Happy Birthday Kennedy!

The Taylor Swift concert is over, the DVD of her life is done and now the party is just a memory, so...as Will said, "Now she is really for sure 16!"  Just one more major step left:  The Drivers License!  Kennedy had a bunch of friends over last night to celebrate her birthday.  She made it very clear that she didn't want any part of my theme parties or any organized activities.  Normally that would make me break out in hives knowing that I couldn't start planning one of my over-the-top theme parties.  But life has been so busy lately that I didn't put up too much of a fight.  I just channeled all my energy into the food!  Kennedy was more than willing to let me go over-the-top with food!

Kennedy had requested doughnuts, brownies, cookies and candy as a few of her snacks.  I didn't really think we needed a birthday cake on top of all that she I made a "cake" out the doughnuts!

Kennedy with her friends

Time to eat!  On top of the sweets already listed, we had chicken wings, teriyaki meatballs, flautas, mini-tacos, empanadas, Bagel Bites, Caesar salad, macaroni salad, fresh fruit, chips and three kinds of dip!  Everyone knows the way to Kennedy's heart is through her stomach!

After dinner, the girls all watched the 50 minute DVD that I made for Kennedy's birthday and then took a quiz about Kennedy to see who knew her the best.  Next they went for a walk to the wetlands and creek behind our house.  This is Kennedy watching the sun set on her youth.

Later that night the girls hung out around the firepit and roasted marshmellows while jamming to Taylor Swift.

I had to laugh when I saw all of Kennedy's gifts from her friends.  Unfortunately Kennedy is most known for how much she can eat.  Her friends obviously know too that the way to Kennedy's heart is through her stomach.  She got 3 giant Symphony chocolate bars, 1 giant cookies n' cream bar, a bag of cheetos, 2 types of gum, 2 ring pops, rice krispie treats, oreos, $10 lunch money, Starbucks, Jamba and Cheesecake Factory gift certificates.  I am thinking she needs to pass her driving test and take her mom out to Cheesecake Factory for lunch for such a great party!

Now the moment she has been waiting for:  16 Reasons I love Kennedy on her 16th birthday!

1. Kennedy doesn’t procrastinate.  If she is given a school assignment that is due in a month, she will still finish it within a couple days of it being assigned.

2. Kennedy is very creative.  She can put together a scrapbook page or poem in a matter of minutes.

3. Kennedy is a born leader.  Either that or she is just really good at bossing people around.

4. Kennedy has good self-confidence.  She ran for 6th grade pres. one month after moving to Vancouver and not knowing a soul (and she won!).  Then she tried out for dance team without any real dance experience (and got the highest score!)

5. Kennedy is smart.  I think I had to stop helping her with her homework around 4th grade when she passed me by.  

6. Kennedy is a good teacher.  She has done an amazing job with her summer cheer camps.  The kids love her.  She has what I call the 3 "P's" of a good teacher: professional, patient and positive.  She is now using this same technique when she teaches her dance classes.

7. Kennedy is a hard worker (for something she wants) and self-disciplined.  Once she decides she want something, there is no stopping her.  She will out-study, out-practice anyone! I have never had to stay on Kennedy to study or do her homework, it just always gets done.

8. Kennedy has a good fashion sense (home and clothes).  I remember when we were remodeling our home.  Kennedy told us what she would do with the furniture.  Then we hired a decorator who told us the exact same thing Kennedy had told us for free!

9. Kennedy has a strong testimony.  Since she was young we called her our "sabbath day patrol".  I have been very impressed with the depths of her testimony at such a young age.

10. Kennedy is goal-oriented.  Every class she has taken as well as every extra-curricular activity has carefully been planned out since 3rd grade as to help her get accepted into BYU.

11. Kennedy is funny (this is just for her ego).  She thinks she is super funny but can't understand why Scott and I don't laugh hysterically over her jokes.  Her humor is probably just too advanced for us old folks - Cassidy laughs at her a lot.

12.Kennedy is a technical wizard.  No matter what the gadget is, Kennedy can intuitively figure it out.  She has never read an instruction booklet in her life but somehow seems to know how everything works.

13. Kennedy has a good eye for photography.  She has taken some amazing photos these past few years through her photography class.  Once again, it comes naturally to her and I admire this because I love photography.

14. Kennedy is a good debater.  All those parenting classes told us that if we were consistant with our kids they would eventually stop arguing every point with us - they didn't know Kennedy!  This is the girl who put together a formal meeting with us while she presented a  power-point she made of reasons why she needed a cell phone.

15. Kennedy seems to win almost every time we play a board game.  Now no one cares about winning, their only goal is to make sure Kennedy doesn't win anymore.

and last but not least....

16.  Kennedy is so tan!!!

Happy Birthday Kennedy - I love you!