The Last Day

We had a lazy morning as we didn't need to leave for Goodfellow's chapel until 1030.  I was up early and started the day with a nice walk around the park and down by the lake. I had a good meeting of the mind with Jesus. I even had time to get meatballs in the crockpot and plan the go withs before we left.  Chapel was good. The sermon was on Mark 4 and was much appreciated as we're facing a couple of storms. It's always fun to see folks we know  - though by now that is mostly retirees as all else have moved on to new assignments.

 

The plan was for the boys and Larissa to meet us at the trailer. All went as planned until I began putting dishes away. A knife flipped out of the drainer and stabbed the side/top of my foot.  It hurt. It bled a lot. Stacia ran out of the trailer yammering about blood. Others came in and saw well - lots of blood on the floor and me doubled over the sink.  Michael put lots of pressure on it for quite a bit of time - and then I moved to this chair and we did more pressure and elevation. I was determined not to spend hours in an urgent care clinic on my last day with the Gherkins.

 

This seriously derailed my meal prep. Arielle suggested we go to Mr. Gattis. She said it was a family tradition and we'd not done it yet. We all headed over for the buffet and games.....and I sat around with my foot up.

Stacia

Nolan

Jamin and Josiah

Alex & Stacia

Nolan

Nolan and Stacia

Stacia, Michael & Arielle

Josiah, Larissa, Jared, Alex, Jamin



Jamin Alex, Larissa, Jared

  At the campsite we walked, played basketball and visited.

Jared teaches Stacia to dribble



Seven of Nine Gherkins - Stacia, Arielle
Zander, Nolan, Josiah, Jared, Jamin - we miss the girls and Izaak.

We found one latent graduation gift for Arielle as we packed in preparation of leaving San Angelo in the morning.

Jamin & Larissa's Graduation

Shameless bragging about to begin - though I feel I should point out there is a purpose to the bragging. 1 - our kids know how much we enjoy watching them follow God's path for them,  2 - those who know how often I fail as a homeschooler are encouraged to see how BIG God's grace is to cover our parenting/schooling failures. I need that reminder from time to time - still - finishing up our 26th year of homeschooling.

My Mama heart just about BURST today! Who would guess this haphazard homeschooler would be sitting at a graduation in TEXAS watching one son on the platform with the official party as the University Student Body President, while another graduated with his Masters -at 23 with a 3.9 GPA - in Security Studies (as in national security not financial securities)? God is good - these boys are pretty good too - mostly. ::wink::

Jamin has shown nothing gets in his way when he sets a goal.  I honestly wondered if he could work full time, train and finish this program in 1 1/2 years - but he did - debt free. I am convinced he will do just as he says as he moves to the Bush School of Government at Texas A&M.

I got a huge kick out of watching Jared swagger in with the blinged up officials - and then shake the hands of the graduates - all except two.

Jared in about the middle of the shot - the one without a cap

There's our Jamin  in all his bling - white Student Athlete Sash, some honors cord, blue Student Government sash...and the blue sash hanging down the back for his Master's program.

Hey Mama



 THIS is my Jammin Jamin. This is the one we were told would NOT learn how to read unless we put him on Ritalin. THIS is the one who told me his only wish was to be an only child (he's number 4 of 9).  When he as a wild, WILD, loud, runner (as in AWAY - escape artist - not the marathon runner he is today)...an older Mom told me he would bring great joy to my heart some day and I would be doubly awed because I would know the price I paid in training and praying for him - and she was so right.

Do you see the pink Hello Kitty on the graduation cap below - about middle. That's Larissa, ASU's "First Lady," and Jared's girlfriend. She graduated as well today with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics/Computer Science.  Now, I am NOT a math whiz - in fact I'm the opposite - but this is how I remember the story. In the math department (or professional number crunchers) when you have finished a problem, you have no more proofs to work, you put a symbol at the end. Most use a rectangle. Dr. Smith uses a unicycle. He allowed the students to make their own signs. Larissa chose a hello kitty at the end of her proofs. And here you have it - she's done with the problem, she has no more proofs to offer - She's finished!

Soon it was time for the graduates to walk the plank....I said Jared shook the hands of all but two - he hugged Jamin - but we missed it. Instead here he is with someone else. LOL

Larissa, 2nd or 3rd row - blue sash, dark hair - only gal around the area

Jared also hugged Larissa

There she is! She's lovely inside and out.

  A personally moving moment was when the President of ASU announced the six newest 2 Lts to the Air Force. They'd graduated through ROTC and took their oath of commission at the end of the ceremony. We mouthed along and they received a standing ovation.

Singing the ASU song - which is really not amazing

Our two graduates

Jamin with his 10,000 Meter record on the board - about at his ear level

We had a reception afterwards for Jared and Larissa. It was a fun way to meet most of Larissa's family and quite a few of Jamin's friends as well.

Jamin asked that we have a family BBQ at the lake that evening...which we were happy to do.

The camp host came around to remind us if the sirens go off to head for the bathrooms. We were under a tornado watch. The man next to us got quite alarmed. We pulled out the chairs to watch the light show - quite spectacular. We've missed Texas storms.

We discovered we could all sit inside and visit if we brought in a couple of camp chairs.....Arielle got creative with the space issue.

Arielle's Graduation

Homeschoolers  are naturally a bit independent, opinionated, sure of  convictions and tend to think outside the box. It's only natural this tendency would spill over to graduation plans.

The 6th Graduate from Meadow Creek Academy of Excellence

We've enjoyed the gamut of Graduation Celebrations over the years. Bre (1st) had a full up "normal" graduation with a co-op in Eagle River, AK. Remembering her singing "Everything to Me" by Avalon at that graduation can still move this mommy heart to tears.  This graduation had very little "unique" points or parent involvement; but it was big and well-run.  Krista (2nd) opted not to join with the co-op for graduation. Instead we had a celebration in a community center. Friends and family gathered, we had dinner, a diploma, cap and gown, speeches, worship and it was great fun. Krista encouraged us when she shared her learning disability and how the family had helped her conquer. Josiah (3rd) graduated with a the local co-op in San Angelo, TX. It was also a "normal" graduation - with slide shows, displays, parents giving diplomas and speeches - etc. The highlight of THIS graduation occurred the night before - the girls showed up at the rehearsal and all of us were able to be together to celebrate. Jamin (4th) also graduated in San Angelo, with the local co-op. Another wonderful experience. We left San Angelo days after graduation and headed for Japan.  Jared (5th) didn't want a party or a ceremony. He joined with the kids from Edgren High School in Misawa for the baccalaureate hosted annually at the chapel. I remember Michael encouraging the kids at that event that everyone will talk about success during this season - but the key to success is how you handle failure - and we'll all have a bit in our life.  His "ceremony" was at Hirosaki castle. He walked across a favorite bridge in cap and gown and flipped the tassel as he stepped off the bridge....and had his photo taken with lots of Japanese students and tourists.  While this wasn't the "typical" graduation - it fit Jared. We've told the kids they can have what they want. And now we're ready to graduate our 6th - Arielle. Yes, that is ODD. We are beginning to face the fact that we will not always have little kids in our nest.

Our local co-op has a rule  you must be a member for two years to graduate with them. We've only lived in CA about 1.5 years. We were told there are no military exceptions....I am quite sure I could have pushed but really Arielle decided she didn't want to force her way in. We planed a simple ceremony, dinner, slide show etc at the chapel with friends and chapel family. About two weeks ago she asked if she could change her mind. It is HER graduation. She wanted to have a simple dinner with family in TX.  Today was THE DAY. Upon further investigation we discovered she wanted to go to Dairy Queen and have a Reese's Blizzard - that's IT. Um.....we all went to dinner anyway. The photo is truly terrible; so I won't share it.

After dinner we met up with the Armstrong family (who are family friends - Deja is a sister friend so they made Arielle's cut). We took over Dairy Queen.  It was unique - fun - casual and perfectly fits Arielle. I worried she would be sad Emma is in Moscow - and she was - but it was really fun to have the time to celebrate together. Deja will text Emma photos.

To make the day PERFECT - Arielle received a phone call alerting her to the fact that she has been accepted to New Hope Christian College.

Note- photo and posts from each of the other graduations can be found by searching (top left box) for "child's name graduation."

She fell asleep waiting for everyone - we couldn't resist
There had been that bad storm the night before - little sleep

De'Etta & Deja - Sister Friends

Feeding Frenzy at the DQ pick up window

Michael and Doug  catching up

Zander's choice - my splurge

The kids played games while we talked

Zander & Eric

Ellie  & Arielle

Elisha - the first baby Stacia ever held!

Ellie & Stacia have been friends for years 

I didn't seem to catch a photo of Egan. How could THAT happen.....and because we miss Emma and it wouldn't be the same without a photo of her.....here's Emma....she had the audacity to go to Moscow instead of attending the DQ Graduation. ::snort::  We're proud of you Emma.

Chasing her dream at the Bolshoi Academy of Ballet

Fun, Family and Errands

Our day was fun and filled with errands. Yes, you read that right. Jared had a board of regent meeting in Lubbock.

Josiah and Jamin joined us later in the a.m. and we went to an RV store. We needed some parts.....and we also looked at a few true RV's - the motorized kinds. 

Jamin had some graduation errands to run in the a.m.

We picked up "the cake" for Jamin.

We came home, did some repairs, had lunch, played and visited and then celebrated Arielle's graduation - but that deserves it's own blog post.

Fixing a door latch

Reliving San Angelo Memories

Michael "went crazy" and bombarded him and he wasn't sure what to do

Graduating with his Master's tomorrow

Jamin's cute house