A grad, a dad, and a 16 year old!

 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!

April- (some of) June 2024

 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!