Three days late but Mara's sixteenth birthday family celebration -- dinner and the cake -- finally took place. We squeezed in the presents before school on the day but we were in three different locations come that evening -- Canberra (Josh and Mara), Sydney (Gaynor, I, Elijah, Micah and Bryna) and Perth (Ariana). The next day wasn't much better in terms of familial localisation but she did have some good friends who took her for a surprise party/dinner after a long day of dancing. Ariana returned the following evening and so the night after that finally saw the family dinner. We're glad to all be back together and, of course, to have Miss Mara as a part of our rapidly ageing family. :)
Taking out the candles one by one is a family tradition and Mara does it with aplomb.
P.S. For those keeping score at home, Ariana's team had won the ACT round and were competing in the National final in Perth for Tournament of the Minds. They didn't win -- they were in the Language/Literature (Secondary Schools) category -- but they did receive the Integrity award and she had a lot of fun!
