We looked for a “just right” graduation dress for Elle but couldn’t find one.

Instead of getting mopey about it, Elle heeded my suggestion to use the same graduation dress I wore all those years ago.

I mean, that is a wing-dinger of a dress right?

So when Elle came out wearing it (AS A JOKE) she sure made me smile.

 (She went right in and whisked that floral thing right back off after a big hug from her mom.)

Also in graduation prep news, my parents presented Elle with the most gorgeous Hawaiian lei for graduation to celebrate the fact that she’s heading to BYU-Hawaii.

My Dad looks pretty excited about it don’t you think?

He actually had a song to go along with the presentation and I caught the finishing pose.  That man cracks me up.

He leaves good long, loud, singing voicemails for me too.  Love them.

But I digress.

Back to graduation.

Let’s add a little picture right here of Nana and Papa with Elle before they left for Africa.

…because they were for sure there supporting her in spirit even though they couldn’t transport themselves to be there for the big day.

Here we are with old and new friends squished into the bleachers ready for the festivities to begin.

One lady we made friends with next to us handed out these fans to keep us cool in the hot summer breeze.

And then, groundhog day started once again (because it was just like Max’s graduation last year), and the bagpipes led the graduates on in.  Can you see Elle above and below?

You get a giant star if you do because that is a lot of kids.

Once again, great talks, and lots of names being read off as the almost 900 kids walked up to receive their diplomas.

There’s Elle up above…I know, hard to spot again…

All that name-reading was followed by fireworks and parents scrambling out to the field to find their graduates and give them giant hugs.

When we found Elle her cheeks were tear-stained but her smile was bright.

 

Those three above are all heading to BYU-Hawaii in August.

Great adventures lie ahead for them.

…and all these kids!

Our two graduates.

When we got home Elle unwrapped her graduation gift:

I was completely giddy for her to open it.

I had been saving all her t-shirts since she was itty-bitty and had planned to make a quilt with them.

Yeah, I planned to make one with Max’s too, but they are still in a pile in his closet.

So I decided to get help so this thing would actually get done, and I hired my awesome seamstress friend/neighbor to put them together.

She rocked it.

And she’s ready to get Max’s done before he gets home from his mission.

Better late than never, right?  THANK YOU Cherise!

So glad my parents shared in all the festivities with us.  They had to leave the next morning but we were so glad we got to soak them up while we could.
By the time we took that picture Elle was long gone.  Lots more celebrating to do!
And there we go.
Two down, three to go.
I’m saying that all nonchalantly like I didn’t have a breakdown the next night, but as for graduation night, it was a good one.
Grateful for the chance to celebrate all those kids and all the work they put in so they can go out and make the world a better place.

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14 Comments

  1. What an exciting day for Elle and your whole family! I'm sure she will enjoy this next stage of her life. On a completely different note…I'm in love with the grid of frames in your hall (?). They are the ones with the black and white photos. I've been thinking of doing this same thing with pictures of our great grandparents and such. Where did you get the frames? Are they the Ikea RIBBA? Thanks!

  2. Congratulations to Elle! And, oh my, my 3-year-old still has his first ever t-shirts and I'm totally going to save them all now. I love it!

  3. My oldest girl is only 2 years old…but I can't help but already cry, just at the THOUGHT of her graduating and leaving me! Darn those children, we need to move to neverland. 😉
    And what a beautiful quilt! I need to do that with all of my husbands tshirts! 🙂

  4. Congratulations Elle, what a beautiful Lei! I can't believe you still have your graduation dress…kinda wish I would have kept mine. How fun.

  5. You're an amazing photographer and your pictures are fantastic! The Dell ads that pop up on every. single. photo make me sad. I can't see the whole thing! Small price to pay for enjoying your blog but it is getting frustrating 🙂 Congrats to Elle!

  6. the funny thing is, your dress is **almost** back in style! it's really not that different from elle's floral prom dress! i think she should have rocked it at graduation 🙂 love that girl so much, and can't believe she's all grown up. my little niece and namesake that i met on the day she was born! love you shawn!

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