Kenedy turned Sweet 16 on Thursday the 18th but we were not having her party until Friday so we kept her actual day pretty low-key. I made her pancakes for breakfast and she got to eat on the special plate before she had to leave for school. I was planning on having a night of just hanging out and watching a movie together but her party prep had other plans. We were working on making a Jeopardy game about Kenedy through Power Point. Ryker was really proficient with the program since he used it at school and he helped design and put the game together for us. When we tried to test it out that night it was having some issues that we could not figure out and I went over to Steve and Mikell's so that Steve could help me with the program. He was able to get it set up in a way that would be helpful but by the time I got done at their house it was rather late and ruined any plans we might have had that night. I felt bad that Kenedy's actual birthday was a let down but knew we had a great party planned for the next night so I tried to not let it bother me.
I have had Kenedy's birthday planned for a while and one of the first things I did was reserve the gym at the church. She was planning on inviting a lot of people, about 30 kids on her invite list, and I knew our little house was not big enough to fit the masses and all she wanted to do. When I went to make the reservation I saw that it was reserved every friday night by some friends of mine for no walls soccer. I called them up and asked if it would be ok if they let us have that night for our party since they have every friday night taken. They were agreeable and let me have it and I put a reservation down to hold the night. Thursday morning I was at Wal-Mart getting some last minute party items when I had the thought that I should check on my reservation. I pulled it up on my phone and discovered that my reservation was gone and the Stake Relief Society had the night taken. I was in shock and immediately called the name on the RS reservation. I was told that they needed that Friday to get the gym set up for a luncheon the Stake was doing on Saturday. I asked how they felt it was OK to wipe away my reservation and they said that it was under Linder Ward RS and all I put was Birthday Party so they called the RS president of our ward and she had no clue what it was and said they could have it. Apparently when I made the reservation I was in the RS presidency and the reservation came up under the RS instead of my name. Recently our Presidency was released and a new one put in and the new President had no idea about my reservation and assumed it was something the previous presidency had planned and she didn't need it so she let them have it. I explained what was going on and how this was not OK and I needed that reservation. They were in a dilemma because they needed to have all the tables set up and the decor done the night before seeing as how they would not have time the next day. I was in Wal-Mart listening to all of this in tears not knowing what to do, it was a mess. I called Lana who had been helping me with the party and we thought of a compromise. I called them back and told them they could have half the gym to set up and we would take the other half for our party. When we were done Friday night we would set up the rest of the tables and chairs for them so then all they had to do the next morning was decorate that half. Luckily they were fine with this and I could tell they felt really bad for the misunderstanding. What a mess. The tender mercy from the Lord was in prompting me to check on my reservation the day before. I cannot imagine the horror of us showing up unaware to find the gym completely taken over with their stuff.
With all of that taken care of, Friday morning we were free to go over to the church and get the gym decorated. Lana and Cristal were my happy helpers that day. They are such good friends and put aside most of the day to help me out. Since we had to give up half of the gym we set up the volleyball net and used it as the divider with food and tables on one side and chairs set up with the projector on the other. I had made pom pons out of tissue paper and we used those for table decor and on the walls and we also clipped childhood pictures of Kenedy all around the room. It turned out really cute and looked really fun.
I had planned on getting pizza and told Lana and Cristal I was getting 5. They were adamant that was not enough to feed everyone and talked me into doubling the amount. I bought 10 pizzas, we had chips, cookies, cake and soda. I planned the party to be from 6-11, originally I wanted 6-10 but again I was talked into going till 11. I forgot to include on the invitations that dinner would be served and a lot of the kids showed up having already eaten. At the end of the night I was left with 5 pizzas and I knew I should have never listened to my friends because the 5 I was going to buy in the first place would have been plenty. My friend Heidi did the cake for us and it turned out perfect. I wanted it to be a surprise for Kenedy so after finding out her favorite colors I left her out of the planning other then she did pick the flavor which was Oreo. I thought the cake turned out so cute, Heidi made a white cheer bow out of edible cake stuff to put on it along with a silver Aurora crown, Kenedy's favorite princess.
I loved it and Kenedy loved it as well!
I did not take as many pictures as I wanted and completely forgot to take at least one big group picture. Major fail on the picture taking and can not stop kicking myself over it. Kenedy's friends liked looking at all of the pictures and we had music going from a playlist Kenedy created so the atmosphere was great. The kids socialized for a while and then we decided to play the Jeopardy game. Of course the program was acting up and wouldn't work so since the kids were already gathered together we played the Sweet 16 DVD Lana and I made with Kenedys pictures set to music while I tried to figure out the game. Kefford came in during the DVD playing and was able to figure out the game and help me out with it. The DVD was a hit and so sweet and the game was a lot of fun. All of the kids enjoyed playing it. Success!
After Kenedy opened her presents we sat back out of the way and let the kids do what they wanted. Kenedy and her friends played games and volleyball with a big medicine ball and had a lot of fun just hanging out. 
It was a great night with some small hiccups and a fantastic Sweet 16 for my oldest!
Kenedy's Favorite's
Food: Chicken Alfredo
Dessert: Ice Cream
Candy: Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
Book: Harry Potter: the Goblet of Fire
Movie: Music and Lyrics
Church Song: Nearer My God to Thee
Friend: Lauryn and Shelby
Scripture Story: Helaman and the 2000 Stripling Warriors
Color: Turquoise
Thing to do: Cheer
School Subject: History
5 things I love about Kenedy
1. She is a great cheerleader and so fun to watch. I love how much she loves her sport and how hard she works at it and how dedicated she is. She is also involved in choir and loves doing that as well. I think it is great that she has the opportunity to do the stuff that she loves to do.
2. Kenedy has a testimony of the Gospel that she is constantly working at to strengthen. She has a lot of Faith in her Heavenly Father and knows the power of prayer. She enjoys going to church and is active in Seminary and never complains about going to mutual.
3. Kenedy wants to go to college and major in childhood education, she has dreams of being a teacher and I think she will be an amazing teacher. She has a desire to go on a mission and has a lot of plans for her life that she wants to achieve. I admire her goals and know she can do anything she sets her mind to.
4. I love when Kenedy comes to me with questions or needing advice. She is good about including me in her life and I like hearing all the things she has to say.
5. Kenedy is beautiful and kind and generous and fun. She has been a great oldest daughter and I look forward to watching her life unfold. She is going to do great and amazing things.