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.