Let's Play Catch Up!!

May began with a wonderful weekend in Kansas City with the Vanbros family. The bootcamp featured the fabulous Kim Forsyth and Daryl Woods.  It was so productive and inspirational! We all thoroughly enjoyed the weekend!! 

The next week was SUPER busy!... Traveled to Oklahoma City to pick out my gown for Teen USA. The first gown Alicia and John picked for me completely stole my heart! I truly appreciate Serendipity for being such a great sponsor and Alicia Hill for helping me find the perfect gown!

After driving all night from OK City it was graduation day :) I spent the day practicing and preparing for my big speech. The ceremony went so well and now I am officially a High School graduate! Whoa - I have been waiting my entire life to say that!

Senior Trip to Florida was a blast!

My little sister Makenzie just competed for the title of Little Miss Arkansas last weekend and she ROCKED the stage! We were THRILLED as she was crowned 2011 Pre Teen Little Miss Arkansas!



                                                     Giving the valedictorian speech

          We have been together since Wee School! It's hard to believe we're headed in different directions.

                                       Kenzie had a hair crisis.... Big Sister to the RESCUE!!!

                                                           WAY TO GO, KENZIE!!!!

Trip to L.A.!

So sorry it has taken me so long to fill you all in on our L.A. adventure! We arrived on a Thursday morning and it was a beautiful, sunny, Southern California day. We were there visiting our friends the Olsen family and they were fabulous tour guides!! We immediately headed downtown to tour USC and attended the musical "On the Town".  The next six days were filled with Kids Choice Awards (Black Eyed Peas were amazing) , Dancing with the Stars (we enjoyed seeing ourselves on tv), watching the taping of General Hospital and the new Disney series ANT Farm, visiting Pepperdine, UCLA, and the Malibu Pier, shopping on (and off) of Rodeo Drive, searching for the "perfect" prom dress ( Ashley O. gave me some great suggestions), and staying at The Beverly Hills Hotel! It was so exciting to see Bruce Willis, Michael Bolton, Jay Leno, Elle McPherson and many other celebs. It was even more exciting to meet Chad Michael Murray at the Polo Lounge!

 Two days after returning to Arkansas we welcomed a tiny new member to our family! Hart Manning Byrd was 7 lbs 1 oz and had a head full of blonde hair (like his "K-Kate"). After having all girls in the fam it's so great to finally have a boy!

 Prom 2011 was a huge success!! It is hard to believe we will all be graduating soon and going in so many different directions. This is the end of one chapter of our lives but the beginning of a new and excititng one. It is truly bittersweet.

Happy Spring Break!!

I've been working on Project Shoe Share and got to drop off shoes for the first time at HAVEN house last week! I was so thrilled to be able to take so many pairs of shoes for the children there. I hope to collect hundreds more and want to thank everyone who donated shoes and money to this wonderful cause! Before spring break I had a great time doing an appearance at the crawfish boil/fundraiser for my school. I'm looking forward to my trip to Los Angeles next week! I'll keep you posted!! XoXo

~Mary-Kate

Dancing for a Cause!

The past couple of weeks have been super busy but extremely exciting!!  Last weekend I had the opportunity to emcee the Crowns for Cancer pageant in Warren, AR.  It was held to raise money for Ty McCuller and his family.  I felt so honored to be a part of such a meaningful event.

Last week I spent a couple of days  looking for the "perfect" prom dress without much success. I tried on so many beautiful gowns but I haven't found "the one" just yet. 

This Saturday I participated in Dancing for a Cause! It was a charity fundraiser for First Step. It was similar to Dancing with the Stars, only on a smaller scale.  There were 20 of us dancing our way through the decades.  My wonderful partner and I danced to a Grease medley. It was such a great night and we ended up raising $12,800 for the First Step Foundation!! 

xOxO
~Mary-Kate

I had such an awesome time in Kansas City last weekend!!  It was so great to see the amazing Vanbros Team and my fabulous Vanbros sisters.  The photo-shoot was a complete success ! I know everyone will end up with great shots.  We had a great time touring Kansas City; although, we got a little lost and almost ran out of gas- we finally made it to The Plaza. The shopping was incredible and the food was fantastic! Lakynn and I splurged a little at The Cheesecake Factory, there is no way we could leave without having  a few bites of cookie dough cheesecake and red velvet cheesecake! Lol!  We were all thrilled to recieve our beautiful crown rings (which I havent taken off), YBF makeup (a girl can never have to much in her makeup bag), and a watch to make sure we are always punctual! We really enjoyed the VIP treatment. 

In the words of Willie Nelson we were "On The Road Again" bright and early Sunday morning.  We traveled home to Arkansas by way of Oklahoma City to meet with the amazing Brian Attebery at Results Fitness and Nutrition Center.  He customized a great fitness and nutrition program for me.  I appreciate him being so motivational as well as inspirational!  On the way home we stocked up on a LOT of protein so I can build some big guns like his lol!

Last Thursday I started the weekend early in Little Rock with a photo-shoot for Delta Trust Bank.  I can't wait to see how they turn out!  Friday I helped chaperone my sister Kenzie's birthday party. We started the night with a scavenger hunt.. I drove 8 giggling girls all over town as they sang Justin Beiber VERY loudly and really off key hahaha! My mom had the other 8 girls but Team Mary-Kate won! Yay!!  Later we arrived back home for what was supposed to have been a sleepover... but there was not much sleeping going on. I'm truly surprised our stairs didn't collapse from all 16 of them running up and down, up and down ALL night!  I think they finally crashed around 6am.  After sleeping a few hours it was time for the Zumbathon.  It was held to raise money for The American Heart Association.  GO RED!!  What a great way to spend the day!

Looking forward to emceeing the Crowns for Cancer pageant in Warren, Arkansas this Saturday!  This could be interesting because my 2 younger sisters Madison and Makenzie will be competing! I'll keep you posted :)  XOXO

~Mary-Kate

Happy Valentines Day!

WOW!! What an amazing couple of weeks it has been! Last week we actually got snow in South Arkansas! I absolutely could not believe it. Valentines Day was a blast with the students at Wilmot Elementary! It was so awesome reading and getting to know the students as well as helping with the Valentine party! Everyone LOVED seeing the crown! Even the boys as you can see! Haha!

Today I went to North Little Rock Veterans Hospital and attended the Sweetheart Luncheon! It was so great getting to know and being able to honor some of our amazing veterans!  Photos of the luncheon will be posted soon. I'm looking forward to seeing my Vanbros sisters this weekend in Kansas City!!
~Mary-Kate

New Orleans!!

I had such a GREAT time at my first appearance as Miss Arkansas Teen USA 2011 this weekend in Kenner, LA! I had the opportunity to attend a preliminary for Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2012.  There were so many beautiful girls who did a fantastic job. Also, I was thrilled to meet Miss Louisiana Teen USA 2011! Sunday I finally got the chance to visit New Orleans' french quarter which was quite an interesting experience. The beignets and coffee really topped off the weekend. Although we had an amazing  time, it's always great to be back home in Arkansas!