Graduation Day!

Friday was not just the last day of school for our girls, but it was made super special because Sophie graduated from Kindergarten! We are super proud of her & the great year that she has had. She has grown in so many ways, stretched her mind & most importantly grown closer to God! We are extremely thankful that Sophie was able to have the same amazing K teacher that Jack had; we love her to pieces & pray that all of our kids will get to go through Ms. Sweet's kindergarten. The way she loves & nurtures the children really does bring out the best in them & inspires each child to achieve great things!

The graduation included a wonderful program with songs & a precious skit put on by the 17 graduates. Then they quickly donned caps & gowns to receive their diplomas! Afterwards, there was a beautiful lunch for all of the grads & their families & friends. The whole event was top notch! I am normally a fairly sentimental person...I cry at commercials & movies & almost every Sunday in church! But I actually made it through the day okay...I think it was a combination of being really excited for Sophie, being really busy keeping up with all the kids at the graduation & still being in a little bit of shock that the school year is really over & summer break is here...I honestly feel we just came back from Christmas break about 3 weeks ago!

We got to give a quick hug to Sophie on our way in to the program! 

Sophie & her classmate Sophia

Drew & Nana waiting for the program to start

Lucy talking to Yaya, Drew & Nana

The program was all about going forward in life & following God's great plans for us. Sophie had two speaking parts & nailed both perfectly! Our girl who started the year so shy & quiet speaking did a super awesome job! Several of the children were dressed up for what they would like to be when they grow up...an artist, a race car driver, teachers, a nurse, a vet, a pediatrician, a dentist, a soldier & an engineer...and our Sophie said that she would like to be a missionary & travel the world to far away places to share the Good News about Jesus! 

For her second part, Sophie said, "One of the greatest things in life is..." Well, here why don't I just let Sophie tell you herself what one of the best things in life is! (Sorry that you can't see her very well, my camera doesn't have a zoom...)

Lucy was, once again, a peach through the whole hour long program!

Our adorable graduate looking so grown up!

The Kindergarten graduating class of 2011 (HS graduating class of 2023!)

The class with teachers Ms. Sweet & Ms. Callahan

Sophie going up to receive her diploma

Tassel switched to the other side!

A BIG hug for Ms. Sweet!

And our sweet graduate!

We are so proud of our sweet Sophie girl & know the Lord has great plans for her life!

I think another reason that I didn't get too weepy about Sophie's graduation was knowing that we have a few more K graduations over the next few years...

Lucy will be in the Kindergarten class of 2017 (graduating from high school in 2029!)

The theme for the graduation luncheon was Shining Stars

Thanks to several wonderful moms from the class, the room was decorated wonderfully for the luncheon! 

Balloons & stars & a wall of posters that the teachers made for each child.

Fun pictures of special moments throughout the year

The cake was topped with star cookies with each graduates name 

After lunch, several special gifts were presented from the teachers & the school.

A brand new Bible perfect for new readers & a graduation Build-a-Bear with cap & gown!

Lucy slept through a lot of the lunch, but woke up long enough to make eyes at everyone...

& give us lots of smiles!

The kids all signed each others Bibles

I wish I had taken more pictures, but it was a flurry of constant activity & movement. The graduates were all SO excited & flitted around from table to table relishing in their special day!

And this is what all my pictures of Drew look like these days...he is always moving, always busy, always looking at something else & NOT looking at the camera!

Sophie with Nana (We missed Pop, but he was called away at the last minute that morning to deal with flooding from a busted water heater at Jeff's brother's house.)

We are so blessed that both sets of our parents live close-by & love to support their grandkids!

Ms. Callahan, Ms. Sweet, Sophie & her friend Sydney 

Sophie & her friend Joshua with Ms. Callahan...

and with Ms. Sweet!

The car loaded up on the way home...each graduate got to bring home one of the balloon bundles!

As soon as we got home & got everyone unloaded Sophie was looking for scissors to cut some of the balloons out of the bouquet. 

When I asked her what she was going to do with the balloons, she replied excitedly that it had been "such a wonderful day!" so she needed to release some balloons to send praises up to God for the great day! 

Sending praises and thanks up to God for His wonderful blessings!

Watching the balloons go...

and go....

and go! I praise God for Sophie's sweet heart for the Lord!

Last, a couple of pictures of the kids (minus Drew who was sleeping!) with Yaya & Grandpa

It was a really wonderful day & the afternoon turned out great, too...Yaya stayed with us & the kids enjoyed playing all kinds of games with her & dancing to praise songs. We enjoyed a pizza dinner & then Yaya even spent the night so Jeff & I could have a little time out in the evening to run errands & get ice cream, alone.Thanks Yaya!