food, fun and fellowship

1. D2 makes a dandelion wreath
2. S1 does a dive-roll on the lawn
3. Cup game*
4. New pals

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1. A glowing D1
2. Silly poser!
3. D2 with Daddy's unwieldy digicam
4. My sweet Mrs., trading shot for shot

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Two parties were held at State Street Church. This is still part of our "Kentucky" weekend, though the church is just North of the border in Indiana. The first party was for SIL and a fellow graduate on Friday. Then on Sunday, they had a time of more food and fellowship after the ordination. What a nice bunch of people! We had a good time with them, and the kids enjoyed the spacious lawn on the side of the hill that the church was built upon.

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*At Friday's graduation party, I finally tried Mrs. Craver's cup game. It's a rhythmic passing game she learned from some young girls at camp. You go faster and faster until contestants can't keep up. It was an excellent ice-breaker with people we didn't really know yet. I already miss them.

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I am glad that D1 & SIL made this their home church while they were living down there.

celebratory ceremonies

Graduation

1. Procession behind school banner
2. Big Al hands Wes the coveted diploma
3. A graduation kiss from Wifey
4. The siblings minus D1, who was taking a picture

Ordination

1. D1's amazing song
2. SIL's family watches with great joy
3. Craver gave the Charge to the Ordinand
4. SIL's dad (also ordained) prays over him

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More photographs forthcoming!!

commencement

It rained so hard on Thursday's drive to Kentucky that the reduced visibility was frightening. Literally. There's nothing like fear to get your heart racing and adrenaline pumping and put you in full alert status. We made it down there without any trouble, and we did not have any problems with rain at Friday's graduation.

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Being confident of warmer weather, I did not pack a sweater or spring jacket. That was not wise. The graduation was held outdoors, and there was a cool mist in the air that had thousands of us shivering.

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My son-in-law's family picked a seating area that they felt would be good for taking pictures, because it was near one of the main aisles. They offered the end, so that I could get up and get better shots, but I declined, because I would really have to get way up close or use a tripod to get the kind of photograph that deserves preferential treatment.

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Pop! What's this?? Oh, I can't believe it. Two rows in front of us, a couple opened up a golf umbrella. There was a lot of moisture in the air, but no real precipitation. If you've ever sat behind a cowboy's "ten gallon" or "big hat lady," this was worse! Those white banner-type things with a coat of arms marked each end of the stage. As you can see from my photo, ALL of the people on-stage were COMPLETELY blocked off! I chuckled, but did not say anything right away, because until the program began, I didn't really need to see the stage.

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They put the gi-normous umbrella away as soon as commencement... er, commenced. :-)

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I'll have more photos and stories later, but my parting thought: It was a looooong time to be sitting out there without being properly dressed for the weather. Brrrr... I had my youngest son on my lap with my arms around him. That helped (both of us).

gourd news

(licensemaker)

On Thursday, we will be squashing the family into the minivan and heading down to Kentucky for my son-in-law's big weekend. He graduates from Seminary on Friday and will be ordained on Sunday. I am excited to be able to attend.

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It is likely that I will have very little (if any) blog access until Tuesday, so I'll miss y'all. Sadly, I'll lose several days of lawn care and I'll miss them little pumpkins on the soccer field, but this is totally worth it. You be gourd (good) now. ;-) In case you're wondering, the wicker gourd doesn't really have anything to do with this. I have been waiting to use it since I took that picture back in January, so here it is. Ta-Daa!