Marissa's 17th Birthday (Weekend / Week Long Celebration)

Our Marissa Joy turned 17 on Tuesday, December 20th but...

....if you've known our family for a birthday or two, you can probably figure out that we are hardly ever able to celebrate any of our birthdays on the actual birth dates and this birthday was no different.  The girls had a home swim meet and senior night on the 20th, which meant that they would get home later in the evening and too late to plan any sort of dinner, so we started looking at the calendar to see when we could all get together.  I suggested celebrating on Saturday after the swim meet.  Melayna was suppose to play in the pep band at the home basketball game and she would need to be at the school at 6:00, but I figured we would still have a couple of hours in between.  Maybe we could do something then?  Well, on Thursday they changed the time of the game and now she needed to be at the school by 3:00.  We'd barely be home from the swim meet by that time and we definitely didn't have time to squeeze in a birthday party of any kind.  Next, I thought we could do something on Sunday in between church and youth group but Melayna reminded me (again on Thursday), that she had to play in the Annual Arts Gala that was on Sunday and although the Gala itself didn't start until 4 p.m., she would have to be there at 1:30 to practice and to get ready.... so now Sunday was also out because we definitely wanted to celebrate as a family and not leave anyone out.  

Uuuuurgh!  How do you try to make someone feel special for their birthday when you feel that you have to celebrate them in 15 minute increments?  LOL  So frustrating!!  Knowing that ultimately there was nothing that I could do about it, I decided that I would just start acknowledging Marissa's birthday in small ways as early as Friday night and then try to add little details each and ever day leading up to her birthday so that she would know that we remembered and were trying to make an effort.

On Friday I started by hanging the banners and a few other smaller decorations and I put out a birthday tablecloth for the team dinner.  It was subtle.  No one else on the team seemed to notice but I knew that Marissa saw.  

On Saturday, we went to the swim meet and Aaron rode up with us.  A couple of weeks ago, Aaron had  mentioned that since the 180 days has passed since he had gotten his license, he could take passengers now and he really wanted to take Marissa out on an official date for dinner for her birthday if that was okay with us.   Well, on the way to the meet on Saturday, he confirmed his dinner plans that he had made for them later that evening and then mentioned that they would probably also stop by to see the lights in town if that was okay.  Since Melayna was suppose to be gone all day, we agreed to that plan.  A few hours later we found out that the pep band had been cancelled and Melayna would now be home so Aaron said that he thought that they would probably be home early enough in the evening that we could still eat dessert and open gifts if Marissa wanted to.

As it turns out, she did decide that we could eat the ice cream cake and open presents later Saturday night so after they left the house for dinner, I finished hanging up the balloons and adding a few more decorations to the house.

The big "17".  Wow!  Who can even believe that?!

She gets so embarrassed when people sing to her...

"Oh Marissa, if I could give you only one gift on your 17th birthday, I would give you the ability to see yourself as I see you every day.  Your strength and fierce determination amaze me.  You are loyal and protective of others.  You are kind and you have such beauty, both inside and out.  I also would want you to know how happy you make Dad and I and that we are so very proud of you!  Always follow Jesus and keep shining.  The world is a better place because of you!"

You would think that we would know better than to buy blue frosting and then take pictures!!

After we ate cake, Marissa sat and opened her presents.  She received a fuzzy "sloth" blanket and fuzzy socks from Aaron and he also made her a flower in his welding class.

She received money from the grandparents and then she received a new devotional from Noel and I.  She also received a designer swimsuit, new weight lifting shoes, and some new Nike running gloves.

We would finish out Saturday night by watching the 2022 NCAA volleyball championships on ESPN - (that was Melayna's request and not Marissa), but we actually all enjoyed watching that together.  Then we planned to carry on the birthday celebrations a little longer by getting up on Sunday morning and going to breakfast together as a family of six.  Marissa asked if we could eat at Maria's because she loves their chocolate crepes and so we quickly agreed that it was a great idea.

The rest of Sunday and Monday were pretty uneventful on the birthday front, but I made sure to hang up streamers and to blow up the birthday balloons on Monday night after everyone went to bed so that Marissa would wake up to them on Tuesday morning.  Then I have to give a shout out to Morgan for jumping in and ordering a Starbucks drink for an early gift on Monday night and then helping Marissa feel special even in the midst of her birthday falling on senior night.  Morgan had reached out to many of Marissa's friends, family, and teammates and asked if they would bombard her all day long with birthday greetings and many of them did just that.  Marissa was blown away by the number of people who surprised her with videos, texts, and cards.   Even the swim team wished her a public happy birthday on Instagram and both teams sang to her after the meet was over.  

Morgan also made sure to put her own "shout out" on Instagram.

And then the swim team's message:

-- and then Marissa came home to a box of doughnuts and flowers from Noel and I after the meet on Tuesday.

Hopefully although we have been really busy, she feels celebrated in a special way.