This year we celebrated Katya turning SIXTEEN!
I know it's cliche to get a little sentimental and say I can't believe she's so grown up now...but I will say that anyway! I can't believe she is sixteen!!
Here is baby Katya maybe 6 days old (remember those first digital cameras of the 2000s?)
And at sixteen years old.
I love taking pictures with our kids on their birthday too.
Katya's birthday fell on a Saturday this year so we all were able to be home and celebrate her all day!
It was fun to take pictures of her and her gifts-hahaha. First one was Davidoff Cool Water, what I thought was perfume, but for real it was a men's cologne! Well, we exchanged it later. But every teenager has to have a Cool Water something, right?:)
I gave her this book--Enough As She Is. Teenage years are tough especially when it comes to self-esteem...
Katya still loves llamas and socks...or is that alpacas?
Mark gave Katya a cactus plant (not trying to hint that she is prickly or anything;).
And Alex went out of the way to go shopping in downtown Apex to get Katya a sloth coin purse!:)
And then Katya opened her best gift. She was asking us for a year for a new phone as the ONLY gift she wanted. So we figured we'd give her our old FLIP PHONE, Motorola Razor! I mean, she asked for a new phone, but didn't say the newest model, right?
Yeah...cruel, cruel parents:) She wasn't happy at first but either acted well or totally believed that the flip phone is what she is getting.
But for real we actually got her a newer version of the iPhone. The one she owned at that moment was the phone she purchased with her own money and it'd been working just fine for a couple of years. But Alex also needed a phone (as he jumped into the pool with his phone in his pocket!!!) and thus it kind of made it easier to justify getting Katya her coveted gift and then giving her phone to Alex. So that definitely made her happy. Not sure why the cactus plant didn't evoke the same kind of emotions;)
For lunch, per Katya's wish, we all went out to get some tacos from our taco truck in Apex and ate at the park.
Katya's actual birthday celebration continued a week later when she had a massive birthday party! It was the party of all parties for our kids so far--in other words, it required the most preparation from me:) But easiest cake ever--pretty much no cake but an ice cream bar and brownies!
This was super fun to make! I had thousands of pictures to choose from, but good thing all of my pictures are pretty organized on the computer. Sorry, my numbers are crooked;)
The main part of the party was a Scavenger Hunt/Amazing Race type of activity. We had maybe fifteen kids divided into 3 teams, each having to do a set of ten challenges, record it and send me videos, all in different order from each other. They had a blast! Let me know if you would like me to share the race's blueprint. The remainder of the party was in our awesome basement!
The kids had food, karaoke, games, etc.
Everyone had a fantastic time! And most importantly, Katya was very happy and grateful.
I couldn't say enough of wonderful things about Katya in this post to paint a real picture of her. Katya's personality is so bright, so strong and so full of emotions--there is never a dull moment talking to her, that's for sure:) She works so hard at school, is a wonderful positive friend to others and just brings sunshine to people's hearts. She is indeed an exemplary young woman who so wants to do the right things. Her newly found independence with being 16 (and driving) is refreshing to her as she is learning new things like using a debit card and self-control. She is definitely learning to be more street smart with each year and sometimes utters such words of wisdom from the depth of her hart that it makes me stop and think in awe at how perceptive she can be. We love her and are so excited for the next couple of years as she is getting ready to leave for college. Oh my goodness! Just TWO YEARS left...
Happy Birthday, Katya!!!
And as usual:
Height--5'7'' but actually TALLER than me. She grew!
Favorite sport to watch--soccer
Favorite sport to play--juggling her life (her words)
Favorite book--The Book Thief
Favorite movie--The Proposal
Favorite color--sunset orange
Hobbies--anything to do with music and hanging out with friends
Future profession--something in communications
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