We had 3 granddaughters graduate this year. Tenley graduated from pre-school!
And she signed her committment to kindergarten in the fall!
How can you be already going to kindergarten??
It feels like you were just born!
A couple of weeks ago, we went to Arkansas for Emeri's high school graduation party.
Her Wisconsin cousin, Sophia, flew in for the weekend!
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People who came to the party were asked to mark their favorite Bible verses.
There was lots of food!
They had a dirty soda bar. I have never heard of that before. A fun alternative to a coffee bar or just pop. I tried Sprite with lemonade and strawberry and peach syrups. It was really good!
This book from my brother and his wife was a BIG hit!
We were not able to go to her actual graduation, as it was on a Tuesday night and Al had to work. But we watched some on-online.
Congratulations, Emeri! We are so excited for how God opened up those doors for you as you become a California college girl!! He worked it all out!
After her graduation, her class took their senior trip in Colorado. Her school bus went right by our house on the route! We made a sign for her.
We were following her on Life 360 and
we told her we'd be at the bridge and to watch for us!
There they were!! We waved big and held up the sign.
She took this photo of us.
This past Friday, we left Newton to go to Wisconsin for Sophia, our last granddaughter's graduation. We were following Emeri on Life 360. Emeri's class was returning to Arkansas and were going to make a stop at the Freddy's in Hays so we had planned to pick her up so she could go with us.
This is a field north of us. We had 4" of rain and probably there was more rain here. Not sure what that will do to the wheat harvest.
We arrived at Freddy's a little bit before the bus arrived. We shared a lunch and ordered Emeri's lunch for her so we could just load her up and head out once the bus arrived.
Freddy's was about to get a busload of kids invade them! Have you ever gone to a restaurant where there were maybe 50 people off a bus ahead of you in the line?
She said her byes to her friends. We loaded her up! A tight fit!
Northern Kansas is so pretty!
Sad history
We went by a place where there was a massacre of a wagon train also.
And by the Oregon Trail.
We went a mile off the road just north of Lebanon, KS where the center of the US is.
"It was determined by finding the center of gravity for the contiguous United States, that is, the point at which a plane map of the 48 states would balance if it were of uniform thickness. According to some calculations, the 'actual' lower 48 center was one quarter mile away, in the middle of a hog pen. But the farmer was reluctant to turn his farm into a tourist attraction, so the hilltop site was selected instead. A monument was erected in an opening ceremony on June 29, 1941 (before Alaska and Hawaii joined). When Alaska and Hawaii are included, the center center shifts to near Castle Rock, South Dakota."
There is a little chapel on the site.
Sadly, evidently no one was in charge of watering this.
The clouds were so beautiful.
A little rainbow too.
We went through all sorts of little towns.
Our path took us north of Hays, to Lebanon, into Nebraska, through Red Cloud, and Hastings, where Kool-aid was invented. There is a museum there but we could not take time to visit.
At Grand Island we hopped onto Highway 30 that angled into Iowa and all the way to Cedar Rapids. It was a LONG drive, but we were on roads we'd never been on, which is our objective - to take scenic routes and see parts of the US we've never seen before!
Emeri drove for quite a while and that was a big help.
We got to our hotel at 11:30. After spending a short night at Cedar Rapids, we drove to Fond du lac, Wisconsin by noon the next day. Graduation for Sophia was at 1. We stopped by the house for a change of clothes and to pick up Claire before going to the ceremony.
Sophia was the Valedictorian and gave a really good speech!
Character awards were given out and Sophia's character trait picked by the teachers was "Love". There are many character traits, like joy, that would have fit. She is a sweet, caring, fun-loving girl.
Character awards were given out and Sophia's character trait picked by the teachers was "Love". There are many character traits, like joy, that would have fit. She is a sweet, caring, fun-loving girl.
The commencement speech was by Dr. Bruce Prall, who at 86, is retiring after teaching science part-time for several years at their school. Do you know that he still can play tennis?? I'm impressed!
(Years ago, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Marian University, having been the school's first athletic director as well as the chemistry professor.)
Congratulations, Sophia!
Hannah and Nehemiah had arrived late that night after we were all in bed. Nehemiah's brother got married so they were not able to attend graduation, but had come for Sophia's party on Sunday.
Got my "Hannah hug" in the morning. Hugs have to last at least 15 seconds for good endorphin release, but she says 7 minutes is best! That is a long time for a hug!
We went to church.
During 2nd service, the rest of us set up the gym for her party.
The party began!
Papa and Nana told Jill that we would man the refreshments, that she should mingle with her guests.
Adam's family came.
It was a wonderful party with lots of friends who came to wish Sophia the best. There were games outside.
Cleaning up took quite a while and then we went back to the house for her to open up all her cards and gifts. People were so generous!
After a little nap, Hannah and Nehemiah headed back to Chicago as they both had work the next morning.
And that wraps up the 3 graduations of our family. On to new chapters in their lives.
