BANNER day!

there comes an important day in every young person's life.......and the fact that your mom is there, documenting every step might be a bit embarrassing.


however, kaitlyn handled it with class, style, & grace.



she filled out the appropriate forms:



and was extremely relieved that she did NOT have to register as a sex offender in the state of utah:




she had primped and prepped for her official driver's license photo--she knew it was her turn to shine:




but she was pleased as punch when she saw that there were other candidates who had apparently spent even MORE time on their hair:





she did some nervous texting while waiting for the verdict.....





but, in the end, she prevailed:



congrats to my darling daughter whom i love more than life--you make your father & i so very proud to be your parents!


and so yet ANOTHER ONE is gonna put the rubber to the road.......yikes!

thankful thursday

things i am thankful for this week:




**a greeting card that makes me giggle:




** a new shade of lipstick that amy turned me on to--it's called "o" and it's the bomb diggity:





**a daughter who loves her bedtime so very much that she was literally a walking zombie at 2:30 a.m. in las vegas:




**a crazy-funny commercial as good as the first one:

stevekemp's totally radical 80's bash

when you are the man, the myth, & the legend, what do you do for your 40th birthday?


dress up in red spandex and guyliner, naturally:






& you OWN IT. you make it your BIZNATCH.:





then you get a group of your friends together and convince them to dress 80's theme accordingly for the night:








some of them actually may or may not be FAMOUS:






just make sure that they are all willing to look ridiculous and make total fools of themselves:

(just like shooting fish in a barrel when it comes to this group, fyi....)




sit at the head of the table for a birthday dinner and reign supreme:




as well as work the adoring crowd surrounding you:




take a group photo and then be miffed that the dude who said, "hey! i have this same camera! i can TOTALLY take this shot!" was actually a liar. and maybe somewhat inebriated:




afterwards, hop into the party bus reserved in your honor and grab your hottest chick for a cruise down the strip:





make sure to apply a liberal dose of polo:

(blurry again. curses!)





then sit back and enjoy the hottest, most legendary & EPIC lap dance performed in the past twenty years:





delight in the fact that your entire crew is wearing your likeness on buttons:





something along THESE lines:





then rock out to the beats of a great 80's band while people ask to take photos with you:




how do you top off an evening like this?



by getting a mohawk. (i can turn 40. but you will never make me ACT like 40!!!)




stevekemp is a wonderful friend to all of us and takes care of business!

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: