Lia's High School Graduation

I can't believe it, but Lia is officially a high school graduate!  After a whirlwind few weeks of awards ceremonies, assemblies, events, and parties, the day finally arrived for Lia's actual graduation.  Since her graduation ceremony was scheduled for 5 pm, I decided to host our little family celebration before hand.  Since my dad no longer can handle sitting in bleachers for several hours, he was unable to come to Lia's graduation, but my mom was still able to join us.  I served a fancy lunch in the dining room at 1:30 with some gift opening to follow.  Afterwards, we all piled in Ron's Suburban and headed to the fairgrounds to get there over an hour early to find parking and seats in the grandstands.  We were blessed with an incredibly warm and sunny day with temperatures in the high 80s, so we were very grateful to discover that our stadium seats were in the shade for the entire event.  After waiting an hour, the graduates all walked in while Pomp and Circumstance was playing.  It was so exciting to find Lia and wave to her as she walked by us.  Although the ceremony lasted almost two hours, it went by pretty fast and we enjoyed listening to Lia sing with her choir once last time as part of the program before she walked up on stage to get her diploma.  We were able to take some family and friend pictures in the chaos after the ceremony was over before heading back home after a long afternoon at the fairgrounds.  I am so happy that we were there to support Lia through this final step in her high school career and cheer her on as she closed this major chapter of her life.  Congratulations, Lia!  We are so proud of you!

Our family and grandma enjoying lunch together in the dining room.

Lia posing for a photo next to her gifts and cards before starting to open them.

One of the gifts Lia received was the stuffed graduate Mickey that she picked out while we were at Disneyland for Spring Break.

Lia all decked out in her cap and gown and standing next to her graduation sign in our front yard before heading to the fairgrounds.

While we waited for the ceremony to begin, the yearbook pictures of the senior class were rotating on the two large screens at the front of the venue.  I managed to get a picture of Lia's senior photo when it popped up on the screen.

Lia walking in at the beginning of the ceremony.

Lia giving us the heart sign after she spotted us in the crowd.

The picture of the entire class of 2026 after they had all walked in and found their seats.

Lia's choir singing the song, in the middle of the ceremony.

Lia receiving her diploma.

Lia and her siblings.

Our family photo with grandma.

Our family with the proud graduate.

Lia with grandma.

Lia with her parents.

After leaving the fairgrounds, we were able to find two of Lia's three closest senior friends in the crowd.  Here she is posing with Ani and Erika.

The proud graduates with their "junior babies," Willow and Esley, who were able to get tickets to attend the ceremony.

4 Schools in 14 Years

After seeing this idea online, I asked Lia if she wanted to drive to all four of her schools in Puyallup to take pictures in her cap and gown.  Lia agreed and we figured out a way to make it to all four schools yesterday while juggling the grad walk at her elementary school, her graduation practice at the fairgrounds, and a senior party for one of her church friends. 

Although Lia attended a preschool co-op during her first year of preschool, she attended Celebration Lutheran Preschool right across the street from our old house from 2012 to 2013 for her PreK year.  She absolutely loved her teacher, Miss Vera, and made some wonderful friends who went to the same elementary school as her.

Lia attended Kindergarten through 6th grade from 2013 to 2020 at Shaw Road Elementary School.  Lia absolutely loved her seven years at this school and stayed close with two of her PreK friends, Mollie and Sienna, during her years here in addition to making many other wonderful friends.  The only disappointment was having her 6th grade year cut short due to the pandemic which caused her to miss out on all of the fun, end-of-school year festivities that they had planned for the 6th graders.

Lia attended 7th to 9th grade at Ferrucci Junior High School just up the hill from our house from 2020 to 2023.  Although the majority of her 7th grade year was online, she was full-time for 8th and 9th grade.  This was a difficult transition for her as she went to this school barely knowing anyone as her elementary school fed into the junior high school downtown.  Luckily, she made some wonderful friends at the beginning of her 8th grade year when she ran cross country that helped her start off that school year on a positive note.  By the time Lia left this school two years later, she had a ton of friends and had grown to love her time at this school.

Lia attended 10th to 12th grade at Rogers High School from 2023 to 2026.  Just like with junior high school, she started this school only knowing a handful of students from running XC/track the previous school year.  Although it was another lonely start to a new school, Lia slowly made more friends in her classes and while participating in theater productions that helped this school to become a happy place for her by her junior and senior year.  I am so proud of how much she grew during her years at this school and all of the amazing things that she accomplished here.  Although it makes me a little sad to think that she will never walk the halls of this high school as a student ever again, I am so excited for all of the many adventures she has waiting for her at BYU!

Graduation Walk at Shaw Road Elementary School

One of the traditions that I love in our district is the Grad Walk where seniors get to walk through the hallways of their elementary school while wearing their caps and gowns the day before they graduate.  After seeing this in person for the first time last year while I was subbing at Shaw Road, I have been looking forward to watching Lia participate in this tradition for an entire year.  However, I found out about a month ago that her mandatory graduation practice at the fairgrounds began at the exact same time as her Grad Walk at 1 o'clock.  This is due to the fact that the elementary schools schedule their Grad Walks around the graduation practices of the high school that they feed into.  Since Lia waivered into Rogers High School, her graduation practice time was not taken into consideration.  After getting over the initial disappointment of this information, I decided to see if I could figure out a way to make it work and called the Roger's office.  After talking to a really nice lady on the phone and explaining Lia's situation, she quickly gave Lia permission to be about 25 to 30 minutes late to her graduation practice.  Although this was good news, trying to make it to both events made Lia and I a little nervous, especially since I had been told that Grad Walks can start late due to many seniors arriving late to the elementary school.

After saying several prayers this week that it would all work out, the day finally arrived today.  Lia and I showed up an hour early to the elementary school so that we could go visit several teachers in the school.  We had a great time walking around and talking with teachers who remembered Lia.  I also introduced her to a few of my favorite classes that I have subbed for in addition to stopping by Ella's and Emmett's classes.  Afterwards, we met Lia's elementary friends outside the school at 12:45 and took several pictures.  By this time, several other graduates, parents, and former teachers were also arriving at the school.  It was so fun to see so many people who we haven't seen in years and briefly chat with them before the Grad Walk began.  After taking some group photos with all of the graduates together, the principal let the parents into the building first.  Once we were in place, the office staff started playing "Pomp and Circumstance" over the PA system and the graduates began walking down the hallway.  Just like last year, it was such a cool experience to watch these students proudly walk down their elementary school hallways all grown up!  Since I work at this school on a weekly basis and am very comfortable there, I ended up chasing the group of graduates around instead of staying in one spot with the other parents.  As a result, I was able to get video of Lia and her friends walking down Emmett's hallways and pictures of them walking down Ella's hallway.  It was so awesome!  The only bummer was that Lia and I had to leave the second the walk was over to race to the fairgrounds to get her to her graduation practice 20 minutes late while everyone else was able to stay and talk and even go out on the playground to play afterwards.  So although Lia missed out on the fun activities at the end, I am just so grateful that she was able to have this experience!

Lia standing in front of Shaw Road Elementary School where she was a student from 2013 to 2020.

The four of us standing outside Emmett's classroom.  Emmett was able to briefly wear Lia's cap which his 1st grade class thought was so funny!

Out of Lia's seven elementary school teachers, only one teacher, Mrs. Meyers, is still there.  Here is Lia pointing to her 5th grade picture that Mrs. Meyers hung up outside of her classroom.

Lia and Mrs. Meyers.

Although Lia's 4th grade teacher has moved to a different school in Tacoma, she came back for the Grad Walk.  Here she is posing with a bunch of her former students.

From left to right:

Sam, Lia, Ms. Arnett, Mollie, Sienna, and Rian

The group shot we were able to get of the graduates in front of the school sign.

A darling shot we got of Lia, Mollie, and Sienna who are her two closest buddies from preschool and elementary school.

Since more graduates had arrived in the minute or two since we took the group picture in front of the sign, we decided to take another one in front of the school.

Lia's good friend, Lilah, who moved to Kent after 4th grade came down for the Grad Walk.  We were all so surprised and happy to see her!  Here is another group picture I took with all of Lia's good friends from elementary school.

Left to right:

Rian, Sienna, Mollie, Lilah, Lia, Addy

Here is a screenshot from the video I took of Lia hugging Emmett.  Due to their unusually large age gap, I told Emmett he was probably the ONLY 1st grader to have a sibling graduating that year.  It was so fun to see them hug each other in the hallway.

Lia walking down Ella's hallway while giving all of the kids high fives.

La approaching Ella to give her a hug.

The darling photo I took of the two sisters hugging.  If I hadn't been in such a rush to get Lia to the fairgrounds for her graduation practice, I know that all of this would have made me bawl my eyes out.

Lia's Last Day of High School

It's hard to believe it, but yesterday was Lia's last day of high school and the last day of her public education career.  It still just seems surreal to me as I can barely remember a time in her life when she was not a student at a school in the Puyallup School District.  Just like always, I got up at 6:15 to make all of the kids' lunches and to make Logan's and Lia's breakfasts.  And just like always, Lia came downstairs in a rush to get out the door since she was running behind schedule.  Emmett and I were able to see her off for the very last time.  Lia then had a fun day at school, going to all of her classes to just hang out, talk, and sign yearbooks.  The seniors were then dismissed from school 15 minutes into their 6th period class and told to leave campus immediately.  However, Lia's theater/director had secretly told all of the seniors involved in drama that they could meet in the theater for a little party after school.  They enjoyed making a "candy salad" and signing the senior wall in the secret room above the theater.  After the party was over, Lia came home for a few hours before leaving again to attend the "Senior Sunset" at Chambers Bay in Tacoma and then to go see the movie, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, with a large group of seniors at a private movie theater in Tacoma.  Needless to say, she did not get home until very late last night.  It sounded like a fabulous way to wrap up her Senior year and high school experience!

I have been making Lia's school lunches every day since she started 1st grade.  It is a labor of love I have provided for her for her 12 years.  I bought this lunch box for her at the beginning of 8th grade, so it was crazy to pack it up for the last time after five years of use.

I managed to snap a picture of Lia as she raced into the kitchen to grab her breakfast and lunch for the last time before heading out the door.

I also managed to convince Lia to make a 10 second detour to the front porch for a final last day of school picture while wearing her senior overalls for the very last time.  Sniff.

Lia putting her stuff in the car for the last time.

A picture of Lia driving to high school for the very last time.  

A picture of Lia signing the senior wall above the theater.

A close-up of Lia working on her message.

All done!  Lia smiling next to her message that she has left for students to read for years to come.

Lia and Erika hanging out with two boys on one of the concrete structures at Chambers Bay while waiting for the sun to set.

Lia, Erika, and Alyssa posing for a selfie.

Lia and her beloved high school friend, Erika, together at  sunset.

Since PHS decided to change their Senior Sunset to last night due to the fabulous weather, Lia was able to find her three besties from elementary school there.  Here she is with Rian, Ella, and Sienna.

Rogers High School Honors Night

Last night, Ron and I joined Lia at her school's theater for Honor Night where the Roger's administration honored students who have a 3.5 GPA or above.  Although a few other awards were handed out, the main focus was calling up every senior one at a time to the stage to receive an honor cord that they can wear at their graduation this Saturday.  Lia was able to save seats for two of her friends, Erika and Hope, and enjoyed receiving her honor cord with these two important friends at her side.  It was a wonderful evening and a wonderful way to honor these students who have worked so hard academically these past four years. 

Lia waiting to have her name called by her counselor, Mr. Lynch, as her friend, Hope, walked onto the stage.

Lia receiving her honor cord from her principal, Mr. Smith.

Lia and her closest senior buddies.

Lia with her proud parents.