In which she figures out that turning 14 IS all it's cracked up to be...

!! WARNING !!

If you proceed, you will view many, many photos from Nadia's 14th birthday party, 

mostly taken by a bunch of silly teen girls...

...but they had a lot of fun, 

according to the reports I've heard.

So what is a mama to do when you live in Niger, it isn't even fall back in the States and your girl comes to you and says that what she'd really like for her birthday is candy corns?

This mama googled candy corn recipes and

found one that looked quite doable (even minus the candy thermometer)

Together, Nadia and I made them. 

Then, she and her buddies used them to decorate her birthday cake!

They finished the cake quite late on Friday night and then did the girl slumber party thing.

The next morning, after sleeping in and a leisurely, drawn out breakfast of fresh fried sopapillas and a few chores, Nadia opened her gifts:

 

This really cool candle-lamp and a much needed hairbrush!

Special letter with the colored pencils she's had her eye on!

Specially made bookmarks for a bookworm!

Clothes, make-up and a few DVDs from her grandparents!

And Mom and Dad downloading season 4 of The Mentalist 

(although more than just Nadia will enjoy that one - 

so it is more like a gift for a chunk of the family)!

We at cake before a made-from-scratch fajita: 

• tortillas made and pressed by Anna and Rebekah Joy
• fajita filling whipped up by Mom
• salsa chopped and put together by Tori & a few friends as well as Dad

&

• whipping creme soured by Dad

YUMMY!!

The meal was complete with a discussion of how these fajitas were as delish as the ones at the Rec Center... where they cheaper or more expensive to buy or to make!

Then the girls did what all girls love to do.

They played dress-up... and had their own photo shoot!

Nadia's friend Rachel

Anna

Rachel and Hannah

the birthday girl herself

the big girls welcomed M&M, as she joined in their fun

Achilles, the spoiled monster kitty

Elsie Mae was right in the midst of everything as well

we have a sneaking suspicion that Rebekah was heavily involved in the instigation of both photo shoot and the number of YouTube videos viewed

she's otherwise known as "goat-girl"

(someone please let us know where Tori learned to pose like THAT)

there's an all out movement amongst the Wrightlings to adopt Amelia... they'd even let her brother tag along if he wanted.

I don't know that their parents would be so keen on that one.

A final posed shot of each of the party-ers:

Hannah

M&M looking the part of little desert fairy

Elsie Mae is convinced that hanging from a tree is how she looks best these days.

I love it when we catch a genuine Rebekah grin.

Tori... wonder what she was thinking wearing white and playing in the fire pit?

Rachel

Amelia

And once again... certainly last but not least...

the birthday girl herself!