They turn the world on with their smiles...

We took the light rail to downtown Minneapolis with 10 teen girls and shopped and took photos, ending up at the Melting Pot for chocolate fondue (three types of chocolate FTW). Now they are all in the living room, eating junk and playing Just Dance 2 with Katie.

Katie, Jesse and Allie celebrate at The Roasted Pear

We continue to celebrate Jesse’s Sweet 16 birthday. Opened presents on Tuesday, followed by dinner at Taco Bell (Jesse’s favorite). Then we had a family dinner on Friday at the Roasted Pear in Burnsville. Jesse wanted to wait for Katie to get home from college for her big celebration and also invited our “third daughter,” Allie to dinner. Saturday, we’re taking 10 teens by train to downtown Minneapolis for shopping and chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot, followed by a sleepover.

Do you want to know a secret?

This picture was taken right before Maddie exclaimed, “Jesse, that is sooo inappropriate!”

Ian reacts as Jesse attempts to pin on his boutonnière

Tonight was Eastview High’s homecoming dance (don’t ask about last night’s homecoming football game — sore subject). All of the kids and their parents met at Farquahar Park in Apple Valley for photos before the kids dashed off for the pre-dance dinner at Applebee’s. After waiting what seemed like hours for Allie’s date to arrive for photos (for the second year in a row), we got everyone assembled and shot some nice photos at the park. A slideshow of the best ones ist at the bottom of this post. The images were posted to Flickr at full size, so feel free to download the original size for printing.

We just got a call from Jesse and she, Allie and Maddie and their dates have left the dance and are gathering at one of the boy’s homes to hang out for a couple of hours, then it’s off to Maddie’s (for the girls) for a sleepover.

Jesse looked stunning in her new dress — I can’t believe how grownup she looks and acts. Makes a father feel both proud and incredibly old. And so it goes…

Our Katie turned 19 today! We have a houseful of teens and are getting ready to take in the midnight showing of Harry Potter 6.5. Pray for us.

I solemnly swear that we are up to no good…

Here are a couple of vids of the girls after they had their wisdom teeth out earlier this week.

Katie was quite talkative in the recovery room, but what in the heck did she say?

Jesse is zonked out after taking Vicodin. There was no waking her for hours:

A holiday slideshow for friends and family, near and far:

We let Jesse open her birthday presents a day early — not because we’re nice parents, but because we didn’t want to get up before she leaves for school at 6:45 in the morning. Happy birthday, Jesse.

Katie Katt and Snoop Jesse Dogg

As you probably know, Halloween holds a special place in the girls’ hearts, especially Jesse. Jesse has prided herself on the creativity of her costumes over the years, setting the bar higher and stretching the creative abilities of her mom and dad as they work with her to turn her (macabre) visions into reality. Laurie has posted a bunch of photos of the girls’ costumes over the years on Shutterfly. Click here for the slideshow for a trip down Memory Lane. Just don’t stop at The House at the End of the Drive.