Graduation and such

Nathan and Jared consistently went to early morning seminary at 6:30am on Monday-Friday this year.  They had a family breakfast and awards on the last day of seminary.  We're really grateful for their teachers who so diligently taught them.  They both had great teachers.  We later went to Nathan's seminary graduation, where he was recognized for his 4 years participation and completion of seminary. Nathan was asked to speak at seminary graduation as well, so it was fun to hear his (and others) thoughts on their seminary experience.  

On to high school graduation... We had 6 graduates in our church ward, so the parents got together and planned a huge graduation party for them.  It turned out well - about 125-130 people came!  We fed them tri-tip, hot dogs, grilled veggies, garlic bread, salad, jello, chicken salad sandwiches, and the grads' favorite desserts.  We each brought desserts and drinks, and a few of the parents prepared the food.  I did most of the decorations.  We each decorated a table with some photos and things of our graduate.  It was pretty expensive for us (I think we personally spent $250 on it), but when we divided up the shared expenses, it came down to about $8/person.  So that's not too bad, considering we did a full dinner and desserts. I ended up making a grad hat card box for people to put cards and messages in.  It turned out pretty cute.  One of the grads had friends that played the bagpipes, so we even had the bagpipes make an appearance at the party.  It was fun, but I'm not sure we'll do the huge party again... I was originally thinking that just the families of the grads were going to get together for a BBQ, but that's not what some of them had in mind.  It was nice to chat with so many people that have been an influence on Nathan though.  We're grateful for so many good people in our lives.

My parents didn't make the graduation party, but they made it for graduation.  They ended up getting here just a few hours before graduation.  They were supposed to get in the night before, but their 2nd flight got cancelled.  Options weren't great for getting in by graduation, so my parents ended up flying early the next morning to another airport and renting a car to drive about 3 hours (through heavy traffic).  Crazy!  But they made it for graduation.  Graduation was right during dinnertime, at 5:00pm, so that made dinner a little tricky.  I ended up cooking dinner in the crockpot so that it was ready right after graduation.  We had our own little grad party, with roast & potatoes for dinner and cupcakes for dessert.  Jared almost started a fire in the microwave (apparently the star "paper" plates were a little bit metallic...good to know not to try those in the microwave again).  Nathan opened a few cards and presents, one of which I'll talk about in the next post.   

Nathan went on his grad trip the next day to California Adventure (which was all day and returning in the early morning hours the following day).  The rest of us went on an outing and enjoyed ice cream downtown.  We later went to dinner at Chili's and watched the new Top Gun movie in the theater.  

On Sunday June 5th, my parents went to church with us, followed by Nathan's ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood (in preparation for going on a mission).  My dad got to participate in that, as well as other friends.  Nathan's friend Shawn was also ordained that same time - they again did one of the big milestones together.  Seminary graduation was Sunday evening.  

Monday was a beach day, with a picnic lunch.  We had dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant and did s'mores in the firepit.  We had cinnamon rolls on Tuesday morning, and the kids played games for a little bit before my parents had to head out.  We loved spending time with them!  It was sad to know they were saying "bye" to Nathan for 2 years, but we're glad they made it out (and they even ending up getting Covid while they were here, so a little health sacrifice to be here). 

(This isn't the full junior / senior seminary class.)