Cayla's Sweet Sixteen Portraits and Party

On this date, sixteen years ago, a very special little girl was born. I was honored to get to be part of her birthday celebration this year.

Since I’ve known her parents for many years, I had met her first as a precocious toddler, and then as a shy little girl. I hadn’t seen her in a long time, and I had steeled myself for a possible attitudinal teenager. This expectation was instantly blown away by meeting Cayla again as a beautiful, friendly, and very sweet young lady who never seemed to stop smiling.

She smiled on tree trunks.

She smiled with her family.

And with her little sister, who was just as cute as she was, although somewhat less impervious to the cold.

All told, she smiled for about two hours straight, which was impressive, as it was chilly, and I made her kneel, wearing a mini-skirt, in a gravel bed. I was beginning to believe her parents when they said that she would be fine taking family pictures after a three hour birthday party, although I had initially been skeptical.

But Cayla comes from generations of champion smilers. She smiled at her party.

See all these ladies? I think she posed and smiled with each of them at least once or twice more before the evening was done.

He smiled less for the camera, but he was still a total chick magnet. Women can’t resist brooding men in bow ties.

After a nice dinner, eating cupcakes, and passing out favors, Cayla said farewell to her friends and thanked her parents for the “best party ever.”

Meanwhile, her cousins were entertaining themselves outside the restaurant.

On the first attempted take of the mega-family portrait, we were temporarily inconvenienced by the fountain erupting suddenly, with a nicely timed gust of wind that sprayed the kids I originally had standing tall in the back row. Only the most waterproof ones returned to their positions for the second attempt.