.

Sam, Leah, and the other girls entertained us by singing in the microphone that came with the sound system of the (rented) movie system.

 This is a picture of the table from our family celebration.

 The cupcakes--I made these for both our family celebration and the fiesta.

I have certainly learned my lesson when it comes to making fancy birthday cakes!  However, Olivia and Julie found this cake on Pinterest, and Olivia wanted to make it for Julie for her birthday.  A labor of love!

The fabulous fruit cake!

The girls (and Clay and Sam) enjoyed their dinner, cupcakes, fruit cake, and the movie, National Treasure.  They finally went to sleep, and I woke them up at 7:00 AM to take them to the city park for a run!  Then we came home and Julie made homemade blueberry pancakes for everyone.

I think Julie had a nice celebration!  I certainly enjoyed trying to make the days special for her.