Lia's Baccalaureate & Seminary Graduation

Lia and I had a busy Sunday yesterday.  After going to church, we only had an hour at home before we left for the rest of the day and didn't get home until almost 9:30 p.m.  We started off by heading to Lia's high school to attend Baccalaureate in the theater.  Luckily, an LDS couple was in charge of planning this year's Baccalaureate program, so there were a few LDS students who were asked to be involved.  This was very different than my Baccalaureate 32 years ago where the entire program was run by Young Life students and all of the LDS students sat in the audience and were not asked to participate.  So I was so grateful to the Wards for making this change for Lia's school as the dad told me afterwards that this has not always been the case in the past at Rogers High School.  Since Lia had Sister Ward as one of her teachers for seminary in 10th grade, she was asked to be one of the ten students to participate in the program by reading a scripture passage and sharing her thoughts on it.  Lia chose to read Luke 15:4-6.  This is the message that she shared:

"In defending his practice of eating and socializing with outcasts and sinners, Jesus taught the parable of the lost sheep to the pharisees and religious leaders.  Luke 15: 4-6 says:

4.  What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

5.  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing.

6.  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.  

I love this scripture.  I love this parable because it teaches that God does not ignore those who are lost or have gone astray.  He actively seeks them out, rescues them, and rejoices in their return.  These scriptures reinforce to me how much God loves us, and how every single one of us in important to Him.  Although it may be easy to feel like the lost sheep, just know He will never abandon us.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.  He is constantly pursuing us and wants us to return home to Him.  Thank you."

After the Baccalaureate program was over, the group went to the cafeteria for pictures and some refreshments.  Lia and I then raced home to quickly change and pick up Ella and Emmett who wanted to join us for Mollie's graduation party who is one of Lia's closest friends since preschool.  After spending a little over an hour at Mollie's house, we rushed home to change back into our church clothes and head to the Stake Center for Seminary Graduation.  Lia and I listened to another hour long program before heading into the gym for a second round of taking pictures and eating dessert.  I am so proud of Lia for participating in her school's Baccalaureate program and for graduating from seminary.  Although seminary became much easier when she changed to the online program for her last two years of high school, she still had to attend a weekly Zoom meeting and complete four online assignments a week.  Juggling this scripture course on top of school, homework, and her extracurricular activities was no easy task.  So I am so proud of Lia for sticking with it, passing all eight semesters, and graduating from Seminary last night.

Lia reading her scripture to the audience at Baccalaureate.

Besides sharing her scripture and message with the audience, she was also able to sing the only song, "The Dawn," that was part of the program with Concert Choir.

Lia on stage a second time to receive the white cord that was handed out to all of the students at this event.  Here she is shaking hands with Mr. Schwebke who is the advisor for the Jesus Club.

Lia getting her cord for Mr. Schwebke.

Lia walking off the stage.  I just love this picture because it has her walking past the RHS letters which I think is symbolic of things to come with her graduation in a few days.

Lia and I in front of the balloon arch in the cafeteria after Baccalaureate was over.

Lia with two of her three closest senior friends, Hope and Ani.  Unfortunately, Erika had to work and couldn't make it.

Lia with the other LDS students in her stake.

From left to right:

Lia, Hillary, Lauren, Sophie, Kaila, and Tony

Lia receiving her Seminary diploma in the chapel of the stake center.

Lia receiving her second white cord of the evening from her Young Women's President, Sister Robinson.

Although there are six seniors graduating from our ward this June, only two graduated from seminary.  Here is Lia with her friend, Suzette, who she has know since they were five years old.

All of the Seminary graduates from our stake posing together in the gym after the program was over.

Ella Goes to 6th Grade Camp

Yesterday Ron and Ella spent the day at Black Diamond Camp in Auburn for her 6th Grade Camp.  This is a tradition that Ella's elementary school has done for years and is something that the 6th graders look forward to all year long.  Unfortunately, Lia's was cancelled due to the pandemic, but Logan was able to go and have a great time.  Just like with Logan, Ron was able to chaperone Ella's group that consisted of her friends Leah and Payton and two other girls, Violet and Elyse.  Although we had great weather down in Puyallup all day long, it rained, hailed, and even had thunder and lightening up where the camp is located. They did get some breaks in the day to enjoy some outdoor play, but luckily, this camp has several indoor activities that the kids were able to participate in.  Ella enjoyed playing volleyball and glow in the dark dodgeball, climbing the rock wall, riding the giant swing, swimming in the indoor pool, making smores around a campfire, and eating lunch in the cafeteria.  Overall, they had a great time in spite of the weather and I am so grateful that Ella was able to make this memory with her friends before moving on to junior high school this fall.

Ron with Ella and the rest of her group:

From left to right:

Violet, Elyse, Ella, Leah, and Payton

Ella climbing the rock wall.

The girls posing for Ron in the glow in the dark dodgeball room.

Ella on the giant swing in the pouring rain.  She was the last person to ride it before it got closed for the rest of the day due to hail and heavy rains. 

Lia's Final High School Choir Concert

Ron and I went to Lia's school last night to watch her sing in her final choir concert of her high school career.  After seeing her sing in so many concerts over the past several years, it was definitely bitter sweet.  She sang three songs at the beginning of the concert with Vocal Ensemble and then four songs at the end with Concert Choir.  In addition, her choir teacher recognized all of the seniors one at at time which is a tradition that he does every year at the June concert.  Lia was able to walk up to the front of the choir to receive a rose and her choir cord (that she gets to wear at graduation) while Mr. Wisness read her college plans to the audience.  After each senior was spotlighted, her choir director announced the four seniors (two boys and two girls) who had been voted by their classmates to receive the Most Inspirational and Excellence in Choir awards.  We were so thrilled to learn that Lia had been chosen as the Most Inspirational female student in the choir program and her name will go on a plaque that hangs in the choir room.  After receiving the Outstanding Actress award for her theater program a few days ago at the Drama Banquet, this was such wonderful news to see her being recognized a second time for her character and accomplishments in the choir program.  Way to go, Lia!  We are so proud of you.

Lia singing with Vocal Ensemble.

Lia singing the last song of her high school choir career.  Since we were sitting so close to her, I actually saw a tear drop off her face during this final song.  She shed quite a few tears after the concert was over as she has loved performing and singing so much with this high school.

Lia and the three other LDS senior girls in the Rogers choir program.

From left to right:

Kaila, Hillary, Lia, and Suzette

Lia and Hillary.  

Theses two girls met in 9th grade while running track for Rogers and become close through singing in the choral program the past three years.  They will be living in neighboring dorm buildings this coming year at BYU.

Lia and her beloved choir teacher, Mr. Wisness.

Ella's District Track Meet

For the fourth year in a row, we headed down to Sparks Stadium to cheer on one of our children at the large, district track meet that is held every June for the 5th and 6th graders who chose to participate in their school's track season.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day in the high 80s which made for some very hot weather for the students to compete in.  I picked up Emmett early from school at 2 p.m. and then drove straight to Logan's school where I picked him up outside the parking lot at 2:05 right after his school got out.  We then drove straight to the stadium where Ron joined us a few minutes later.  Unlike previous years, Ella was only allowed to compete in one event instead of two due to how many students turned out for her school's track team this year.  Her coaches decided to put her in the only relay (the 4x100) as the first runner which is a compliment to her as the fastest runners are always the first and last runners in the relay.  Since this track meet literally goes on for hours, we timed it to arrive about 30 minutes before her event started.  Luckily, she ran in the second heat which meant we weren't standing in the hot sun for too long.  After a bit of a wait, her relay began and she did a great job getting her team into second place.  Unfortunately, there was one school with a really strong runner who got her team in first place where they stayed the entire race.  So although Ella's team did a great job, they finished in second place.  Ella was a little disappointed by this as her school has a history of winning the relay race every year, but she soon got over it as she really had a great time spending almost the entire school day hanging out with her friends in the stands and cheering on her teammates instead of being in class.

Ella (in the second lane from the left) taking off as the starter shoots the gun.

Ella running around the corner at the beginning of the race.

Ella trying to catch up to the girl in the green whose team stayed in first place the entire race.

Ella approaching us.

And running right past us.

A cute sibling photo I took of the three kids after Ella's race was over.  It has been fun to cheer on both Logan and Ella for two years at this district meet the past four years.  It's hard to believe that we will be back here again in four years when Emmett is in 5th grade.

Lia's Final Drama Banquet

Lia attended her third and final high school drama banquet tonight.  This is an event that the theater director and drama board host every year before school gets out and all of the students who have been involved (both on and off stage) with any of the three productions put on that year are invited to attend.  Since Lia is the vice president of her drama board this year, she was able to be a part of the planning of the event and helping with the set up.  Since she didn't have time to come home after school to get ready, Lia got all dolled up in one of her pretty dresses in the theater green room and Emmett and I delivered our food for the potluck dinner to her before the evening began.  Lia had a fabulous evening eating dinner with her friends and then listening to the awards ceremony hosted by her theater director afterwards.  Lia received a certificate and a light green cord for lettering in Theater and also found out that she was chosen as the recipient of the Outstanding Actress award that is handed out each year to one senior girl.  Receiving this award is quite an honor as only four seniors are given awards at this banquet and their names go on one of four plaques that are on display in the glass case in the theater lobby.  I just love that Lia's name will forever be in the high school theater lobby as this part of her school has been such a huge part of her life these past three years.  Congratulations, Lia!  We are so proud of you and all that you have accomplished on the stage during your time at Rogers!

Logan's Last Kalles Track Meet

Logan has been running five days a week with his junior high track team ever since the season started the day after spring break on April 13th.  He has ran in a total of six track meets this season and Ron and I were able to be there for four of them.  Logan did an excellent job running the 1600 and the 800 meters at every meet.  He is in the top four long-distance runners on his team and PR'd at almost every meet this year.  I love watching how hard he works and pushes himself at every meet and we were all thrilled to learn that he PR'd in both of his events at his last meet yesterday at Kalles.  Logan ran the 1600 meters in 5:31 and the 800 meters in 2:32 which is just amazing to me.  Well done, Logan!  We are so proud of you!

Logan coming around the corner after finishing his first lap of the 1600 meters.

Logan running past me...

and around the bend on his second of four laps.

Logan pushing hard as he approaches the finish line of the mile.

Crossing over the finish line.

Logan trying to catch his breath on the field after finishing the mile.

Logan and his friend, Keegan, running by me during the second lap of the 800 meters race.

A Chapter Closes for Ella

For as long as Ella can remember, gymnastics has been part of her life.  She took rec lessons at the Y during both or her preschool years and moved to Ascend gymnastics her Kindergarten year to participate in a better rec program.  After the pandemic shut everything done, she returned back to rec classes at the beginning of 1st grade and never stopped.  For the past six years, it's been her #1 sport and focus.  She went from being in the advanced rec class in 1st grade to preteam in 2nd grade to competitive gymnastics from 3rd to 6th grade.  I loved watching her grow and develop over the years in her confidence, her skill level, and her work ethic.  Most especially, I loved the dear friendships that she has made during her years in the gym.  But, yesterday, this chapter closed for good as Ella has made the decision to make the transition to competitive cheerleading.  Since it has always been a dream of Ella's to be cheerleader in high school, we thought that it would be a good idea to have a year or two of competitive cheerleading experience before she tries out for her high school cheer team in the spring of 8th grade.  So after doing a bunch of research and checking out three cheer gyms in our area, Ella attended three nights of tryouts at one of these gyms last week.  With zero cheerleading experience, we found out last Saturday that Ella had been placed in their top level due to her tumbling skills, her athleticism, and her small build that will make her an excellent flyer.  This was super exciting news for Ella and me and confirmed that we had made the right decision to move to cheerleading at this time.  

So it was bitter sweet last night for Ella to attend her last gymnastics practice of her life and say goodbye to her beloved Xcel coach, Madison, and to all of the girls on her Xcel Platinum team.  Although she had only been with this new team for a year, she absolutely adored her new coach and all of the girls on her team.  The majority of this team consists of high school age girls, but they all treated Ella like a little sister.  And, luckily, Ella hit it off with the few girls that were close in age to her and had a great time spending hours with them practicing every week.  Overall, Xcel was a wonderful experience for her and I am so grateful that she was able to close her gymnastics chapter on such a positive note.

I was able to go watch 2.5 hours of Ella's final practice last night which is something I haven't done all year long due to how busy I have been.  Although I missed her practicing on the floor, I caught all three of the other events.  Here is Ella standing on the beam next to her coach on the right hand side while watching one of her teammates do her routine.

Ella waiting in line to do the vault.

Ella warming up on the bar.

Ella jumping to the top bar.

Ever since Ella moved to competitive gymnastics, her coaches have always finished practice by recognizing the gymnasts who have excelled the most in that practice by doing a "class clap."  They ask the girls who are being recognized to step forward from the line of gymnasts while the coaches talk about them.  When they are done, the girls jump/spin in a circle while the rest of the team clasps for them.  Last night, Ella's coach recognized the five girls leaving (Ella and the four seniors who are graduating) and had them do one last "class clap."  Here is Ella on the left side of the line listening to her coach say goodbye to these girls.  After practice, we gave Ella's coach a thank you gift and I made a batch of cupcakes (with gymnastics cupcake toppers) for Ella to share with with her teammates on their way out the door.

Ella posing with Coach Madison after her last practice was over.

Ella standing with Olivia who became one of Ella's closest gym friends this past year.

Ella posing for one last picture with two more of her closest gym friends, Savannah and Quinn.