Rachael's 12th Birthday

My darling first born child turned 12 years old today. I can't believe it! She had a crazy wild party last month because she combined it with her friend Carli.

(If you look closely, you will see that both birthday girls are wearing their birthday tiaras.)

They planned it all themselves, down to the decorations. They wanted black and white. That's right, folks, black and white. Birthday party. Not funeral. You can see the black and white streamers and balloons in the background of the above pic. And in case you can't tell, their shirts say, "Party like a rock star" of course.


(Abigail helping to decorate)

They ended up having 2 boys and 7 girls. I really didn't want it to be a boy/girl party, but I knew they had these 3 little boys(one couldn't come) that were really good friends with them. So I figured what the heck. And they turned out to be very nice, polite boys. Here's a picture of Trevor holding the baby:


I believe I heard the second boy(Jesse) say, "she's like the Paparazzi" but then he said, "yeah, my mom's like that too"

And the girls, of course, swarmed together like 12 year old girls.



The party went from 5-10. Which in my opinion is toooo long. Apparently, the more 12 year olds you put together, the shorter their attention span gets. Who knew? Well, any one who has taught a large class of Beehives, I guess;)

They opened presents, nibbled pizza (I mean it, 9 kids went through less than one pizza!What the heck!) and looked at the birthday cake while singing.


Then they played a few games with plenty of candy prizes.

And then they watched a movie. In the dark. And didn't appreciate the flash of my camera;)
(sorry I had to include this picture. Because it made me laugh;)

Then they all played outside until their parents came. Of course, paranoid mom that I am, stayed outside with them, and overheard some fun conversations.

The verdict? These 12 year olds, though they are a tad hyperactive, and have the attention span of a flea, are basically good natured. Maybe the teen years won't be so frightening after all. Or maybe they don't turn evil until 13;)

Happy Birthday Rachael! We love you.