A new journey...

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Sweet Sixteen

My baby girl is ⓰!!! She celebrated by getting out of school early to GET HER DRIVERS LICENSE!!!! 😮 I can hardly believe it! She immediately drove to Starbucks and brought me a coffee to work! We celebrated that evening with Sumo sushi and gifts.

She had a sweet sixteen party a few days later. She spent a couple weeks decorating and enlisted the help of Aunt Mandy. The house looked so cute!

The theme was "Fancy Nancy." She had a couple of crafts set up for the girls to do. They painted mini canvases and decorated crowns.

Rylee looked so beautiful!

Carson and his friend Eddie were the "waiters" for the party. The took orders and made dirty sodas for the girls. They even got to participate in some of the games. I think they had a good time! 😏

They played some crossnet while it was light outside. Rylee's favorite game! Later in the night they played Just Dance on the Nintendo switch.

It was a great turnout! A couple girls had to leave early and a couple came late, but I think all of her besties were there at some point to celebrate her. What a fun group of girls!

Some pics of the crafting.

Final products below. The paintings were so cute!

She got so many fun gifts! I think she should be stocked up on skincare and candy for a while!

What a great birthday celebration for my Smiley Rylee! 🎂

Annual Scottsdale girls trip

Our annual girls trip to Scottsdale was amazing as always! 🌞

The night before we left we stayed in a hotel near the airport. We got take out thai food and had some girl talk.

Some pics at the airport... we were so excited!

We normally stay at the Scottsdale plaza resort but this year they were doing renovations so we decided to mix it up. We ended up staying at the Hotel Valley Ho (or "The Ho) as we like to call it. It was awesome! I think we found ourselves a new place to stay!

The pool was quiet in the mornings but got busier as the day went on. The had a poolside DJ Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday which made it really fun. It was some great people watching!

The hotel was right in Old Town Scottsdale so we were able to walk to and from restaurants and bars at night. That was such a plus! Saved us on Uber fares for sure.

Wendy had some friends in the area so they came to the pool to hang out and then we went out to dinner. We ate at The Beverly on Main. It was a fun, swanky place. Super good food and fun cocktails!

Wendy and I normally go to the spa on vacation, but they were all booked up so we decided to do a spa evening ourselves! I'm sure it was just as good.😂 Much cheaper for sure!

It was beautiful and warm at night. Absolute heaven!

Its always fun getting dressed up. Getting ready in the room with music and drinks is the best part!

We ate at Old Town Tortilla factory one night. It was right next to our hotel and had a beautiful outdoor area. The margaritas were so good!

We also ate at Culinary Dropout. We come almost every time we're here... its one of our favorite places! The atmosphere is so much fun and the food is great too!

Our last night we ended up at The Grapevine, a karaoke bar. It was so much fun! Wendy was the only brave one to sing. She sang a Johnny Cash song and did great!

Its always sad to leave... but gives us something to plan and look forward to again next year! A weekend of sunshine, relaxation and girl time is just what I needed to refuel my soul. I love these ladies so much! 💗