Pomp and Circumstances beyond our control.

Sunday, May 19
Seminary Graduation

We've experienced 15 long years of getting kids up and seeing them off for early morning Seminary. In the beginning, Bill would get up most days with Tay and Britt, make them breakfast, pray with them, and send them on their way.  We started switching off weeks with Lex and Shi, and I think, for the most part, both of us would get up with Mar. (Let it be known that the first 3 kids would need several attempts of parental shaking and waking to get them up each day, the last 2 were much better at waking up to an alarm.) I've taught early morning Seminary the past 2 years (Bill for the past 1), so not only have I been up with Mar, I've been out the door before her. I anticipate another 2 years of teaching (possibly 3 for Bill), so it's not exactly over for us, but it feels good to know we are done with our own kids.
All 5 Seminary grads -- makes me so happy!

We snapped a few pics of Mar with the other grads in our ward.

Monday, May 20

Snow

AAAAUUURRRGGGGHHH!

It had been cold and rainy most of the day, but the rain turned to snow in the evening. Bill brought our front planters into the garage, and before hitting the hay, we spent some time shaking snow from our plants and trees. This little cold snap (the week prior had been in the 70s and 80s) could not have had worse timing. NOT what I was hoping for for graduation week.

Tuesday, May 21

Senior Awards Night

Grandma and Grandpa Syddall had flown in that day, and attended the awards night with us. 

(Jason had also flown in that day, but we knew from experience -- reminder here -- that this could be long and uncomfortable, so he, Lex, and M elected to spend the evening together at home.)

Mar received a stole for highest honor - a weighted GPA above a 4.0 - and she received two cords.

She also received one of the two awards for her VPA - Visual and Performing Arts - Academy. (Each academy recognized one girl and one guy.) 

Nice work, Mar!

Wednesday, May 22

Graduation Day

Mar's awesome YW leader came and put a 2019 and some balloons by our front step. Sister Nielson lives a few house down from us, and we have been so blessed to have her be a dear friend and church leader for Mauri. As Mar transitions into Relief Society, I think she will miss those wonderful women who have served her so diligently in Young Womens.

 

The rest of the gang drove into town in the early afternoon, then we pretty immediately met up for lunch at Red Robin. We had a fairly tight schedule, since Mar needed to be at the school by 3:15.

It was adorable to see how excited V was to see Scarlett.

I was so happy that all of Mar's sibs came to support her (and spend time with us!).

Lex and I took Mar to snap a few pics at the school before she had to load up on the bus with the band and orchestra peeps (**more about WHY at the end of this post).

We had to get a jumping pic in front of the school, and since Mar was graduating at night, we knew we needed to get it before since it would be dark (and rainy...) by the time it was over.

(Other Syddall high school grad jumping pics here and here.)

Mar took a sweater and a coat, and wore long warm tights with rain boots.

We were anticipating cold, possibly rain.

We are no strangers to rain on a graduation day, since it rained on both Britt's and Shi's, but at least they were WARM days, and we were blessed to have the rain stop during the actual ceremony both times. 

This day was already cold, and we knew it would only get colder as the sun went down. I was hoping and praying for the rain to stay away, though.

 Grandma and Grandpa G showed up just in time to unload, get dressed, and go with Bill and me to Red Rocks to save seats for the graduation. We, too, prepared for the cold and possible rain. Since we were told umbrellas were not permitted, Bill had run around looking for rain ponchos that day, luckily securing a few. We debated about whether to leave the littles home with a babysitter or to take them. After much discussion, we decided just to take them, but advised the parents to wait to arrive until about an hour into the ceremony, since all of Mar's events were at the end. It was a good plan.

My parents and we got there just in time to hear Mar and her friends warm up for the song they would be performing that night.
Seriously so cool.

Bill was able to get a little closer to snap a few pics.

Shi and Kody, along with Grandma and Grandpa S, arrived just as things were about to begin. The light rain we had experienced earlier had subsided... perfect timing, once again.

Tay, Nae, Britt, Lex, and Jase showed up with the littles about halfway through. Again, perfect timing. It was cold.
Definitely low 40s to high 30s.

Finally it was time for Mar to walk. 

(The graduates would walk by academy, and we knew hers would be the last to go.)

Immediately after her academy received their diplomas, Mar would sing, then the graduates would turn their tassles, and it would be over. Just as they were finishing up announcing the grads in her academy, it began to rain. Not quite a light sprinkle, as it had been earlier in the evening, but not quite a downpour either (trying to focus on the positive haha). I was a wee bit disheartened, as her performance started as people were chatting, moving, putting on rain gear, and some getting up to leave. The ceremony had started 15 to 20 minutes late due to parking issues, and I had wished they had been able to start on time. I thought it was a spoiler for sure.

My phone was out of storage space, so I am so grateful that Shi managed to record from the big screen Mauri's performance.

We really were sitting among a group of rude people... the row in front of us AND in back of us talked in regular voices non-stop throughout the entire ceremony.

Mar was amazing.
Afterwards, the graduates turned their tassles, threw their caps (which you can't see at night haha), and it was over.

I snapped a quick pic of the crowd behind us just as things were finishing up.

These peeps headed out pretty quickly. M, L, V, and Wonderful Sweet Scarlett did great.

We waited for Mar to come to us, then I realized she had texted me to come down to the stage area. Those of us still there (grandmas and grandpas, Shi and Kody, Bill and I), went down to congratulate her.

When I told her I was bummed that it started raining just as she was about to sing, she responded, 

"I thought it was magical! It looked so cool from the stage!"

There you go.

Perspective is everything.

It was a lovely ceremony.

Definitely the coldest, wettest graduation I have ever attended, but also very memorable.

Thursday, May 23

Grad Party

We combined with three other grads from our ward for the party.

Lex had taken some pics of them a few weeks prior, and we made a couple into posters. That girl has skills.

I also relied heavily on the help from these awesome peeps. Love them.

Each mom made our grad's favorite dessert... Mar's was cheesecake.

Shi, Britt, and Lex were also huge helps in the decor. Shi did the outside sign, Lex and Britt put together the balloon garland for behind the card baskets, Britt helped with Cricut tips and made a darling Congratulations banner (not pictured... so sad), Lex took pics. I am so grateful that my girls are so willing to help and share their amazing talents.

The party was at the Cauble's house. We were hoping for good weather, since they have a huge backyard, but it was too cold to be outside.

Another mom, Carol, did this adorable soda station sign.

The soda station was a big hit, and we had a line for a good portion of the evening. Lynnea was a huge help, then Shi, Kody, and Nae worked the second half of the night. I am sooooo grateful for them!

We also did a nacho bar, but I think this is the only picture we have:

It was a super fun party.
The biggest thank you to all those who helped, and all those who came to support these awesome grads!


**The backstory to the unfortunate timing of the grad party... a mom fail for me, for sure.
I'll try to give the Reader's Digest version {wink}.

Since October, Mar's choir/musical teacher had sent emails to parents telling them to save the date for the possibility that their musical Mamma Mia! would receive some nominations for Bobby G Awards. The Bobby G's of Colorado high school musicals are equivalent to The Oscars or Tonys for professional actors/theater. CV's musical Les Mis had been nominated for 5 awards the year prior, and the cast was invited to attend, but tickets were expensive and Mar didn't really have an interest in going. One actress from CV who was up for a Best Actress award from Les Mis performed at the event last year. Because this was my only experience with the Bobby G's, and since Mar didn't have a LEAD lead in Mamma Mia!, it wasn't even on my radar.
I didn't "save the date."

After I had met with the other moms about the party and we had decided on a date, we had all printed the info on our invites. Once my invites/announcements had arrived, I quickly addressed and sent out around 65 of them. Literally the day after I had put them in the mail, the Bobby G nominations were announced. CV was nominated for 7 awards, and had been invited to perform a whole-cast number at the awards ceremony since one of their nominations was for Outstanding Production of a Musical. The Bobby G Award Ceremony was on the same date our party was planned. I gave Mar a choice -- to skip the group party (possibly having a little party just for her later), or to skip the Bobby G's. I may have also reminded her that her siblings and grandparents were all coming to celebrate her, and practicing for and attending the Bobby G's would mean she would be gone for much of the time they were here. 

She chose to miss the Bobby G's, much to the disappointment of her choir/musical teacher. None of her good friends who were in the cast could come to her party, since they would all be performing at the awards ceremony.

**Mar had to ride the bus to graduation with the orchestra and band members because the rest of those performing at graduation with her were in Denver at the dress rehearsal for the awards ceremony the next night. She would meet up with them at Red Rocks to do the sound check.

CV won Outstanding Production of a Musical.

I am so sad that Mar missed it. It was a fail on my part. BUT, Mar, with her supporting role in the musical, deserves just as much praise for her part in the production as everyone else. The award was for the actual run of the musical, not the performance at the award ceremony, right?

Here are a couple of screenshots from the DCPA website:

The Spring Formal of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (fka MoPro).

We haven't really formally done MoPro in our house prior to this year.

(MoPro is short for "Mormon Prom," which is technically advertised as the "Priest/Laurel Spring Formal," and has been for years -- even before the recent admonition from President Nelson to use the correct name of the Church whenever possible.)

I think {possibly} that Britt attended one year in a group of friends from the ward, but typically the youth in our Parker ward were not that hip on this activity. This is a 10-stake formal dance provided to give youth a prom experience in a more wholesome environment than the classic modern (oxymoron) high school prom.

  

It was held where it has always been held: The Wildlife Experience {which is now called something else}, which happens to be the exact same location that Mar's high school prom was held this year (which I loved, btw, because it's quite close, rather than deep in the heart of the city as it has been in the past, AND it was less expensive - $30 per couple vs. $100 per couple. BRAVO to the CV Prom planning committee this year).

Back to MoPro. The Spring Formal. Whatever.

Mar thought she had a choir performance that night, but found out that it was a no-go, so she and Jake decided they needed more formal time together, so they mutually agreed to attend {wink}.

Mar pulled out a prom dress from last year, and Jake wore his only suit.

They didn't match, but they didn't care.

(Wuv... twuuuuu wuv)

 Little Billy did his usual photo bomb.

We snapped these pics at a neighbor's house because their tree is prettier than ours.

It was a good choice... and so close haha.

These two are pretty funny together.

 This is one of my favorite pictures...

...and finally, a good, proper pose.

That tree, though. Perfect, amiright?

This is their "cheesy" shot... 

 ...which I really think is an excuse to get close with Mom and Dad around.

My {amazing} friend Vernet hosted a breakfast-for-dinner at her home for the group before the dance.
Vernet has 10 children. She amazes me.

There were a few last minute no-shows, so a couple of empty seats separated the sophomores (at the far end) and the mature students (4 seniors, 1 junior).

I snapped a quick picture of Mar's hair... we missed having Shilo around to work her magic.
Shi had shown us this technique during our girl's trip, so I attempted it on my own. It turned out okay. When you have a beautiful subject, it's hard to mess it up too much haha.

They had a good time.

Except for the caricature drawing saga.
Mar and Jake have had one done at each prom they have attended together.
The first one (from last year) was cute, and Mar let Jake keep it.

This year at the school prom, they waited in line for an hour and a half, and then got an ultra-exaggerated unattractive portrayal of themselves.

There were seven artists at the Spring Formal, and Mar watched them carefully to conclude that five of them were drawing pictures she liked. Again, they waited in line. She had one done with her friend Alaina, and one done with Jake...  aaannnnnd she got the two artists she didn't want.

Mar & Alaina

Mar and Jake

Sooooooo... one cute caricature drawing in Jake's possession,
two ugly caricature drawings also in Jake's possession.
One ugly caricature drawing in Alaina's possession.
Mar didn't want them.

Proms are done.

VPA Revue 2019.

Thursday, May 2nd

Castle View's VPA Revue

You may or may not remember this event from last year.

I got to the school at 5pm to help serve pizza to the kids who had been at school all day rehearsing for it. Bill came around 5:15 to secure a good seat. Turns out we wanted a seat on the bleachers after all, for a better overall vantage point. Nothing like waiting pert near 2 hours to save a seat you could have had if you came 15 minutes prior to start time. We both also had low batteries on our phones, so I plugged my phone in to charge while serving pizza up until start time, and only added about 10%. I am suspicious of the outlets at the school. Needless to say, we had to conserve, but still managed to record all of Mauri's performances plus snap a few pics.

The theme this year was "Decades."

The first piece, Baba Yetu, was all the choirs combined... Mar has a brief solo part.

 

And the final piece was I'll Be On My Way performed by Voices of the Pride.
Mar is in the trio.

There was a whole lot o' singing and band-playing and orchestra numbers and dancing and even a snippet from a play in between the two. It was a l-o-n-g night, but I enjoyed watching Mar in her FINAL HIGH SCHOOL CONCERT along with many of our Seminary students.

Afterwards someone had the choir seniors get together for a quick pic. Luckily Bill ran over and grabbed a shot before they disbanded.

I think Mar had a huge some influence on Jake taking up choir and doing the musical this year.

This cute girl is in our ward and may {hopefully} be in our Seminary class next year.

Annnnnddddd a quick selfie before my phone died...

...although it managed to eek out a couple more quick shots of these cute girls.

Phew!
We {and our phones} made it to the end.

This is one of our last parental-support-of-public-school-events EVER, at least for our own children. We definitely hope to attend similar events someday for our amazing grands.

It's weird to think back on all the room-mothering, PTA-ing, class-volunteering, fundraising, band-supporting, play-attending, locker-tag-making, hair-curling, cheer-track-swim bleacher-sitting (and cheering), car-pooling, team-party-throwing, musical-watching, and choir-listening I've done over the past 25 years. It's been challenging, yet joyful at the same time. I have LOVED that my children have been PARTICIPANTS. They have overcome fears and developed skills and talents. They have had to stretch themselves, but became better for it.

The least I could do was to BE THERE.
Not just passively, but as an active and interested supporter.
Their biggest fan.
Other than Little Billy, who admittedly is {slightly} more animated and enthusiastic than I am haha.