Our day with Lauren.

Our close family friends, the Weimer's, are celebrating their Lauren's 16th birthday this week.  Instead of one big sha-bang, Erin had the brilliant idea of 16 days of fun/surprises/celebrations for Lauren.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of hosting the birthday day.

The kids and I put our heads together and tried to be really intentional.  We love our Lauren, and we wanted her to feel really special.  We were all so excited, and the day did not disappoint.  It was fantastic.

After picking up our special guest, we headed to Panera.  Then, I gave her the option of five different crafts.  She is a super artsy girl who loves crafting.  I, am a wannabe.  I promised I would try.  :)  After picking out our project, we headed to Hobby Lobby to shop for supplies.  Next, we went to get Lauren her gift, a locket with charms inside of it.  She picked a paint pallet, cross, piece of luggage, cross, and flower.  All these things fit Lauren to a T.  We stopped at the junk store in town where she found an awesome deal for her new bedroom, then headed home to start our work.

With mod podge opened, wooden letters laid over paper, our scrap paper picked out, tunes on, and ambitious spirits, we started...and we came to a screeching halt about that quick.  We were rolling in laughter, frustrated beyond frustrated, and giggling over how ridiculous our "practice" looked.  After hours of working through it, we made a pretty awesome project.

Her parents and brothers came out for smoked meat and her favorite cake, and the day was complete.

Charlie and Lauren having their snack; a favorite dip of Lauren's.

Girls, girls, girls!  They adore Lauren.  I think she's pretty great too.

Ready to craft!  The girls painted canvases for their bedroom, and Lauren and I did mod podge over wooden letters.  I did the word "eat" for our kitchen, and Lauren did "crowned with joy" for her bedroom.

About to throw the stuff out the window!  But alas, the finished project is super cool.

Erin was so thoughtful to think of Maleah.  Our birthday girls!

We have had really great, monumental moments with the Weimer's.  And, we've seen them really struggle.  We feel so blessed to have real deal friends who let you in on it all.  My heart leaped with joy that I got to be a par at of Lauren's big week.  Seeing her so happy was the best gift of all.