Grad Party!

We had five seniors graduating from our ward this year, so the parents all decided to throw a joint party for the kids.  I had every intention of helping out a lot, but then on the actual day, I had to be at the condo while they delivered a new washing machine (yup, the old tenants had apparently broken the one that was there!  Thanks, guys!), and it was ALSO the same day that the movers finished moving everything out of Tom and Donna's *house.  This meant that they brought a few items that had been forgotten to Tom and Donna's new place, and they brought us some stuff that was going to be thrown away otherwise but we wanted.  And then everything else, they decided to either toss, donate, or sell.  

So I was home all day waiting for the movers to come.  Naturally, they didn't show up until 5:30, when the party was at 6!  (And also, it started pouring rain when they arrived.  Of course.)  So it was a weird day where I sat around stressing all day, but not actually doing anything or helping with the decorations, and then being late to my daughter's party!  I had at least made and/or bought a lot of food (which Craig and the kids brought on time), so I wasn't completely worthless.  But I would have liked to have done more.  Sorry, everyone!!!

But we did get these cute pictures out of it!

Megan and I didn't plan to match, but look how cute we are!  We're either in mourning about our kids leaving for college, or we're about to start a coven.  (It's probably the coven, honestly...)

*I forgot to mention, but this final clean out had also necessitated one last trip to the house for Craig and I, which we did after church on Sunday.  (Because that's what we had time for during this crazy month!)  We went through the house room by room looking to see if there was anything that had gotten left behind on accident, and we found quite a few treasures: my wedding dress; Donna's wedding dress; Donna's wedding album; a few sweaters and sweatshirts that we were pretty sure Tom and Donna still wear and hadn't meant to throw away; I took all the CorningWare and Tupperware because I just couldn't bear the idea of it being tossed out...  Stuff like that.  We ended up filling the van, and I was glad we'd gone, but also sad at how much was still being thrown out that we just didn't have room for in either our house or Tom and Donna's new place!  Stuff like this is so hard!

Kendra's Graduation! 🎓

And then suddenly it was the really big day-- graduation!!!

We had a few friends join us-- Amy and Sawyer Gaskin, Adam, Wendy & McKinley Sorensen, plus Tom and Donna, of course!  I'm impressed with anyone who would sit through something boring like that of their own free will.  We have such great friends!  Craig rushed in and saved us good seats, and then the rest of our family could meander in more slowly.  Everything went very smoothly, and I did NOT almost get in a fight in the parking lot!  A win all around!  And, just like with Bentley's graduation, we finished the evening off with Five Guys!

Kendra's cheering section!

There's Ryder playing "Pomp & Circumstance" with the band!

Our first glimpse of Kendra!

And now she's up on the big screen!

Actually this picture is cuter

Here you get a better idea of the space and how many people were there!

I appreciate her ability to smile for the camera, even from a distance

Monticello High School holds their graduation ceremony at UVA's basketball arena, John Paul Jones Arena.  After hearing stories of other families with only two tickets to their kids' graduations, I really appreciate that they give us plenty of room for EVERYONE who wants to attend!

And finally getting her diploma!

Stopping to wave to all her band friends (much more cheering ensued)

And then a little "fox" wave to Malik and Joel as she passed by

So cute!

And then we got to find her outside and take a billion more pictures!!!  (Thanks, as always, to Adam for taking all the best shots here!!!)

I got first dibs!

McKinley

I like how Sawyer is practically one of the family!

Amy and Wendy

Adam

Malik

I liked how she decorated her cap!  (For those concerned about the book she destroyed to create this effect, never fear-- it was a copy of Twilight that she found at a thrift store!)

One last hug for mom

Sisters 💕

Maycember 2026!

From the band concert on out, it seemed like every week we had some Major Thing, usually trying to make me cry.  It was a lot.  Maycember was in FULL FORCE.

First up: Kendra's LAST DAY OF PUBLIC EDUCATION!!!

She wasn't excited at all.  Barely even noticed.

Next up, Ryder's awards banquet for his Latin class!  Ryder did well on the standardized test and got this nifty certificate!

(That's Kendra's friend Esa--short for Theresa-- giving him his certificate)

Also, we got this amazing page in the yearbook:

We've got TWO RYDERS!!!  So what happened was-- Ryder took his track team picture wearing a shirt under his jersey, but then his coach got after him for that and told him to take it off, so they took his picture again.  And someone on the yearbook staff did NOT notice that!  Ryder's goal is to get three pictures of himself in next year's yearbook.

And then we had Kendra's Indoor Drumline Banquet!  Malik, her main coach, teaches culinary arts at Albemarle High School, so he had his students cater the entire thing!  In the past, Kendra has told us to not come (I think Craig did go last year, but I couldn't for some reason?), but this year she actually wanted us there.  Unfortunately, it was also the father-son campout, so we ended up asking the Gaskins to take Ryder and Colton to the Snow's, and then Craig joined them there after the banquet.  Luckily for us, Camille was invited to go to Jump with our neighbors and then stayed at their house to watch a movie (she was very excited to finally get to see Project Hail Mary), so we managed to do All The Things that night.  It was a lot to coordinate, though!

Camille with Beth and a couple other friends I don't know

All the seniors with their posters

Malik with his seniors

During all this time, we'd been designing and ordering graduation announcements for Kendra.  (Do you remember this?  I already mentioned it in an earlier post!)  Here are all three versions:

The one on the right was the first to arrive, the one in the middle is almost identical, and then finally the one on the left was our third try.  How did this manage to be so complicated???

But we finally got them sent out!  And by "we" I mean "Kendra"--  I was done dealing with them!

Year End Band Concert and Awards Banquet

As I mentioned-- in the middle of frantically trying to get our townhouse all cleaned up, we had to race back to town for Kendra and Ryder's end-of-the-year band concert.  Fortunately, we'd thought to take two cars, so Kendra and Ryder headed there early, we worked for a few more minutes and then went back to the house to put on not-grubby clothes and then got to enjoy the concert!  The music was lovely-- the various bands have all come a really long way and it was fun to hear them!  We can never get good pictures of them during the concerts, but this time we tried sitting in the back where the seats are elevated-- so you can see them, but we're really far away and had to zoom way in.  Enjoy!

Ryder is always very pale, but then there was also a light shining right on him, so now he's glowing!!!  Is he about to be translated???

And look, there's Kendra!

Then, right before the concert began, Ryder raised his stand up so he could see his music better and we once again couldn't see him at all.  Ah, well!

As I said, the concert was great.  Especially the first half (and not just because that was when my kids were playing!).  But then they also had the jazz band play, and then the steel drum group...  The whole thing went on for an hour and a half.  And that was kind of long (especially when you factor in the band teacher taking the time to describe the entire plot of the movie The Terminal, since they were playing music from it.  Was that really necessary???).  But we weren't done yet!  Nope, then they had a banquet so everyone had to stand in line for food.  And then they had an awards ceremony.  The whole thing ended up taking three hours.  Which I normally wouldn't even care about, except we really needed to get back to the townhouse and keep cleaning!  But this was Kendra's last band function, so I tried my best to just enjoy every minute of it and not feel stressed.

But you better believe that the second it ended, Craig and I were out of there like a shot!  (The kids hung around with Grandma and Grandpa for a bit and took their time following us, but once they were back, they continued to help us clean-- they were real troopers about the whole thing, and I was very proud of their work ethic!)

Anyway-- here are a few pictures from the awards ceremony!

Ryder now has a varsity letter in marching band!  (And isn't he cute?)

Kendra helps swear in the new members of Tri-M (which is National Honors Society, but for music students)

All the seniors get an award, but I was expecting and hoping that Kendra would get the leadership award.  She worked her tail off as the drum major during marching band season, so even though she shared the role with Evan, I really hoped Mr. Strickler was aware that she was the one who got everyone loading and unloading the truck for each competition and made sure everything actually happened.  So I was extremely pleased when that was exactly what happened!

Getting her plaque from Mr. Strickler

I was very proud of my kids!!!  And it was a very lovely break during a fairly stressful day!

Kendra's Senior Slide Show

A bunch of us threw a party at the church for all the graduating seniors, which included a slide show for the kids.  These are all the pictures I sent of Kendra.  They're not in chronological order at all, but you'll get the idea.  Just look at this beautiful girl growing up!!!

Pretty baby

So silly with the bunny blankie we took her to the hospital in!

I believe these are glow-in-the-dark Harry Potter glasses that Craig and I got at the midnight release party for Deathly Hallows when we were in San Diego for Carla's wedding!

All my babies had this exact same profile

This picture is so sweet

The joy of balloons

She definitely gets her baby-fine hair from me!

So serious!  And those eyes!!!

Easter Sunday at Grandma and Grandpa's house

Just finished rowing around on Aunt Leah's lake!

At the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Early dinner with Chip at Disney World

And battling the Seventh Sister as part of Jedi Training in Hollywood Studios

Manning the guns of the Bowfish at Pearl Harbor!

I still think that's the cutest swimsuit ever!

Queen Kendra!

This is a very Kendra-esque expression

Goofing around with Jadyn at the church historic sites during our Stake Youth Conference last summer

Helping Daddy mow the lawn

This is her concentrating face

Looking slightly wary as Bentley helps her button her sweater before church

Gotta love a girl with a sword!

Hiking along the river in Lynchburg

Sorry, I know you've just seen these!  (But, I'm not that sorry!)

I think this was on a camping trip with Daddy, probably at the Snow's farm?

Hiking club during Covid

Getting a niffler for Christmas

Loves her Oreo (and a lot of other animals, as you'll see)

Working so hard with Olivia to get the handcart up the hill for the women's pull on trek 

Drum major!

Go Patriots!  (Back when Craig was working at Albemarle High Sschool)

Wearing my Grandpa Bentley's hat as part of her reporter outfit for career day

Homecoming with Kayla

Another camping trip with Dad

Snoqualmie Falls in Washington

Ready to go zip-lining with Liberty and Jadyn in West Virginia for high adventure

Whitewater rafting

Last day of 5th grade!

Snuggling with a sled dog puppy in Alaska

And snuggling with a chicken, in Ohio!  (I love how that chicken just loves her!)

Stealing everybody's hats on trek!

Fireworks in Texas because why not?

When we first got baby Oreo!

The budgies at the Richmond Zoo

At Aunt Leah and Uncle Brian's

Holding the bride's bouquet at Aunt Tracy's wedding

"Helping out" the captain on the pre-wedding dinner cruise!

With her Richards' cousins' pet!

Being a YCD at Girls Camp!

Bishop's night in earlier YWs camp years

Her piratess costume, with a chicken filling in as her parrot!

4th of July fireworks with Grandma in Culpeper

One of my all-time favorite pictures!  The look on her face here!  (We'd just finished doing family portraits at the Manassas Battlefield, and then our trunk wouldn't open!  So we were trying to figure out what to do about that and Lindsey, our photographer, snapped this picture!)

Napping with Daddy, one of my favorite things to take pictures of!  (Here, she had tripped and bashed her cheekbone against a low bar on the high chair and her cheek got swollen from it.  It was so sad!!!  You'll notice it in a few other pictures of this slide show.  I'm pretty sure she didn't have that cute dimple before that happened...)

Helping us clean the townhouse when we first bought it

At the top of Humpback Rock

In the Sacred Grove with Bentley, back when she was still taller than him

Admiring the floats with Aunt Tracy at the Macy's parade

Enjoying the wild animals on the safari ride at Animal Kingdom in Disney World

The Manassas campout, shortly after hurting her cheek-- how sad is that???  

Back during her swim team summers!

I think this is in NYC

And this is when we were in Las Vegas celebrating my Grandma Hansen's 90th birthday

Santa Lucia

Another Daddy-daughter nap!

I think this is her first day of First Grade!

Based on how flushed her cheeks are, I'm pretty sure she had a fever here...

Her dirndl dress from Grandma and Grandpa's trip to Germany!

First day of kindergarten!

Lake swimming with my family in Oregon!

Being cheeky as she sports my Grandpa Bentley's hat!

This is a weird thing to brag about, but Kendra is super good at flying kites!

Holding a brand new baby Colton

Gotta love riding the ferry to Bainbridge!

First day of preschool

Panama City beach at sunset

Fun hair for virtual YWs camp during Covid

Caving in West Virginia with Madeline, McKinley, and Marianne

Throwing leaves into the wind with Sydney while we wait at the bus stop

Now Camille is napping with her!

Kayaking at Ragged Mountain

Probably my absolute favorite picture of all time. 
We should have submitted this to contests-- it would have won every single one of them.