Happy Birthday, Kylee!

Kylee is 12 today! And we can't wait to spend the day celebrating her.

She's already had some pretty fun celebrations with cousins and grandparents.  Kylee is so easy to buy for right now- she is into all the teenage things: makeup, a Hydro Flask, Pura Vida bracelets, jewelry, clothes, Vera Bradley anything, Starbucks gift cards and bath bombs.  And she is lucky to have such young, fun aunts and uncles and grandparents to pick things out for her! She's planning a friend pool party and sleepover tomorrow and I just love the group of girls she has asked over.  It's going to be a fun night for her!

Kylee is always up for an adventure.  She wanted to be the first one on the jet ski, the first one down the slide and the first one to jump off the top of the awesome double decker boat we had in Branson. I love that about her.

She was also the one lobbying hard to be able to do this sweet ropes course and took off on it at 100 miles an hour! I don't have any pictures but we also did a zipline off Inspiration Tower in Branson that Kylee was so excited to do! 

Kylee has a reputation for always wanting to win (and more often than not, winning).  But she's a good sport about things like laser tag, golf and go karts with her brothers that she may not win at, but still has a lot of fun participating. Kent and I are really proud of and excited for her to do the Rip Roar triathlon this coming weekend.  People have been encouraging her and challenging her to push herself and try a longer/harder triathlon than the local one she has won the last four years in a row.  She finally decided to go for it and nearly immediately after registering her, I got an email from the guy who runs Rip Roar, sent to Kylee saying, "Thanks for being brave and awesome. I can't wait to see you at the race!" I just love this supportive community she has surrounded herself with.

Kylee has grown up so much in the last year.  She's acted grown up for about as long as I can remember, but even physically she's starting to look more like a young lady than a child.  A friend recently asked me, "Has she always had gazelle legs? She is SO tall!"

Kylee loves her younger cousins and love to babysit.  People often comment to me, "Oh, I remember meeting your daughter.  She is just amazing with my child! What a gift she has!" 

She and the boys are super excited to welcome another cousin to the family in January! Loved Kevin and Kaity's gender reveal gifts and surprises for our kids while we were on vacation. 

Kylee has a big year ahead of her as she starts middle school.  I've said it before and I'll say it again- Kylee has a pretty good head on her shoulders so I don't worry too much about her as far as girl drama, or not finding a friend to sit with at lunch or anything like that. She's got a wide circle of friends from all the sports she has played and I know she's going to do great in middle school! 

My wish for Kylee is that she always continues to see the best in everyone and challenges herself without being too hard on herself.  She's a great kid and I'm so glad she's mine! Happy birthday, Kylee girl!