June of 2024 had so many exciting events that it needs its own blog post.
First up, congratulations to the class of 2024! Cade graduated both from Yelm High School and SPSCC with his Associate of Arts.
Slideshow of Senior Pics!
Of course someone walked right in front of me when it was Cade's turn!
Took awhile to find him afterwards....
The weather was perfect for the high school graduation, but not for SPSCC! It was cloudy when I got there, sun came out and was beautiful for most of the ceremony, and then the heavens unleashed. Most of the audience was scrambling to get outta there and of course Cade was in the last group to have their names called. I did have a good view until everyone stood up with their umbrellas. You get a less than amazing video of the TV screen instead, lol. Still, he did it! HS Diploma and an Associates Degree. Congratulations Cade!
A bagpipe group, including a teacher our kids love working with, started out the ceremony.
Since it was pouring we didn't do any pictures there at the college. Thank you Cade for putting your stuff back on to get a picture at home.
And you can't have a graduation without a graduation party! Thanks to all who have supported Cade throughout his educational journey, they can't do it alone.
Pictures from each grade leading up the stairs into the party!
Cade's favorite treat that Alex makes- red velvet sandwich cookies
The same weekend as the grad party was a dad party! For father's day dan got an awesome Ted Lasso card, framed prints of the postcards released by Brandon Sanderson (year of Sanderson), and I got the drum that's been sitting in our garage all cleaned up, fixed up and playable! He loves jamming on the drums. Alex also made a tres leches cake that instantly became Dan's favorite cake ever.
Here's Alex and I on our last days of school! Peace out classroom!
If you thought we were done partying for the month of June, we still had Alex's birthday. This was the big one. 16 years old! It may have taken a bit to get into the DMV and get his license, but he is a driver now. He has a great group of friends and they headed to a fun arcade/restaurant in Centralia called Insert Coin for fun and games.
And then back home from cake and presents. Happy Birthday Bud- you bring joy to everyone around you!
*phew* That was a lot of celebrating at the end of a busy school year! I really wanted to make sure everyone felt special on their day- I hope that was true!
I'm way behind, but this blog really is important to me. I re-focused on it awhile back because I think it's important to document the things we do as a family more than just posting on social media. I got pretty caught up in posting in the moment but found I wouldn't really take the time to share all the details. My memory isn't what I'd like it to be, and this is a great way for me to write it all out and have it somewhere my kids can reminisce and family can stay in touch.
So even though I'm way behind I will just work on catching up a little bit at a time! We left off in April of 2024 and the exciting news of Cade being accepted to Oberlin!
Then he turned 18! How do I have an adult child? Cade requested a chocolate cake with fondant from Alex, and an Oberlin design since he had just heard the good news. The cake turned out amazing, good job Alex! Cade spent some time with friends going rock climbing and then they came back for food, and then hot tubbing at his friend Finn's house.
We got this toy for Carson for Christmas and he loves it. I even taught him the word taco so he'll bring me his taco toy.
Also for Christmas we got Cade tickets to see Mahler 3 with the Seattle Symphony. He'd only ever seen a symphony live as a field trip in San Antonio, and considering this is what he'd like to do for a career, it was time! And why not with his favorite composer being performed? We made a Seattle day of it and had a great evening!
There's a trail along one of the roads in Yelm that has a pretty spectacular view of Mt. Rainier. We've lived here nearly 3 years and I always meant to get a picture of the trail and mountain. Got it!
April and May for me have been meaning my time gets sucked up into a musical at SPSCC! This year it was Amelie. What a fun show it was to get ready and then perform. Cade even got to be in the pit with me, and we were on stage during the show :)
And thus began the blitz of last performances for Cade as a senior. Here he is at the last SOGO concert.
Not pictured are his last concerts at the HS: choir and band.
Now don't forget Senior Prom! I think it was about a week before prom he asked Jorie if she'd like to go. She had a dress and was ready to say yes! They had a great time and have been dating ever since.
After the musical and SOGO concerts I kept busy with performances as well, performing in Carmina Burana and the last concert for the SPSCC symphony. Carmina Burana was special because it was 6 percussionists and 2 pianists with a full choir. I got to work with the best of the best and it was a wonderful musical moment. As percussion even got to do a prelude piece of our own, so we tackled a triangle sextet.
Follow the links if you want to watch either performance!
Ok, got caught up on the happenings before some major life events. Until next time!
2024 got started off with bang! I subbed for the Olympia Symphony and did a John Williams concert on New Year's Eve! We got to dress in costume and I picked a yellow Jurassic Park poncho :)
I subbed for them again in March, doing Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet, and West Side Story! It's funny how music goes in cycles because I had just done West Side Story with the Northwest Wind Symphony in January!
OSO!
NWWS!
It's no secret that music pretty much consumes our lives. In January Cade had PLU Honor Band and then All-Sate in February!
All-State! Last honor band as a Senior :)
A couple of fun, non-music things...
Alex sporting his new black tie!
Dan was changing out our frozen feeders when a hummingbird flew on and tried to get a sip!
One of Alex's Christmas presents was a hyper-realistic cake kit. Didn't it turn out amazing?!
I love our puppy!
Cade and his kitty
At the end of February and all through March we suddenly descended into a perfect marriage of all of our musical commitments coming to a head with ALL. THE. PERFORMANCES! The boys and I performed in the pit of Yelm High School's production of Seussical! I will always relish any opportunity to perform with my family!
The boys also had choir and band concerts in March. Alex joined choir in February at the semester change and is loving it!
Not pictured was our SOGO concert. I'm hoping a link will be available soon because the orchestra debuted Cade's orchestration of Debussy's Sunken Cathedral.
A few other things not pictured that filled up my march were-
my 1st and 2nd graders first performance!
church production of The Garden- me on piano, boys in the pit too!
Olympia Youth Chorus performance- I play piano for two of the groups
The beginning of SPSCC's Amelie- we had auditions and call backs. I'm excited to be the rehearsal pianist again!
During all of this madness Dan was away for a TDY in Thailand! Honestly, we were barely home with all of that stuff going on so I'm glad that he was occupied with that awesome experience. He made some great connections with his Senior Leadership and when he was return flight was delayed by almost a week he finally got some time to explore Thailand outside of the military exercise. I admire his hard work!
Wearing their Thailand souvenirs!
In Washington spring has sprung, and that means cherry blossoms! We had some beautiful weather before it turned a little grey and chilly again.
And it must be spring break, because I have time to blog! We had Kristina's family come visit over the weekend so we took to the seas! We stayed near Long Beach at a really fun AirBnB. It was a short walk to the beach where we attempted to clam and enjoyed beautiful views. Bensen even braved the coooooold waters. We also took the Foutz family to Cape Disappointment. Not sure why, but I really like it there :)
It was WINDY!
Our house was the one on the left in the pic
Cade went into full vacay mode
Dan with Kristina's dog Libby
Look familiar? Bigfoot has a twin in Leavenworth!
After our Foutz family vacation we had one day where all of us were off work and school so we did an escape room and went out for a nice dinner. As life goes along we're all getting along really well and enjoying each other's company more and more. Love my family!
We barely escaped this 70 minute room... but we've loved Escape Hour here in WA!
And if that wasn't enough excitement for one blog post, the most exciting thing to come out of the month of March was the end to the process of applying and auditioning for College. After all was said and done, Cade had applied to UNC Greeley, University of North Texas, Indiana University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He narrowed it down to these 4 schools based on their brass programs and the people he would be studying with. Some schools only accepted virtual auditions and he visited Indiana in person to play in front of a panel. We are proud to say that Cade was offered a very generous scholarship to Oberlin, and he has committed to attend in the Fall of 2024! Congratulations Cade, you definitely deserve it after all the hard work you have put in to make your dream come true.
I loved how the website let him know he was accepted!
Got the official packet in the mail
Some swag!
And his first Oberlin shirt!
Our spring break is coming to an end and then it's the final push of the school year. There's lots more music and a graduation in our future and I'll be sure to come back and share it all with you!
