Tanner's Graduation(s) & School's Out

 G-pa Laverne was able to attend Tanner's Seminary Graduation with us on Sunday, May 22.  We missed Bob & Janene as they were in Florida visiting Brandon's family. 

 It was a busy Sunday.  Tanner was invited to speak in our sacrament meeting earlier that day.  Graduating seniors were assigned various topics - Tanner spoke on the importance of education (For the Strength of Youth) and did a marvelous job.  He was also called to team-teach a primary class (Valiant 11) with Jacob for the summer.

Quinn was super excited when the morning of May 24 finally rolled around.
He's been anticipating "Donuts with Dad" all month long.

Apparently, the kids don't sing beautiful songs and paint lovely flower pots with their dads.
They build stuff and play outside.

And eat donuts. 

The final week of school is always filled with fun.

Once again, I was a mom-helper for Field Day.

I was in charge of beach volleyball and soccer for the K-2 grade classes.  We did 5-rotations and I pretty lost my voice by the end of it all.  I recruited Jantzen and his buddy, Landen G. to help with the soccer station.  They didn't have school at the junior high that day so it worked out well.

Since I was at the school all morning, Aaron picked up pizza on his way to join us for the family picnic.  Another parent in our area owns Sno-Shacks so the kids got their fill of snow-cones.

It's always fortunate when the weather cooperates for Field Day.

Playdates afterwards - Elsie went with Danna and Quinn had Cooper M. over.

Yep, we waited until the final day of school for the kids to take a little teacher 'thank-you'.

It felt very strange to push a cart full of soda pop at the store the night before school was out.  I wrestled a bit feeling hypocritical since I would never drink this stuff but the kids assured me their teachers LOVE and drink pop often.  Quinn wasn't sure so we bought lemonade for his teacher.

Elsie completed 3rd grade with Mrs. Lawrence.

Quinn finished up 1st grade with Mrs. Gentile.

The others wouldn't let me follow them into the schools to take pictures with their teachers:).

Am I already old enough to have a high school graduate?

The years have clipped along.  I still remember his first day of kindergarten at Hayden Peak Elementary in WJ, UT with Mrs. Drake.  He was excited and nervous all at the same time.  Each school year has been an adventure all its own.

On the last day of school, Aaron and I cruised south to check out a new nursery where we purchased a tree and a few shrubs for our front bed.  We didn't have much time because the kids got out early from school.  While driving toward home, we passed the Fielding Memorial Cemetery and I happened to look to the area where Bob & Aloha (maternal grandparents) are buried.  I knew my parents were stopping at their parents graves en route to our house and sure enough, I spotted the two of them.  They were mighty surprised when Aaron and I pulled up and joined them at the cemetery for a few minutes.  Then G-pa P jumped in the truck with Aaron and headed home before the younger kids got off the bus.  G-ma P and I took a bit longer as we hit Sam's Club for a few purchases.

I debated getting this huge cake knowing Tanner may not even eat any of it but lots of other people sure enjoyed it later that evening.  Thanks G-ma P!

  We always enjoy having G-ma and G-pa P around. Though they rarely exceed a 24-hour stay and we don't usually have projects for them, they were happy to help plant a few shrubs with us on Friday afternoon.  We packed in about all we could during the 18-hours they were in town.

 Hoagies and fresh salads - an early meal before attending Tanner's graduation.

We arrived plenty early to get good seats even though the facility holds 15,000 people.

G-pa P and Tanner before the ceremonies began.

Tanner has been incredibly blessed to have two amazing women he can call "Grandma".

Before the actual ceremonies began, we listened to an impressive specialty choir perform a number of songs.  Two large screens scrolled through pictures of the graduates.  We encouraged Quinn and Elsie to bring notebooks/coloring items anticipating the evening could be a long one.

Looking through the program, it certainly had the potential of being a long evening with a few speakers, musical numbers and 308 graduates.

 Dignitaries and some choir members are dressed in black. The red cap and gown students up front represented the 4.0+ students of which Tanner was one.

 In such an immense facility, it was hard to get decent pictures but here is one from the large screen.

Lots of kids did 'their thing' upon having their names read and walking across the stage (a few back flips, little dances, hand signs, etc.) but Tanner was poised and gracious (of course!).  The speakers were top-notch.  The music was inspiring. And the entire program was completed in 1 hour 20 minutes.  Now that's impressive!  Quinn and Elsie didn't even have time to get out their notebooks.  Even G-pa P said it was the finest graduation event he has ever attended.  One well-oiled machine!

 Tanner and Jacob - friends for forever

 Tanner and Annie with Elsie

 Jane S. with Tanner 

(she was one of the two student speakers)

 Haylee P., Tanner, Emily T.

Daylen, Chloe, Tanner

Yeah, we could have taken a zillion more friend pics but needless to say, Tanner has been on a date with each of these girls (and many others, too).

 

 Taking a sibling photo wasn't quite as easy.

Janene, Aaron, Tanner, Heather, Bob

Four generations = 220+ years of life experience.

Kristen, Tanner, Steve

Tanner and Breanna 

(cousin and fellow BYU-I student)

Derek, Tanner, Breanna

(nothing official "yet")

Ha-ha!  We tried it again but it just wasn't happening at that moment.

Everybody (except LaVerne) gathered back at our house for a few hours of storytelling and walking down memory lane.  That's what happens when my parents and Aaron's parents get together.  Even Breanna and Derek were entertained.  Really, I think they just like being together but since he's another Idaho farm boy from Teton Valley he fit right in.  Tanner had an all-night senior party that he later attended for a few hours but staying up until 4:00am really isn't his thing. 

Tanner, Breanna, Derek, Bob, Elsie, Greta, Janene, Brinley

After all of the last day of school activities and graduation events on Friday, Aaron and I geared up for another round of family gatherings.  Saturday afternoon we hosted a BBQ at our place since Bonnie and Bryant decided to drive up for the weekend (hardly ever happens!).

Bennett, Anna, Lillian roasting/burning marshmallows.

A rare moment captured.  A normal picture of Lil.

Lillian ALWAYS pulls funny faces when cameras are around.

Bon and Bry drove up with their 4-wheeler and Bob brought his over.  Along with our 4-wheeler, the kids had plenty of opportunity for rides. 

Bryant also brought up this fun bean-bag toss game. 

 I can't remember what its called but the competitions were fierce.

Bryant & Elsie

Chris & Julia's family also joined us along with LaVerne.  Our after-dinner meal consisted of a shrimp boil (with potatoes, corn, sausage, etc.).  I love it when Chris experiments with new recipes and lets us be the guinea pigs.  Saturday night Anna and Lillian slept at Breanna's apartment with her and then joined us for church the next day.

Another family gathering occurred on Sunday afternoon.  

We celebrated LaVerne's 94th birthday!

Given his current bill of health, he could easily reach the centennial milestone.

I don't know anyone else his age that still drives, golfs, exercises daily and goes on dates regularly (with one gal in particular).

After celebrating with M. family for the 3rd time in one weekend, it was time for family from the P. side to join in the fun.  And that's just what happened...right after I dropped Brinley off at the high school to catch a bus.  More to come...