my gurl

HaPpY 24th BirThDaY to my niece KaYLee ~ the best niece on earth and my favorite girl in the world!!!

and COnGraTuLaTioNs on her recent GrAduATioN from college ~ I am so proud of my girl!!!

Kaylee is no stranger to hard work. She has had up to 4 jobs during the summers to save for school. Not to mention she is a smarty, earning scholarships for her excellent performance. She's already started grad school :)

When Kaylee found speech therapy and audiology, she took off running. A girl of many talents, like many fellow students she was stressing about her college choices. She had declared a music major and graduated with her AA degree when a summer job she happened upon opened up a whole new world to her. She knew she had found something interesting, something she could really excel at - and a way she could make a difference in this world.

It is still so easy for me to remember this sweet little happy girl. Always a little ray of sunshine - she still is.

And you can take the girl out of California, but you will never - and I mean NEVER - take California out of the girl! Kaylee will always be the ocean/beach/sand/sunset/warm weather lover that is everything California :)

One thing Kaylee got used to early was being the only girl cousin on the Walker side. Whether she was always surrounded by stinky boys doing stinky boy things, or all of those boys endlessly clamoring for her attention..... 

..... she was always able to hold her own, and do it in style :) She could even make hunting clothes look good.

She even put up with their endless teasing because she quietly knew she was the higher species - heheh :)

It has been a joy to watch Kaylee grow up and do all kinds of wonderful things, and have all kinds of exciting experiences. She has been a youth counselor and an amazing example to many, many young adults. She has worked as the head lifeguard, swim instructor, and swim team coach at her hometown pool every summer, so there are many people counting on her. She studied abroad and got to tour all over Europe (the above pic being one of my faves). She has made more friends all over the place than you could possibly imagine. 

I love this photo of Kaylee because it's not only a beautiful picture of her, but it looks like it's been kissed with sunshine. And every time I think of sunshine I think of Kaylee. When I hear the song "You Are My Sunshine", that song is Kaylee. She makes everyone happy when skies are gray.

I love this photo too, because my oldest son Daniel and his cousin Kaylee are only 6 weeks apart and are still the closest of friends and partners in crime. They will take time to spend with each other, talk on the phone together, ask advice from one another, laugh together until their sides hurt, and buoy each other up when it's needed. It just warms my heart and makes me so happy to know they have each other and such a special relationship.

Kaylee, I think this is probably one of my favorite pictures of you, even though I know we were just goofing around that day. I love it so much because after so many years of seeing you work so hard to accomplish all your goals, and seeing how strong you really are, you really do embody this photo. I love and admire you so much!

YOU ARE MY HERO!

Last but certainly not least... the Mouse was able to transfer this onto You Tube for you. I had to put it on here 

so everyone could see it because it's just TOO CUTE to not be seen and enjoyed sweetie! And so I present:

~ Kaylee 'signing' Michael Jackson's Thriller ~

xoxoxoxo