a fairy tale:

this is the story of a beautiful princess named kaitlyn....



.....who turned sixteen years old and celebrated by taking a girls-only/ALL-OUT/you-only-turn-16-once trip to las vegas with three of her peeps.


she was ecstatic when she realized she was going to stay here:



&, as it is all-too-easy with the good things in life, settled right in to the lap of luxury in a real hurry:



they did some lounging in their suite:



followed by the checking of the view from the 37th floor:



which is when they looked down to see this:



so they immediately decided to do this:




along with a little of this:



they got all dolled up for the evening: (with fake eyelashes no less! WHAT is this world coming to?)




the 16-year old princess went out with her special birthday banner made with love by kristin:



the princess was so happy that she even (!!) showed much love to her younger sibling:



the ladies enjoyed a wonderful dinner in a wonderful place:




& the princess received special birthday treatment:




along with being a volunteer at the mentalist: (amazing, btw.)



the princess & her peeps then stopped by the fountains to survey the view:



& made their way into the super-secret-vip-lounge at bellagio: (without an invite. SCANDALOUS!)




they made new friends:




said the word "balls" repeatedly at the wynn:



enjoyed the waterfall in the shoppes:



and capped the night off by the waterways of venice:





the princess & her posse had a wonderful time:




& even managed to take one semi-inappropriate photo: (don't look grandpa & grandma.)




the princess didn't want the night to end--she & her girls stayed up 'til 3:30 a.m. until finally calling it quits:




and they lived happily ever after:

sweet sixteen

my sweet firstborn turns sixteen today--how can that be possible? it just seems surreal.

june 24th, 1994 changed my life forever:



happy birthday to our little "doll baby"--you bring us such joy, words cannot express. your father and i cherish you with our whole hearts and want you to know that you are LOVED.

so, my little katie bird: happy sweet sixteen! (and never, ever, EVER been/going to be/planning on being/even THINKING of entertaining the option of KISSED.)



may your day be filled with pennies raining from heaven & bunny heads exploding:

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:


**the cutest parents in in the world who get to spend lots of time HERE.




**a kit-cat who appreciates the value of a good nap in a patch of late afternoon sun.




**this tree in my front yard which has been bringing me big fat patches of purple JOY for the past few weeks. (oh. my. GOSH. i am such an old woman! it's 4:30 p.m. dinner time for me at golden corral from here out...)




**a friend who knew i would be all over this magnificent tribute to felines--i love hers. (bailey--you rule.)

19 years

june 22nd, 1991 was a momentous day in my life--





happy anniversary to my husband/fatherofmychildren/bff/travel buddy/lovahhhh/companion/ and best 'foot warmer' in the entire world!

i love you~

would make a nice pair of shoes.

my parents have been enjoying a wonderful adventure while living down in costa rica serving a mission for our church--

in the photo below, my dad is standing on a bridge that is located about an hour away from their house.




apparently, it's just another ho-hum day in the rica when you see this as you drive over:




i've been so excited to travel down next year to see them, but i must confess: i've been thinking in terms a little more along the lines of THIS. or THIS.


not THESE:




i might be reconsidering.

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:


**the awesome care package i got in the mail from my kami--

it came at the end of a really stressful week on a day that had endless girl drama at our house, so it felt like a little lifesaver thrown out into my sea of discontent. (wow! how 'bout them apples?)

the picture above (which is focused on the fingers instead of the wtym logo--why do i suck?) is the cookie she sent to me with my logo on the front in chocolate--how cool is that?



speaking of kami, go on over and enter her mrs. fields cookies for father's day giveaway.

(you should also check out the mrs. fields blog that my blogging bff tiffany writes for~good stuff maynard.)


**a little girl who keeps her hair-ribbon on her head, NO MATTER THE COST.




**two little cousins/frenemies who can fight like cats & dogs all day long. but then make up at night.....




& for a little one who could be capable of throwing a monster tantrum of epic proportions, but still look like an angel 8 hours later-- {love her}:





**for a little boy who got to carry a bottle of grape crystal light while his mommy had him stay at aunt mimi's--

and for the fact that it looked suspiciously like diet dr. pepper.......





**the angels in costa rica who proved to us this week that sending your parents on a mission really could bring you blessings.......{thanks mom & dad. we love you so!}






**for tiburon, who always sends cool things to my email. (like this stellar t shirt)






**& finally, for a world that allows a creature such as zac efron to exist on this earth.

so that dirty old ladies like myself could fall into the oh-so-predictable & formulaic (i know. i KNOW!) teenage-angst movie trap that he lays for us.

how far i've fallen.

when we first got the catties i said that they would absolutely NOT be "indoor cats."

then, when they were firmly implanted inside the house, i said they would NOT, under any circumstances, be allowed to sit on the furniture.

once they had permanently made themselves at home on our couches, i put my foot down and said that NO MATTER WHAT, they were ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY NOT to ever lay on any of the beds.



and, then i realized that dave's favorite spot to take his nap every afternoon was abbey's & mia's bed. and i also realized that i never moved him off. because he looked so sleepy and CUTE.


and, then.......

i realized that i am all talk, no action. and a bit of a push-over. as well as totally pathetic.

forest 'o felony

i learned the most interesting thing the other day from my brother, ryan, who works in the sheriff's department. (that's right. walk AWAY.)


he came over to my house to help me set up skype so that we could talk to my parents in costa rica. (it's AWESOME, btw.)

we needed a web cam for the computer, so he and i hopped into my car to run to the store.

he looks over as i turn the ignition and says, "nice felony forest."

and i'm all, "huh?"

ryan then proceeded to inform me that if an officer pulls a vehicle over for speeding or whatnot and they glance inside and see a bunch of air fresheners, then it's a huge indication that you could be possibly smuggling drugs inside your vehicle.

obviously, drug mules need to disguise the strong smell of the hooch, and those little trees do a mighty nice job of it.


so......please to enjoy mindi's own personal felony forest that she's grown with love & care:




so....do you have a forest 'o felony as well?

girlies at the gardens

we love to take the girls to the botanical gardens at the bellagio--

they spend a mind-blowing amount of time and $$ to create seasonal masterpieces.






however, the most breathtakingly beautiful thing i saw there was this:




{awwwwwwhhhhhh.}