Having your first child reach a milestone birthday like this is totally awesome, fun, exciting, CRAZY, scary, and surreal...all at the same time. Talk about a roller coaster ride of emotions!
(And I'm talking about for this mama NOT the teenager! :)
We knew that this birthday would require an amazing celebration, so along with all of the pre-dating/birthday activities we have done, here is the fun of the actual Birthday itself!
On the Friday before Kierra's birthday, she planned a sledding party at Gorgoza Park in Park City.
Clint and I drove her and her friends there where we all had a blast screaming, laughing, and racing down the slopes. We love coming here for lots of reasons, but one of the best reasons is that there is a moving sidewalk built right into the mountain so that each time you make a run down the hill, you don't even have to walk back up! You just hop on the moving sidewalk and enjoy laughing, visiting, (or even a cuddle and a smooch like Clint and I did ;) as you are whisked away back to the top.
It. Is. Awesome. :)
Let the PARTY begin!
All the gang ready for fun
Kierra with her Besties...Emma and Kaitlyn...I LOVE these girls!
Kierra with silly Austin and Nate...these guys ALWAYS seem hungry! ;)
Then, on February 11th, 2014...Kierra Nicole Trickett turned 16!
On the morning of her birthday I woke up and made her a yummy breakfast, gave her a new outfit to wear to school and hugged and kissed her on her way.
I went about putting her hope chest in her bedroom, getting her gifts all ready, and then went and checked her out of school early.
One of the main things that she wanted to do ON her birthday was to get her license...so, by checking her out early, we were able to beat the crowd and get in and out of there before anyone else. We literally were out of the DMV in about 15 minutes from when we arrived, so with all of our extra time, we simply decided to do what any smart girls would do...we went SHOPPING! :)
We went to Charming Charlie (LOVE that place!!!) where Kierra found a cute new shirt AND wallet to put her fancy new driver's license in. :)
Then , we drove home and got into her car that her dad had given her and took it to the gas station where we filled up the tank, vacuumed the floors and took it through the car wash. She was soooooo
excited to take it out by herself for the very first time!
I on the other hand, felt like I was going to have a panic attack. ;)
Don't get me wrong...she is an awesome driver. But I truly felt like my heart left with her as she drove away for the very first time. ( I actually took a video of her driving away...all of my kids get a kick out of watching it over and over and over. They say it sounds like I'm gonna cry...but of course I'm not...I'm just choking a little as my heart drives away with her. :)
I just LOVE this girl...(and the little one next to her :)
So, Kierra drove away but wasn't gone for very long. She just wanted to drive to Kaitlyn's house to say "Hello" and to show her best friend that it was official. :)
As soon as she got home, so did the rest of the family.
We all jumped in the car together and headed to the Olive Garden Restaurant for Kierra's birthday dinner. We met my sister Tiffany and her family there where we all enjoyed visiting together. It was an awesome time...but all the while I had been holding in a BIG DARK SECRET.
The suspense was almost killing me and I just couldn't wait for dinner to be over so that we could get home for Kierra's final birthday present.
The one she would NEVER ever forget!!!
Here's the clue:
This story is just sooooo awesome and so I have to finish on my next post so that I have room for all of the details. This is sooooo EXCITING!!!! :)
It IS a Happy Birthday!!!
