2012-- the year of graduations...

We began our week of graduations with Emmy's graduation from sixth grade at Morrison-Gordon Elementary on May 23, 2012. As Student Council president, she led the pledge of allegiance, welcomed the crowd, and gave a speech. Even before those duties, though, she played "pomp and circumstances" on her cello, with her friend, Douglas, on the violin. The sixth grade ceremony was capped off by a powerpoint that Britti constructed, featuring all of the graduates. After the ceremony, we snapped pictures, and the students celebrated for the rest of the day with lots of food, a visit from the ice cream truck, inflatables, and water games. They were all so happy :)

We concluded the week of graduations with Chelsea Meagan's graduation from Athens High School, with honors and an Ohio Honors Diploma.The cousins and Grandma B. arrived on Friday, May 25, joining Grandma A. who had come in time for Emmy's graduation. Everyone got along great, and we had a fun cook-out. Early on Saturday morning, Christie, Grandma B., and Chelsea headed over to the high school to save seats and snap pictures. The ceremony was very nice, and Meelim, Katie Wight, Anne, and Lauren Pach all did great jobs on their parts. What a great group of kids!! Following the ceremony, we took lots of pictures, and we were among the last people to leave the high school. We had a family party before Chelsea headed out for some friend parties, and we left for Ruby Tuesdays and a quick celebration of Roger's 50th birthday. The day ended with the Graduation Celebration at the rec center. Christie chaired it so she had to be there for set-up through tear-down-- what a long night! However, the new graduates had a fun time, and we gave away lots of cool prizes :)

On Sunday, May 27, the grandmas left, but the cousins stayed for Chelsea's friend party. We had around 25 guests during the afternoon, and, in spite of the heat, everyone seemed to have a good time :)

What an exciting (and exhausting!!) time of celebration! Both girls are headed for new adventures next year at Athens Middle School and Baylor University, respectively :)