#2 Graduation

Somethings are the same as last year. The place, the color of gowns, the heat. But Stephen's had a different flavor of graduation. Above is Stephen and his Auburn Roommate Sam. So fitting he wears the "National Champs" T-shirt.

Even thought the graduation was the same place, Stephen had over 500 classmates. So we sat are a different side of the coliseum this year:)

Other things that were unique:

1. Jason was not in attendance. He is off in Texas working at a family camp.

2. This year graduation was at 2:00 not 10:00 thus we had brunch before graduation with friends and family.

3. David actually knew what was going on this year instead of " out of it" due to 10 days in the hospital with 103-105 fever. Thus Dad felt like he was going through emotionally two graduations since he missed last year.

We enjoyed this chapter of Stephen journey. He had a great Sr year. He is off to Auburn in the fall. It is hard not to smile when know your kids are looking forward to going to your Alma mater. Actually I would smile if they were not going to Auburn. I am just smiling because they are confident to go out of the county to college.

#2 Graduation had some of the same and different emotions. I am grateful for the gift God has given us to walk this far with Stephen.

First and Last

PCA had their first athletic banquet. Steak and Potatoes were on the menu. Great set up. All athletes were recognized. Having an athletic banquet is one thing that Caroline got to experience at PCA that her siblings did not. She played middle school basketball and volleyball her 8th grade year. She also played up for the varsity for both sports. These three girls have played many years of basketball together. They are each going to separate sports for high school: basketball, soccer and running.

Some Pictures Make me Smile...

There are some pictures that make me smile. ..And feel a little sad. For 13 years I have been going to soccer games. This was Stephen's final year in soccer. The year he has been waiting for. All 10 of these seniors have worked hard. They were all starters. They are all good soccer players. They were state ranked. They won their District and by a fluke lost a game that ended their season way too soon.

But this pictures reminds me of how some may feel a season is wasted because of the outcome; this bunch did not waste their season. They worked hard on the soccer field but they also enjoyed the journey of the season. Stephen came home saying what fun he had. He had fun playing soccer games they had lost and fun just practicing. He had fun on the games out of town and he had fun winning. The journey was fun. They took the game very serious but they also loved the game.


I hope I remember that. I sometimes am in such a hurry to get to the end of a project, I forget to live in the moment and enjoy the journey. These pictures were taken on Sr night after a serious Sr picture. What good memories and hopefully life long lessons.