Lia's 15th Birthday Celebrations!

We wrapped up Lia's 15th birthday celebrations today after celebrating a few days late over the weekend.  Since Lia needed to stay home to attend her play practice and go to school the next day, we sadly had to leave her behind on her birthday while we drove the other three children to Coeur D'Alene for Ella's gymnastics meet.  The good news for Lia was that it meant she got to have a slumber party at the house of her dear friend, Alyssa, on a her actually birthday which was a first for her since it fell on a school night.  We then returned home the next evening on February 23rd and had one day to get ready for her friend birthday party/slumber party on Friday night and Saturday morning.  I then turned around and hosted her family party on Sunday evening, February 26th.  So, it was a busy few days, but I really tried to make Lia's birthday feel special although we were gone for her actual birthday.  I think it worked as Lia seemed to really have a good time celebrating with both her friends and family this weekend.  It's hard to believe that my first born will be driving in a year, but she acts so much like a 15-year old that it really does make sense.  Sniff.  It's all just going to by way too fast!

February 22nd:  

I sent Lia off to seminary this morning with a batch of homemade, blueberry muffins to share with her class.  After school, Lia went to Alyssa's house to do homework and go on a run in the neighborhood.  Alyssa's mom was then kind enough to feed her dinner and drive her to and from play practice.  Lia brought homemade cookies and brownies to share during snack time at play practice.  The entire cast also sang "Happy Birthday" to her during rehearsal.  Since Lia's birthday is the same day as Alyssa's dad, they surprised both of them with cake and ice cream and a gift after she got home from rehearsal that evening.  Alyssa's mom sent me this picture and a video of Lia blowing out her candles.  I was so grateful that they helped make her day feel special when we were so many miles away.

February 24th:

After a busy day unpacking from our trip and getting ready for Lia's friend party, we hosted ten of Lia's friends for the evening.  Since this was the first time that Lia "mixed" her friends from elementary and junior high school, she was a little nervous that the evening would be full of awkward moments.  Luckily, the girls all did a great job blending together and had a great time.  It was so fun to see all of them enjoying each other's company.

I decided to keep the decorations simple, but went with a woodland theme after Lia chose a set of paper plates with a leaf pattern on them.  I found some darling Easter decorations at the store (ceramic mushrooms and straw bunnies and birds) that went with the theme nicely.

Lia's party table all set up and ready to go.

All eleven of the girls enjoying dinner.  We served pulled pork sandwiches with a bunch of sides.  The girls had a great time talking and eating together.

After dinner, the girls went into the family room to open gifts.  As always, we had each friend come up and sit next to Lia while she opened their gift.  Here is Lia sitting next to one of her dearest and oldest friends, Sienna, who she has know since PreK.

Lia sitting next to Erika, her closest running buddy who is also waivering into the same high school as Lia.

All eleven girls posing for a group photo.

Top row from left to right:  Katelyn, Jaqueline, Rian, Lia, Mollie, Elle, and Erika

Bottom row from left to right:  Abby, Heather, Sienna, and Hope

Back at the table, the girls all sang "Happy Birthday" to Lia.

Clapping for Lia after singing to her.

Lia smiling after blowing out her candles.

Ron and I then drove all the girls to the mall for the activity of the night.  Lia divided up everyone into groups of two.  Each group then had 40 minutes to go to any clothing store to find and try on three outfits of their choice from three different categories:  silly/ugly, fancy, and casual.  They all had such a great time and picked out some amazing outfits in a short amount of time.  Each group then had to take pictures of each outfit for me to judge once we got home.  The winning group won gift cards to Bath & Body Works.  It was a close tie between three of the fives groups, but Mollie and Elle ended up winning!

The happy girls pose for one last group photo outside the mall before heading back to our house.

After returning home, the girls went down to our basement to have a dance party for an hour until parents picked up the majority of the group at 10 p.m.  Since we had arranged it in advance, Lia's friends from elementary school spent the night after everyone else was picked up.  We managed to keep this a secret so that the other girls wouldn't get their feelings hurt.  The remaining girls had a great time watching a late movie, sleeping in our basement, and eating a waffle breakfast the next morning before their parents picked them up at 11:30 a.m the next day.

February 26th:

After church and a slow afternoon, we hosted my parents for Lia's family party on Sunday evening.  We enjoyed a soft taco dinner (par Lia's request) in the dining room with all of the fixings.

Lia finally got to open up her gifts four days late!

She enjoyed getting some clothes, slippers, jewelry, makeup, and new headphones.  She also received a custom, XC hoodie that I had my friend make in her high school colors.  Lia found this saying online a few months ago and we thought that it would be so fun to put it on the back of a running-themed sweatshirt.  The message says:

Some girls chase boys

I PASS THEM

Emmett was constantly trying to help Lia open her gifts.  Here is a funny shot I managed to get of Lia pushing Emmett away from her gift after he had ripped some pink tissue paper out of the gift bag.  Silly Emmy.

I just had to get a picture of Logan reading his book while Lia opened her gifts.  That boy always has his nose buried into a book--even in the middle of a party!

Lia showing off the black and white finger nail polish that she requested to use next month to paint her nails before performing the role of Cruella de Vil.

The Hartland fam posing for a picture before cake time!

Lia and her traditional banana cream pie.

Ella and Emmett singing "Happy Birthday" to Lia.

Blowing out all 15 candles!

Lia posing with all of her siblings before eating pie and calling it a night.

We love you so much, Lia!

We are so grateful for what a hardworking, responsible, talented, righteous, and fun-loving young lady you have become.  We are so proud of all of your accomplishments with school, church, running, and theater and can't wait to see where you go in the years to come!