Graduation Festivities

This week was packed with lots of graduation events. Senior Finals were Tuesday & Wednesday; Grad rehearsal #1 was Wednesday afternoon and Audrey's graduation party was Wednesday evening. The Senior Breakfast was Friday (at the Spokane Convention Center) and the final Graduation rehearsal was afterward. We also went to a few graduation parties on Saturday.

Sunday, June 12th, was the big day! We attended Church where the Young Women presented a Quilt to each of the graduating seniors. The YW theme was on the front along with signatures of all the young women and leaders. The back was Mickey fabric! Does Kathy Thompson know Audrey or what? (Kathy is who coordinated & completed the quilts).



After church we headed home to rest and then went downtown for the graduation. We had to be there at 3:30pm. Graduation commencement was at 4pm in the INB Performing Arts Center. It was the 100th commencement for West Valley School District, so in addition to the normal agenda items (processional of graduating seniors, senior speakers, band & choir performances), they also had a historical perspective speech and slide show by Jodee Cahalan, history teacher. (Fun fact, I was one of the students in her class during her first year as a teacher). The seniors got a special cap & gown set, as the orange portion that they wore over their black gown had "100th commencement" inscribed on it. We sure are proud of Audrey!


The commencement and picture taking got done about 6pm. We raced home to change & grab a bite to eat and be at the Seminary Graduation as soon as possible as it started at 7pm. I have to admit that originally I was a little frustrated that both graduations were the same day, but it was such an uplifting experience and a wonderful way to end the day. The music by the seminary choir was wonderful and those that spoke had a great spirit about them. It was a combined graduation with the East Valley, West Valley, Central Valley & University High Schools - so they served cake in the various school colors after the graduation.


After we got home, Audrey headed to the Senior All Nighter at 10pm and arrived safely home around 4pm? I honestly cannot remember, except that she had a great time and won a little ($20) at the bingo table. (I might have to have her add something to the official record here).

CONGRATULATIONS AUDREY! WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

Graduation Party

Right before Audrey's graduation party was set to start, Jodi & Scott Riggin stopped by with this awesome sign! They put it up on the front of the house which just added such a great festive flair to the event. Jodi is so talented!!! THANK YOU!!

We had literally spent the last three months working on the yard in the evenings and weekends to prepare for Audrey's open house to be held in the backyard. We put in new landscaping rock (2 & 1/2 tons), flowers and plantings, and even added 3 yards of dirt to the front yard along with new grass (from seed). The lawn was not "quite" full by the party, but still looked pretty good. The backyard looked great and the afternoon was looking very promising on a nice but not too warm sunny day:

The party started at 5:30pm and by 6:30pm the winds were starting to build up and the rain started falling. But by 7pm the rain was coming down in buckets!! We had guests stranded in their vehicles in the driveway waiting for it to "clear up" a bit. Thankfully someone had brought an umbrella so we sent Mariska's boyfriend out to rescue them. We had chairs set-up inside so guests were able to stay indoors and enjoy visiting without braving too much of the weather. For treats we paid a very talented baker duo to prepare the desserts and they did a fabulous job: Chocolate Pie Bites, Jumbo Snicker doodles, Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies with Sea Salt, Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange frosting, Graduation Cap Sugar Cookies and the most popular - Brownie Pops (dipped in caramel and then dipped in chocolate). Yummo!! Thanks Susan and Meredith for doing such a wonderful job. The added benefit for me not having to stress about the baking was very much appreciated and allowed me time to spend on the yard. I did add fresh fruit to the buffet - pineapple, raspberries, green grapes, red grapes and strawberries. We served ice water with sliced oranges (instead of lemons) and then had a big orange bucket of ice with "Orange" and "Black" Cherry Pop. You do know that WV's colors are orange and black? If not, you do now!


We are so grateful for those that were able to make the open house and also those that sent their best wishes to Audrey in the mail. She was very appreciative of everyone who thought of her during this fun time in her life.

WV T-Shirt Quilt

John had worked for West Valley for about 10 years and had a number of t-shirts from various events. I packed them all up and shipped them to Kathy, who made this fabulous t-shirt quilt for Audrey's graduation from West Valley High School. Kathy cut the t-shirts into 6" squares and then backed the quilt with denim squares. Audrey was very excited when she opened the package that came in the mail today. Thanks Aunt Kathy!! (oh, and Sidney kitty thinks the quilt belongs to her...)