Katherine Elizabeth (Katie) - Yesterday and Today

Yesterday was Katie's 17th birthday!

Katie is our 8th grandchild and 3rd granddaughter.

She is an important part of this very large family.

And an even more important part of this smaller, large family.

I wrote about Katie in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.  Those posts tell you a lot about Katie 'through the years'.  And the following pictures will show how she's changed physically 'through the years'.

So now I want to talk about what Katie's been up to during the previous year - and it's been a busy one for her!

First of all, she spent Christmas in Florida with her family.

And the week between Christmas and New Years in Gulf Shores with her large extended family.

In early February she started dating Thomas, a very nice young man that we met when we visited last spring.

And then, that giant step that so many teens look forward to..... On February 29th she got her driver's license.

Katie played volleyball this year on a very talented travel team.

And was MVP on her high school volleyball team along with first team all conference and 2nd team all region.

So it's no coincidence that she also started getting tons of letters from colleges giving her lots to think about in the next year or so.

And, Katie got a job this year at CVS for which she thanks her brother David probably because he graduated and went off to college leaving an opening.  And I'm betting he put in a good word for her too.  

Also this year, Katie got a 2016 Volkswagen Jetta!  She paid the down payment herself which depleted her savings but thanks to her job, she's built that back up again.

She moved into David's room after he left for college and decorated it "kind of girly but really pretty".

And she went to her first country concert - Darius Rucker - which she loved.

Also, she added that she started her junior year this year and school got hard.  I don't think that will be a problem for Katie though because she always applies herself and she's always conscientious, and she's never afraid of hard work.

   She's always been a Daddy's girl.

but she's a Mom's girl too.  They are very close.

And she's close with her brothers

She's helpful

patient and loving, (proven by the fact that she is always surrounded by her younger cousins who adore her.)

And unfailing sweet.  

I could also mention that she's smart, creative, sensible, and almost perfect but I don't want to get too carried away.  I'll just suffice it to say that we're extremely proud of her and love her very much!  So Happy Birthday, Katie!  We're hoping you've had the best one EVER (for about 4 days now) and that the coming year is even better.  We love you!