Sweet Sixteen Surprise

Wednesday night we pulled of a Sweet Sixteen Surprise!

Cali wanted to give Tessa a surprise party for her sixteenth birthday. So with a little help from m(o.k. - a lot of help) she pulled it off. Tessa was totally surprised!
Her friends Rachel and Lauren got her out of the house by taking her to dinner and her friends showed up and hid in the kitchen.I had to work on party preparations here and there when she wasn't home but I ended up baking the cupcakes etc. right in front of her telling her that I was experimenting with recipes for the wedding reception I am helping with next week.

I hope I am forgiven for all the lying I had to do this week to keep it a secret. As soon as she left for dinner we started decorating and pulling out all the food etc. I had hidden!

Cali chose a Grease/50's theme so we decorated in pink/black/polka dots. I made these fun tissue paper pom poms ala Martha Stewart. I told Tessa they were for the wedding reception!

So of course we had to go with pink food too! Pink and brown cupcakes and a pink candy bar.
I even found pink strawberry flavored malted milk balls!

The guests were asked to dress in their favorite 50's/ Grease attire. Most of them came dressed up. Cali borrowed my Pink Lady bowling shirt.

They played badmitten in the back yard.
Had a record shaped pinata.

I think Kat gets the prize for the biggest bubble!


They had a fire in the backyard and made s'mores. I even found pink strawberry flavored marshmallows! After it got dark they watched Grease on a projection screen in the backyard.

The party was a great success and Tessa loved it! Happy Sweet Sixteen Tessa!

Celebrating Sweet Sixteen!!

Tessa's Sweet Sixteen celebration started with our traditional birthday jump while being serenaded by her mother, father and sister! So how did she get so tall??

She then enjoyed breakfast in bed with her requested menu of overnight waffles with strawberries, whip cream and cinnamon syrup with a side of bacon!

After breakfast we headed down to NW 23rd for a little shopping....Tessa found two pairs of shoes, a dress and a few other odds and ends.

This picture really has nothing to do with Tessa's birthday other than it is one of the stores we went into - I thought their fake grass covered floor was kind of fun and aren't those shoes cute! Those are actually Cali's feet but she is wearing Tessa's shoes. Wish my feet were as big as the girls so I could share shoes too!

Then we enjoyed lunch at our favorite pizza place on NW 23rd!
After lunch and shopping Tessa was treated to a pedicure - what a princess!

We we got home she was greeted by a decorated room compliments of her new Laurel class! A nice welcome to the group. Her room was covered in hearts and curly ribbon!

For dinner Tessa asked to go to Rockbotton Brewery, a favorite place to eat in downtown Portland. We love their huge pretzels and yummy cheese/spinach dip!!

After dinner we headed home for present opening....a cute scarf from her sister.

A denim jacket from Logan, and lots of other fun stuff including some cute new jewelry.

A gift from mom and dad was a birthstone (ruby) ring - it is her Virtue Ring. To remind her of what a virtuous and loving daughter of our Heavenly Father she is and that the price of a virtuous woman is far above rubies.

And then we celebrated with cake - a strawberry shortcake cake! The Osbornes joined us as did Tessa's friends Kara and Sarah.

After dessert Tessa, Kara and Sarah settled in to watch one of Tessa's favorite movies - Little Rascals!

It was a busy and fun day! Happy birthday Tessa!!