The rest of the 15th birthday celebration . . .

Before Bailey had an unfortunate run-in with the pavement at the church on the evening of her birthday, we celebrated her big day in happier ways.

We started the celebration the week of Memorial Day weekend, when she and I spent the day shopping for birthday gifts. We drove half an hour to Hillsboro, OR to a wonderful jewelry store called Charming Charlie. Super cheap and cute jewelry and lots of random accessories.  Here is a hat/clip thing that didn't make the cut.

Next we picked up bread from Great Harvest and stopped by Olive Garden for an early dinner.
 
After dinner, we drove to the Washington Square Mall. We spent several hours in Forever 21, finding some great deals. We even found a skirt which is plenty long enough!

Finally, we stopped by Sephora, where a makeup artist did a makeover on Bailey's eyes and taught her how to use eyeliner and multiple shades of eyeshadow.  It was a thoroughly delightful day in every way!

 

The day of Bailey's birthday started with breakfast in bed: homemade biscuits and gravy, sausages, and orange juice. You might notice that Bailey looks awfully beautified for "having just awakened."  That's because she gets up earlier than all of us to get ready for Seminary and school. (And she is never late. Never.  Unless it is someone else's fault.)  While she got ready, Dan and I made the food, and then she climbed back into bed for the official presentation of her breakfast.

 After eating, she opened a few gifts.  All of these gifts she had picked out herself in the shopping trip the week before.

The gift she opened below is a sign that her mother was sleep deprived. As I grabbed gifts to stuff into bags early in the morning, I mistakenly wrapped  a book which I bought for Joseph.  My, wasn't Bailey surprised when she opened it!To the right, the gift she was supposed to get instead.

Next Bailey left to school, where she took an End of Course exam in Geometry.  Yuck and double yuck!  Not a great birthday present for her.  She enjoyed the rest of her day, with lots of treats and birthday wishes from friends.

During the day I had decorated the house for her birthday. I made her requested birthday dinner: spicy chipotle chicken kabobs, homemade mashed potatoes, and watermelon. We ate the dinner early and she opened a few gifts before the family scattered (to Joseph's game, Aubrey's rehearsal, and Bailey's Mutual activity).

I managed to surprise her with a few gifts, since she had picked out mostly everything herself. I found some cute journals, as Bailey is an avid journal writer.

 

I just included these pics to show the many faces of Bailey . . . in addition to the happy and smiley face there is the annoyed face and "stop taking pictures of me" face.  Great photo bomb, Aubrey!

After getting home from the emergency room, Bailey and I enjoyed a slice of her delicious triple chocolate cheesecake before bed.

We also found that Aubrey and Joseph had cleaned Bailey's room (which was ummmm, less than clean), and decorated her room for her birthday while they waited for us to return from the hospital. What caring siblings!

 

She wore her hospital bracelet for almost a week as a badge of birthday bravery.

Happy Birthday Bailey!  You are an amazing and completely delightful 15 year old. We are so grateful every day that Heavenly Father sent you to our family. You bring so much fun and enthusiasm and energy to our family. You are a light to everyone, including your many friends.  We appreciate your desire to make righteous and smart choices. We know the next few years are going to just fly by, so we are going to enjoy every minute with you before you take off for new adventures!  We love you!

Random bits

Just a few of the latest happenings . . .

• Today I helped all morning at Field Day for Joseph's first grade class.  Only in Washington/Oregon would it be so cold and rainy on Field Day at the end of June that everyone was buttoned up in coats while playing the water activity outside and the appropriate treat at the end of the activities was hot chocolate, not popsicles!

• Dan and I both have new church callings.  Dan has been called to teach early morning Seminary.  He will be teaching New Testament to groggy freshmen or sophomores at 6:00 in the morning (He will need to be at the church at 5:30 a.m.).  I think he will do a great job - he relates well to the youth and is an amazing teacher. It will also be a challenge, as since he is not a morning person.  He is a man who needs his sleep. The kids learned long ago to wake up me instead of Dan during the night when they need someone, because their Dad is groggy and ornery when awakened from his sleep.  So, a call to teach early morning Seminary is proof that the Lord has a sense of humor!
•  I was released from Young Women and called to the Relief Society Presidency. It has been an adjustment for me, as I was very happy in the Young Women/teenage world and now I need to learn how to get along in the grown-up-woman world of Relief Society (I have served almost exclusively in YW and Primary for the last 22 years).  There's a very different energy level in RS.  I've really enjoyed it, even though I miss the girls. I do still get to go to Girls Camp, though, as I was already planning on it and they are short on leaders, and I really wanted to go for Aubrey's first year at camp.  A few weeks ago I taught my first lesson in Relief Society, and it was really fun!  I'm used to trying to keep the attention of children or teenagers, so it was kind of a shock to have such an attentive, responsive class.

• The last few weeks have been full of awards assemblies and performances of all types for each of the kids as school is winding down. They finally get out of school tomorrow, and we are SO ready to begin summer.  Bailey is especially ready, as her cruel high school teachers have scheduled finals the last two days of school and assigned a large number of projects and papers to do the last week. Bring on the lazy days of summer!

• I picked up the phone last Sunday and heard this:  "Is this Sister Porter?  And you have a son named Brandon?" The call was from the mom of a fellow missionary (who had been released last October). Her son had been Brandon's first District Leader in Ukraine.  The missionary and parents had traveled back to Ukraine to visit, and their paths crossed Brandon's several times.  She said that she had the chance to talk to him for quite awhile and asked if she could call me when she got home to let me know how he is doing. She said "he looks very healthy and well, he has a grin from ear to ear and he appears to be happy and enjoying his mission."  What a treat to get this call!

12th Birthday Extravaganza

Aubrey had a really hard time thinking of anything she wanted for her birthday this year.  Inspired by a trip her cousin Brynlie took with her mom Ali, Aubrey suggested that maybe she would like to spend time with me alone for a little girl's trip for her birthday gift.

So that's what we did.  Dan and I decided to incorporate some theater into the trip, as Aubrey loves all things theater, especially musical theater.  I looked at all the possibilities for plays in the immediate and not-too-far-flung vicinity, and settled on Utah, where we could see two plays at the Hale Center Theaters and stay with my parents.

On Tuesday, April 3rd Aubrey and I flew to Salt Lake City on the same flight as Grandma and Grandpa Springer, who had visited us for five days to see Aubrey's play.  Once we landed, I rented a car and we loaded up and headed toward a very important destination.

That's right . . . . Cafe Rio.  All of you out there who have a Cafe Rio nearby, we are very jealous.  We dream about the stuff.  And we make knock-off versions Cafe Rio dishes, but they are never quite the same.  Yum.

 

We then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where we got settled in the guest room. Within a few hours, Aubrey and I left to go to our first play . . . Zorro the Musical.

This was the U.S. debut of a musical which has been a huge hit overseas.  It was amazing.  Seriously amazing.  The singing, dancing, staging, and spectacle was just great.  One of our favorites (after the all-time favorites: Les Mis and Wicked).
 
On the way to the play we stopped at Great Harvest Bread to get some cookie treats.  And the nice salesperson gave us cookies for free!

I loved everything about the evening.  The play, the food, and especially the fabulous company.

The next day we slept in a bit (which was heavenly), so Grandma and Grandpa were gone. In fact, we didn't really see them much for the rest of the trip, because they left early in the morning for work and were asleep by the time we got back from our plays each night.

We ate Cafe Rio leftovers and then took off shopping at the newly remodeled Fashion Place mall.  We bought Aubrey some Toms shoes (which we returned the next week because they formed holes over the toes after five days).  We also did a mini-makeover at Sephora and bought some basic makeup for Aubrey.

Aubrey was super-duper anxious to go pick up her best friend Breanne, so we headed back to Sandy. After the enthusiastic reuniting with Breanne (they have been best friends since they were 2 years old), we drove to Provo.

 Where we shopped for a few hours.  Trying on all the high heels the girls could find

And looking at all the fun stuff in the Disney Store.  How is that for a juxtaposition . . . two girls caught between a love of little girl toys toys and a desire to grow up and wear high heels.

And here is "Belle" pictured next to a singing Belle doll.  The doll sang off tune.  Aubrey, aka "Belle" sang right on tune!
 

Finally, we enjoyed dinner at Aubrey's favorite restaurant, Olive Garden.

And then we drove to Hale Center Theater in Orem for a presentation of Xanadu.  It was fun - a perfect movie for two almost-teenagers and one Mom who remembers the 80s really well.

 

And then it was home to Sandy for an Aubrey and Breanne sleepover.  I had to remind them about 1,000 times to keep their giggles down so Grandma and Grandpa could sleep upstairs! 

The next morning we drove to the Trax station and rode the train to downtown Salt Lake.  The new City Creek outdoor mall had just opened (right across the street from the Salt Lake Temple), so we checked it out. It was beautiful, upscale, and very crowded!

 There is a really cool fountain which does an elaborate show on the hour.

 A picture in front of Tiffany & Co.

The gates of the Salt Lake Temple grounds are directly opposite the opening of the City Creek Center.  It is a really classy development and makes the area south of the temple a continuation of the beauty across the street.

 We had to try some Godiva chocolate.  I think it was something like $3 a truffle.  Expensive but worth it!

 A cool sculpture in the center of City Creek.

 Wow - look at the movie star!

 Aubrey is a big fan of cute hats.

 

 

 

Our final stop was the Conference Center, which neither Breanne nor Aubrey had ever visited.  We took a quick personalized tour, since we knew we had to get to the airport within a little over an hour.

 

Then, just before this picture was taken I got a text telling me that our flight was delayed three hours.  So, we took our time and saw all the art galleries.

 We loved this statue of God the Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith. When the statue rotates around, you can see that the Father has His arm around His Son.

 

 We checked out out the Friberg paintings up close, marveling at the layered brush strokes.

 

 And, the beautiful room-sized painting of the Savior appearing to the Nephites.

 One final stop before our flight home . . . Cafe Rio, of course!

It was a privilege to spend a few days alone with my favorite Aubrey. I consider it a great blessing to be her mother!