I picked out a card from her siblings. She thought it was hilarious. It said, “Happy birthday to my sophisticated, smart and sweet sister. [or something like that]. Wow, I can’t believe I said that with a straight face.”

I told Brian that next year he has to pick out his own card.

  

So, here’s the story of the cake. She wanted red velvet. I baked the cake a few days ahead and froze it, like I usually do. I was still frozen when I wanted to work with it and I cut my finger pretty badly trimming it. Good thing it was red velvet cake – no one noticed the blood on it. j/k

I went to frost it a little later. It tore, Chunks. Yikes! I couldn’t frost it. I got something of a crumb layer on it and stuck it back in the refrigerator. When it was cold, I was able to carefully smooth out the frosting. But it looked terrible because of the missing chunks, which I had replaced as best as I could. Well, I had seen this cake on Pinterest, and sure enough, I had the correct tip. Boy, did it cover a multitude of sins. She loved it! 

Here is my favorite picture of her. She wanted to light the candles herself.

Enjoy your teenage years, sweet girl. We love you more than words can say and are so proud of the fine young lady you are becoming. It is inconceivable to us that the tiny baby they placed in our arms in Detroit is a teenager. May God bless you with many, many more years.