Dear Katie,

I have ten nieces and nephews, and the oldest is Katelyn. My Dear Katie Rose. I just love her. and for some reason this week I've been thinking a lot about her. How much i love her and how smart she is, all the things i hope for her and the experiences i'm excited to share with her. 

Today I'm grateful for little (big!) kate.

I love her big brown eyes and her beautiful hair. she's such a good sister and she is so gentle.

she's HILARIOUS. seriously, she's so clever and spunky!

I love her voice and her height. She is brilliant, as well. SO smart. I love that we both play the piano and i love that she loves Star Wars and Harry Potter like i do. 

(THOSE PAJAMA PANTS, THOUGH.)

she is so spirited and i love her very distinctive personality. i love her smile and her happy little self.

I LOVE that she reads. I read Harry Potter for the first time in first grade and she's not much older than i was and she's started the series. *tearful sniff* Hermionie Granger for life.

I love her freckles, i love her mix of baby and adult teeth. i love her voice and her laugh, i love that she is such a quick thinker and so strong. Oh, Katie. I just love you. Next summer you're turning 8 and i don't know how i feel about you growing up so fast. it seems like yesterday that i first held you in Provo, i was 12.  later, I played with you in the grass in front of your apartment with the dogwood trees and you were still so little, and you couldn't even talk yet but i knew you loved me like i love you.

I'm grateful for our matching brown eyes and our mutual love for literature. i can't wait to discuss my favorite books with you! I'm grateful that i get to be your aunt, and your friend. 

My favorite memory of you was in the back of your parent's mazda, at our family reunion 2012. we were driving to the springs and you were reading a book about pirates. I asked you what it was about and you related the whole plot with emphatic expressions and hand movements. your eyes were bright and your smile was undeniable. i love your freckles so much! haha. it was then that i realized you were no longer a little kid. you were so big and tall and you were reading an actual book. i rustled your hair and you looked at me like i was crazy, but i just laughed. you're so beautiful katie, and i hope you never ever doubt that. you are beautiful inside and out. 

I think of you a lot. because I've realized that i need to be an example to you and how i hope you will be proud of me and i hope i can always be someone you can look up to. 

I love you so much, and i always will, no matter what. 

love love love, 

Aunt Melissa