Quinceañera.

Quinceañera (lit. meaning One (f.) who is fifteen), sometimes called fiesta de quince años, fiesta de quinceañera, quince años or simply quince, is the celebration of a girl's fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America and elsewhere in communities of people from Latin America. This birthday is celebrated differently from any other birthday, as it marks the transition from childhood to young womanhood.

While down in Texas I got to experience my first Quinceañera. Robert's niece Julyssa turned 15 on Dec 1st. This is a huge deal - you could seriously say 'mini-wedding' to describe it. We had been told about it over a year in advance to make sure that we could be there for it! It started out with a Catholic ceremony in the church in town. The ceremony was all about not only becoming a woman, but becoming a woman of God. There were gifts given by Padrinos (godparents) from several family members - a necklace, a tiara, a bible, a bracelet, a boquet that is left on the altar for the Virgin Mary and more. There is also a court of honor made up of 14 'damas' (dames) and 'chambelanes' (chamberlains) that accompany her. Here are Julyssa and her parents walking out after the ceremony. 

Her escort was her cousin Adrian. I think he thought he was pretty big stuff hanging out with all these beautiful young ladies. ;)

Robert and his nephew Adrian 

 Robert's sisters ~ Yolanda, Juanita, Hilda, Lisa and Rachel ~

The sisters plus Robert and Pedro Jr (aka - Baby) 

All the siblings with their mom, Victoria 

Robert, Dominic and Baby

There was lots of love for baby D while everyone was taking pictures!  

Between the ceremony and the reception we were able to get the kids down for a nap, thank goodness! It would've been a long night otherwise! 

After the nap Elena was soooo excited to get dressed up! She thought that she was a princess with the fancy shoes and dress we let her pick out! 

The reception was at a huge dance hall where there was a yummy dinner for all the Padrinos and those who had contributed to the celebration. This is only half of the hall - it was huge!  

Some family pics before the party started - 

 

 All of the court was announced to get the festivities started as well as Julyssa's grandparent's and parents and special guests - which included us - because we had traveled so far to be there! (kind of blurry below but yeah, we had to walk out in front of everyone! ) I just happened to bring the only dress that fit me to this occasion and it just happened to be royal blue - the color that all of Robert's family was supposed to wear! What are the odds?! That was a wonderful coincidence!! :)

Then there was a toast. 

 

 Elena and her new buddy (of course she would befriend the girl in the Cinderella gown - similar interests you know) thought the toasting was fantastic! 

Then there was a Daddy/Daughter dance that absolutely had me (and most everyone else) in tears.

Next Pedro took off Julyssa's tennis shoes and traded them out for high heels - a symbol of woman hood. Yup, tears again!

 After that the entire court had a choreographed dance - they did a great job!

 Then the band started up and it was time to shake it! :) Fun, fun times!

Not only were we special guests for the evening but we also were the Padrinos that provided the "surprise gift" to Julyssa. Now I knew we had to get a big ticket item for this special gift - part of why we were told way in advance, but us presenting her with the gift was pretty much the main event during intermission! We had gotten her a laptop but to make this more interesting we wrapped the laptop up and put it on the bottom of a large box. Then on top of that we put a bunch of little gifts - nail polish, lip gloss, etc... she looked at us like "This is my 'surprise' gift??" :) Then she realized there was more at the bottom. She was so excited and thankful, she and I were both on the verge of tears. :)  

There was also another choreographed dance for the court during intermission - I caught it with my phone but wish I would have been at the front for a better view. 

We danced the rest of the night away after that! All the way til midnight! My kiddos were even up partying til the very end with their cousins! :) 

Robert made sure Baby D got a nice view of the band - lol!

There was a little impromptu a capella serenade after most everyone had left - very cool. 

What an experience!! It was an awesome time and we are so glad that we were able to be a part of it!
Happy Birthday Julyssa!!