Gabi's Sweet 16 Party

As I mentioned last week, my lovely niece Gabi turned 16 this past weekend, and we had a wonderful time celebrating! I have to say I did a horrible job at taking pictures. The lighting in the place we were in wasn't great so a lot of the pictures just didn't turn out, and of course things were crazy. The saddest part is that I didn't get a single picture of me or Manny with Gabi! So instead, I will share this picture from when Gabi was my flower girl in homecoming many many years ago. However, it does seem like yesterday and it makes me feel so old to realize this little girl is now 16! (P.S. How about MY HAIR?!) 
I shared about the invitations for her party here, and wanted to thank everyone for the kind words about them. I promise they're easy to make, so give them a try if you're looking for something different.
Gabi knew we were having a party for her, but she had no idea that my sister (Becky) had a lot of fun surprises in store. Becky rented out this huge lodge that was awesome and we all stayed there for the night. On Saturday, we went out there to set things up, but Gabi had no clue that's where we all were. Becky had dinner catered, and we also set up a sweets table with all sorts of snacks. For the backdrop, we did streamers taped to a strand of lights and hung them using 3M hooks. Thanks so much Ashley for this adorable idea! Our wall backdrop wasn't the best type for this (it was actually a rock fireplace), but I still think it turned out cute. It would be perfect on a solid color wall as I think it'd really give the streamers a chance to stand out.


The first surprise of the night was when Becky had a limo pick them up at their house! Manny was pretty excited about it too...poor guy thought he was going to get to cruise off in it. Not so fast buddy. From there, the limo took them to the lodge, and again, Gabi was surprised when she saw the place and everything set up.

We ate dinner and hung out for a bit. Manny loved hanging out with my nephews, and anywhere they were - you can guarantee Manny was only a few steps behind. He also took some time to love on my dad of course, and was a little pouty when I wouldn't give him anymore chips.

A little later, they went to pick up one of Gabi's friends who wasn't able to come earlier because of a basketball game. While they were gone, my sister's boyfriend brought Gabi's car to the lodge and had it sitting out front with a big red bow on it so it was the first thing she'd see when they pulled back into the house from getting her friend. Gabi had NO clue her mom had gotten her a car, and it was so fun to see her reaction! It absolutely blows my mind to see her behind the wheel. Remember Gab - NO TEXTING, TWEETING, OR FACEBOOKING WHILE DRIVING!! :) (And yes, I know you know...I just have to say it anyway.)

And I have to share this picture of Manny that my mom took. He kept lurking by the sweets table begging for handouts. It cracks me up that he is licking his lips here...who knows what he'd snagged.

So yes, it was a fabulous time and Gabi really appreciated everything my sister and everyone else did. It was a special weekend for a VERY special girl...love you and so so proud of you Gabbers! :)