Katie

Yesterday was Katie's 18th birthday!

Katie was our 8th grandchild and 3rd granddaughter.

She's a very important part of this large family.

And of course a very important part of this beautiful family!

I wrote about Katie here for her birthday last year.  And visiting that post will show links to all her other posts containing lots of pictures and information about Katie 'through the years'.

So I'll just include a short sequence showing how she's changed 'through the years'

and talk about what's been going on in Katie's life lately.  First of all, to celebrate her birthday, she and her family went out for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings which was Katie's choice.  And to make her birthday even more special, she and her best friend won $25 on a scratch off!  (I love that since Katie and her family moved out east, I don't remember a time when she and Maria weren't best friends.)

But back to Katie's year.  It's been a time of lasts (after playing volleyball in school and on travel teams since she was old enough to play, Katie finished her career with a bang as team captain!),

firsts (Katie was on the homecoming court

 and got to walk with her brothers at the homecoming game.),

and the sames, (Katie and Thomas have been together for awhile now and no wonder.  Why wouldn't two people, who are both so nice, not be as perfectly compatible as they are?)

And Katie has been busy this year.  First there were college applications to turn in.  She's done three so far and has already been accepted at Temple University!!  Wow!  She's still waiting to hear from University of Pittsburgh and Miami of Ohio and plans to apply to the University of Virginia.  My guess is that she'll get her choice.  She has an amazing work ethic along with an equally amazing GPA.  She gets home from school and 'gets after it'.  Cutting corners or taking shortcuts are never options for her.

And just to fill in her idle hours this year, she started a new job as a swim instructor which she absolutely loves!  She reports that the kids like her but that's no surprise because when the big family gets together in Gulf Shores, her lap is always occupied!  All the kids love Katie!

So Katie has had a busy year but there's lots more to say about her than just what she's been doing.  I really want to talk about the kind of person she is.  I want to recall that when I had an opportunity to spend some time with the kids while their mom and dad were away, Katie was so amazingly helpful.  She not only spent time with Zachary but she was always patient, loving, and encouraging.

She's fun loving

sweet, cooperative,

helpful, a great cook and a genuinely wonderful person to be around.

Really I can't say enough about this sweet girl and her many accomplishments.  We're looking forward to seeing what the future holds for her but somewhere in my mind Dr. Kate has a nice ring to it.  So Katie, I hope your birthday was wonderful and that the year ahead is filled with dreams come true but that it's only half as awesome as the many more to come.