March...or...the Miranda post

March has been a busy month for all of us, especially for Miranda, so I decided to make this a two post month.  I'll dedicate this post just to the lucky birthday girl.  Miranda started her amazing month out in Washington DC on choir tour.  She had an amazing time of course!  She visited, or rather froze at, all the monuments, saw Arlington and Mt. Vernon, toured the Capitol Building, went to several of the Smithsonians, and she even sang at the Washington DC temple. Her Uncle Rich, cousin Max and my friends Kimberly and Jerry with their daughter Rebekah were all able to go and see her perform there.  The Higginson's even brought her roses.  How kind! It was a whirlwind of a trip, but one I'm sure she won't forget. I know she was reluctant to come back to reality--Senoritis is in FULL swing!

Gail, Miranda, and Sarah-here you can catch a glimpse of the amazing hotel they stayed in. Can  you say SPOILED!

Marta, Miranda, and Mikayla-  hummm who knew she was so tall

Miranda and Holly

So serious!

Jake, Holly, Miranda, and Preston

Just 5 days after getting home from choir tour, Miranda went to the seminary prom.  This year it was a girl's choice dance.  This dance is nice because it's a no frills dance.  You are not suppose to ask in a funny way, you don't have a before and after activity, you just wear Sunday dress clothes, and dinner and pictures are all included with the low ticket price of $25 (much better than the $200 she spent for the last dance).  Miranda took her friend Preston and they had a great time....as the pictures show:)

The group

Preston and Miranda

Then came the concerts and region choir competitions.  She sang in the solo and ensemble competition and with both choirs.  The Madrigals received a score of all 1's --a perfect score!  

So, they will be headed to State:)  

Acapella

Madrigals

And then it was the big

18 !!

I can hardly believe my little girl is 18 years old!  Crazy!!!  So basically with Miranda's birthday being on a Sunday this year, we ended up having a party all weekend long.  We started the festivities on Friday night.  I took 8 girls up to the Higginson condo in Park City.(Yes, I had back-up, my friend Dina came along to help drive and to keep me company.) Friday night was filled with eating tons of pizza, hangin' in the hot tub, ice cream sundaes, and not getting nearly enough sleep...sleep never seems to happen at the condo....

The birthday girls--Mikayla and Miranda  How fun is it that these two best friends have birthdays so close together!

She is a princess!  Right?

After sleeping in on Saturday morning and packing up, we headed to the outlet malls for some shopping. Then it was off to Cafe Rio for a yummy lunch.  At about two we made it back home and were finally able to rest...well, Miranda was.  What she didn't know at the time is that I still had a lot to do to get ready for her surprise party that night.  Yes, I'm the bad mom.  I threw my daughter a surprise party even though she said she never wanted one.  The evening didn't quite turn out right or as planned, but she was surprised and she has some great friends.  I was thankful for their help in getting it all pulled together.

Alyssa, Holly, Matt, Kaleb-the host, Miranda, and Adam
(Bringing Kaleb a Jamba Juice was part of the guise)

Mikayla, Sarah, Miranda, Gail, and Peter
Don't you love the shirts Sarah bought for the birthday girls?  They are all set for their big summer adventure together!

Anyhow, by the time Sunday rolled around, the actual birthday, we were all a bit tired.  We had Barbacoa for dinner and ate leftover birthday cake from her party.  You'd never guess it, but with Miranda it's all about the food:) So, now Miranda is 18.  We told her how lucky she is....

she is now free but also financially responsible for everything:)  hehehehehe

So, that's been Miranda's month...well at least the first 17 days of it..CRAZY!

See why I needed a post just for her?