Lauren's Sweet Sixteen

Mom did an awesome job on Lala's cake, of course. I wish I had a good picture of Lauren from the party--she looked beautiful! But I didn't want to get in the way or cramp her style with her friends, so I never got a close-up.
Everybody was crazy to see baby Truett--only our second time to see him in person!
And he was feeling much better than last time we saw him! We're so glad about that.
The place was decorated in pink, and there was yummy pink punch with sherbert in it.
Lauren had mostly family and a handful of friends over to celebrate.

From this same vantage point, Gabriel told me, "Take a picture from here, Mom! You can see everything!"

Truett is surrounded and adored.
I nearly had a panic attack when I saw Gabriel carrying him!

This was the closest I saw Oliver and Paloma playing together, but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture.
She was on to other things--namely playing with Zoe and tickling Truett.


Seeing Chrys & Mike reminds us of the days before we were outnumbered (though I'm not complaining, just remembering Gabi & Jano's joke: "When we had one, we had everything covered. When we had two, we were divided. With three, we were conquered!").
The group poses before we sang "Happy Birthday".
Maya and Zoe wanted to help blow out the candles.
Maya is funny about my taking her picture, but this one turned out cute anyway!
She also made faces for Devin's sister when she tried to take their picture on her cell phone.
Lauren's dad Brian and stepdad Bill seemed to enjoy each other's company, at least for a while.
Devin was in charge of ice cream; my mom told him to ask people "Homemade Vanilla or Vanilla Bean?" but he wouldn't, so he was in trouble.
Carmen participated in the cupcake theme too.
And here's my cousin Bethany looking beautiful, having her cake and eating it too.
Even most of the grownups had a good time.
All it takes to keep a certain group happy is something sweet.
Devin's little brother Drake was one of many who had a good time with Zoe's vaccuum cleaner.
Some of us hung around the food for quite a while.
And I had to take a picture when I noticed all of the teenaged girls were texting on the couch. This is acceptable party etiquette? I must be old. They were funny though.
Gabriel played ping pong in the garage with Carmen and Mason, but I didn't get to stay to take more pictures for some reason.
Maybe because I heard Lauren was opening her presents.
See? Oliver liked the vaccuum too.
And I had fun catching up with Chrys.
Truett must be teething! He had a hand in his mouth most of the night.

One of Lauren's friends brought her a copy of National Enquirer. I remember when my friends used to get a kick out of those in high school, too. Funny.
Paloma got a turn with Lala's big cupcake pillow,
and when she did this, we knew it was time to call it a night!
Happy Birthday Lauren! I can hardly believe you're 16.
We love you!