A Day at a Time: homecoming

Showing posts with label homecoming. Show all posts

Monday, September 16, 2024

The In-Between Time

It's been a whirlwind these past few weeks and I'm a little intimidated by all the events and pictures to sort through to even kind of get caught up here on the blog, but I am committed to try. This post will be dedicated to the few days right after Adam got home from his mission and before we took off for our family reunion gathering (basically the time period of August 22-25).

More than any other thing during that time, I was really happy to just see our kids spending time and having fun together. It makes my Mom heart joyful to see that my kids not only get along with each other, but are genuinely good friends and enjoy being together.

My brother, Matt, and two of his kiddos were still with us during most of that time, as was our niece, McKenzie, who was in between summer and fall semesters at BYU. Their presence during this special time for our family only added to the experience. They are all delightful people to have around and we are really happy that they were here. Then on Saturday, Matt and kids left for Maryland and a few hours later, Cami, Lucie, and Oliver rolled into town from Alabama. We also spent a lot of time on Saturday getting ready -baking and shopping-for Adam's homecoming and open house the next day.

With Lucie, Oliver, and Cami's arrival, our house got wild and loud very fast! Lucie is as sassy, energetic, and talkative as ever and Baby Oliver just may be the sweetest baby I've ever met in my entire life....and I've met quite a few! He scoots all over the place and basically only cries when he's hungry or when someone takes something away from him that he's excited to hold onto.

Lucie and McKenzie definitely hit it off and Lucie was calling her "Auntie McKenzie" before long. I loved, loved, loved seeing all my girls back together again and I loved seeing Spencer's and Adam's soft sides come out with Lucie and Oliver's presence. I'd have to say that Lucie and Denali's obsession with each other was about equal and Denali LOVED all the attention she got while they were here.

On Sunday, Adam gave his homecoming talk in our ward and we hosted an open house at our home afterward. It was a joy to see so many old friends and to meet some of Adam's mission friends, though I neglected to get pictures of everyone that was there. We loved hearing him share some of his experiences as a missionary, as well as hearing him testify of Christ's love for each of us. It was clear that he made a difference to many people over the last two years and we are proud of his willingness to serve the people of Oregon for that time.

After the homecoming, we just reveled in our Lucie/Oliver time and enjoyed being all together as a family for the first time in more than two years. My mom (Gramma Rosynanna to Lucie and Oliver) and my sister, Heather, were also very much enjoying all the snuggle and toddler time. We ate a lot of family dinners all together and eventually we dropped McKenzie off at her new apartment for the fall, so she wouldn't miss her New Student Orientation.

Next up on the agenda, our adventure to the wilds of Idaho...stay tuned...

Monday, October 27, 2014

Homecoming: Part 2 (the dress)

Have I ever mentioned how hard it is to shop for or with Cami?

I think she'd qualify as picky by anyone's standards, but for a non-shopper like me it's downright tortuous to take her on a shopping trip. To my department store hating brain, it seems like she tries on a gazillion things, kind of likes approximately .0003% of what she tries on, and then begs me to take her to another store. I try to be patient, but in the end always end up a tad bit grumpy and begging her to settle for something that's "good enough" so that we can go home already!

I really have tried over the years, but I have no doubt that Cami would probably not hesitate to call me a shopping curmudgeon. Each year that passes, I find myself more and more willing to relinquish my motherly shopping duties to anyone who might be willing to take them from me…whether it be friends or my sister or even Glen. It ends being a win-win situation for both me and Cami's wardrobe.

When Cami's formal events, like homecoming and prom have rolled around, I try to make a concerted effort to be more engaged in the shopping process and helping her to find the perfect dress. It feels more high-stakes because of the deadline, higher price point, and the desire to find that ever-elusive something that is beautiful, fits right, and is somewhat modest, but I still try…really I do.

This year she went to homecoming with Gary again. They have been in many of the same classes all through high school and decided it would be fun to go together as friends again.

After hours and hours of deliberating and trying friends' dresses on, Cami ended up ordering two different dresses, hoping one of them would work. Not surprisingly, neither did and she is returning both.

In the end, she opted to borrow her friend Ashley's dress. The color and style looked stunning on her and I was just thrilled that she found something that she loved.

I liked hers best out of all the girls in her group.

Here she is with the group of seniors from her elementary school. There were a couple of them I hadn't seen since they were in 6th grade, so it was a crazy sight to see them all grown up and graduating later this school year!

All the girls in her group.

Her friends Ashley and Katy came to see her off. The three of them have been best friends for a long time and Cami was happy that they came.

As a mother, I am happy to say that I couldn't ask for better friends for my daughter.

It's fun to watch them laugh together and know that theirs is a friendship that will likely continue on far past their high school days.

Matt came along with Ash and Katy as the official phone holder.

Cami and Gary opted to skip the dance and went to dinner in Alexandria, then to Cox Farms for a haunted hayride.

Although it was a tad sad for me to think that this will be her final high school homecoming, I am happy that it ended up being a good experience for her.

******************************

Friday, October 24, 2014

Homecoming 2014: Part 1

Part of the homecoming festivities every year are spirit days. The spirit days are themed days in the week leading up to their school's homecoming football game. The themes are chosen either by the administration or by a leadership class. Both Spence and Cami have always gone all-out for them, even borrowing clothes from friends or taking a trip to the local consignment store if they don't have the right pieces to look properly spirited. This year was no different for Cami. Being a part of student government and it being her senior year, made her especially excited to show her school spirit! Here are some of the crazy cuteness we've seen this week from Cami. Be sure to come back later this weekend to see a full homecoming report…including Cami's dress and date!

Marvel Monday

Cami dresses as a cute girly version of Captain America and gets asked to homecoming by her good friend, Gary, who randomly is also dressed as Captain America.

Fifties Tuesday
Cami borrows Sis. James' poodle skirt, glasses, and shoes and then raids Adam's closet for a button-down white shirt….then gets to school and falls fast asleep!

Wacky Wednesday
Cami wears Daddy's fishing shirt, unmatched socks, and realllllllllllly tall hair!

Hippie Thursday
Cami morphs into a tree-hugging hippie and sends one of her teachers into the throes of 70's nostalgia. Mrs. N commented to Cami that while the rest of the school was dressed up as hippies, Cami actually reminded her of her high school days in the 70's.

Class Color Friday
Cami dons the t-shirt that she helped design and dresses in black-out clothes. Each class is wearing a different color today. The seniors are in black, juniors in green, sophomores in yellow, and freshmen in white.

This week she has also been hard at work designing the class float for the homecoming parade tonight, which unbeknownst to her required getting a fancy shmancy manicure.