it's official - well, almost

 This morning we celebrated Katy's 20th birthday.

She won't be 20 until Sunday but as we'll be away for the weekend

we needed to get the celebrating in before we left.

 So it's not official quite yet, but soon we will be a family with no teenagers.

 It's hard to believe that this young woman is the same little girl

who often said to me as I was braiding her hair for pre-school....

"Mommy, I don't schink I'll go to schoo-yo today...".

 She loved to be at home with mommy and the thought of spending even a few hours

away from home was a painful one.

 Fortunately for her, big sister Bethany was in the classroom just beside her and was

often called in to "rally the troops" - so to speak.

 For Katy's 20th birthday

Bethany went above and beyond the call of duty

to "rally the troops".

She contacted many of Katy's special friends from around the world

and asked them to send a special message to her

for this important milestone in her life.

 The response was tremendous and the result....

...you can see for yourself!