Iliana is 16!!

Our wonderful, capable, increasingly beautiful daughter has turned 16.  It seems like so little time has passed since she was born.  It has been such a pleasure to watch her grow and see who she has become.  She is helpful, kind, and a peacemaker.  She also loves to have fun.

Two of her friend from Utah flew out to help make her birthday extra special!

We had a party and invited all the youth from our ward to come and help celebrate.  Iliana and her friends did the decorating and picked the music, we bought a lot of food, had a friend lend us a Wii with Garage Band, and the fun began.

Apples to Apples (Ellie is wearing a pink Batman cape brought by Erin from Magic Mountain)

Brian, Annie and Iliana playing the Lying Game (Turns out almost everyone was really good at spinning a tale!)

16 Candles to blow out

Playing Garage Band

Tellestrations (Zoey's trying to be part of the fun)

Everyone stayed until about 11:30, ate tons of pizza and had a great time.

The next morning, Iliana and I got up at 5:00 am to drive her friends to the airport.  After tears and sad goodbyes we went back to bed.  We didn't have birthday pancakes until about 11:00 am.

That night we went out to dinner, then had more cake and opened presents.

Examining an awesome pendant from the LaMonts

Gift of clothes from the Bensons

What a bunch of great kids!  I feel lucky to have each of them.