Graduation Time!

My baby has graduated from high school and seminary!     

Here's what I wrote about this milestone on Facebook (the first time I've posted since Christmastime):   

We called Ellie our "bonus baby" when she arrived at the end of our five kids. She was our easiest going baby by a mile and she really did feel like a sweet gift to round out our family perfectly. She's had a bit of a rocky road in her life including a seizure disorder that started right at the beginning of her kindergarten year. Despite visiting several doctors over the years and trying countless medications (and natural approaches), she never has had perfect seizure control (even now), she has faced fear and ignorance from her peers, can’t get a driver’s license, and ended up in a school situation that became untenable when she did not qualify for an IEP and the 504 plan the school came up with was completely worthless. So her education has included 3 years of public school, 8 years of homeschool, and 2 years at a private school....plus 3 moves in the last 4 years. Yet she’s still a rockstar! She has found wonderfully supportive friends, has an optimistic attitude, is thoughtful and empathetic, and has grand plans for the future. We are so proud of all she’s overcome to get here and we are excited for her to start at BYU-Idaho this fall. Happy Graduation (from high school and seminary), Ellie! We love you!

 Here's a little glimpse of some of her graduation events:   

First, there was a senior dinner at her school.  We enjoyed a delicious meal together...

While we ate, teachers read a 3-5 minute tribute for each of the graduating seniors.  Ellie's graduating class was about 60 kids, so it was doable for one night, but a little long.   Ellie's tribute was sweet and meaningful and  read by Mr. H--one of her favorite teachers.  

 It was a long night, but a wonderful thing to be a part of.  Ellie attending American Heritage School is absolutely one of the reasons why we needed to live in Utah and I love, love, love that she got to attend there for the past 2 years. It's a truly special place and was the perfect step away from homeschooling that we were looking for when we moved here.   

Next on the graduation docket was seminary graduation! 

 This age got a rough road with seminary because COVID made things difficult right when they were just starting out as freshman.  As such, it definitely took an extra bit of tenacity to be able to finish all 4 years and we are proud of her for this accomplishment.  This picture is with a couple of the seminary graduates from our ward.  There were a couple more that we couldn't track down for the picture.    

During her high school years, this girl has lived in 3 different houses, 4 wards, had 2 of those years marred by COVID, and she is still smiling!  

We are so proud of her hard work, positive attitude, and ability to go with the flow.   

Her future is bright and we are grateful for the light she brings to  our family and to the world! 

Six Down, Eight to Go...

With Cami's graduation from early morning seminary this past Sunday, we officially have six years of early mornings down.....only eight to go!  

It's a huge sacrifice to wake up an hour-and-a-half before the rest of your peers....

to study the scriptures BEFORE school each day....

but this amazing group  (plus about 30 others from our stake) did just that every day for FOUR YEARS! 

These three...

will all be attending BYU in the fall!

As a parent, I am so grateful for her  teachers (Bro. Goodson, Bro. Atchley, Bro. Koch, Bro. Ferrel, and Bro. Liljegren) who sacrificed not only their sleep, but also their time in preparing the lessons each day.  

Glen was a seminary teacher for a couple of years back when Emma was a baby and it was a relentlessly exhausting (but rewarding) job to do!    A job without pay...of course!

I am also grateful for Cami's good friends.   What a great influence they've been and I'm grateful that their friendship is such that it can continue as they all head off to Cougar territory this fall!

Top 5 Signs You're Not Getting Enough Sleep

5.  The kids know that mommy read aloud time is actually mommy-fall-asleep-on-the-couch-time and kid-play-time. 

4.  United tries to charge you extra baggage fees for the bags under your eyes 

3.  Staying up for a kid that has a late babysitting job  is certifiable torture.

2.  In order to stay alert for drives of over 15 minutes in length, you have to break out the caffeinated beverages and munchies.  

1.   Sometimes it just takes too much energy to make that  extra step of opening the door to get inside the house.  

All of these, er, most of these anyway, are completely normal events in our house when early morning seminary, with its wake-up time of 5:00am, is back in session.    And lest you worry too much about Cami being so tired she sacked  out on the front step…this was a one-time occurrence that happened because she forgot her keys.   Her being tired enough that she could fall asleep on the front step, however, is not an anomaly!  

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So proud...

Sleep is a precious commodity when you're a teenager, so you can imagine what a feat it is to wake up more than an hour earlier than most of your classmates to be at the church by 5:55am to study the scriptures!   This amazing group of teens has done just that each and every school day for FOUR WHOLE YEARS!

Other than the half-year he missed while he was in the hospital, Spence has rarely missed a day.  

He had to do a lot of make-up work to get credit for the days he missed while he was in the hospital, but I am proud to say that he did it!  He earned his  early morning seminary diploma!

↑‎↑‎Here he is with his fellow Vienna ward class of 2013 graduates!  (Brandon, Ryan, and Janessa)↑‎↑‎

We are so proud of Spence and the other seniors!  You guys are awesome!


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four down....only ten more to go

Between the senior roast and meeting a major league ball player last week, it's been a pretty exciting time here at our house.

In addition to all that though, we've had a few more happenings....some of it exciting, some of it not so much.

The two kidney stones Glen had were something we could have done without.  He's only ever had one before, when he was also in heavy training for a long distance event.  As a helpless bystander in his misery, I am hoping he's learned his lesson about needing to guzzle water when his training is this intense.  His 108 mile bike ride for Team in Training is this weekend and kidney stones aside, I am looking forward to his training being done so we can spend a little more time with him on Saturdays again.

Another less than exciting happening is the frequency with which I keep getting calls from the school to pick up a certain child.   I can expect it at least a couple of times a week these days and I think she and I are both  ready for school to be done!

On a happier note, Ellie invented her own recipe and fed us dinner the other night.  She'd been begging to make dinner for a while, but I figured it was just because she wanted taquitos (her favorite meal), which she tells me I don't make often enough. I knew she has a creative spark when it comes to arts and crafts, but I was surprised when she insisted on making up her dinner recipe completely by herself!  I made the crust and she stirred together cream cheese, a can of black beans, refried beans, chicken, some shredded cheese, and a little salt and pepper for the yummiest "dinner pie" ever!  Seriously it was delicious and she's now got a regular spot on the dinner making rotation!

  Another thing I've been enjoying the past couple of days is the opportunity to sleep in a little now that early morning seminary is done for the school year.  It's hard to believe we've been through 4 years of it with this guy...


and only have ten more years of it with the rest of the kids.  :)

Seriously though, despite the early mornings and loads of driving, we love the uplifting start it has given to Spence and Cam each day!  Thanks to seminary teachers everywhere (including my own from back in the day) who sacrifice so much to teach a bunch of sleepy (sometimes surly) teenagers each and every morning.  I am eternally grateful for  their awesomeness.



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