Such a wonderful weekend!

Angela graduated Friday. The school set up her reception and made it so special! They had all the tables in the shape of an 'A' and then they had chairs to spell out 2-0-0-9. They even had lights streaming from the ceiling of the gym in the shape of an A. It was very classy decorated in red and black, which are the school colors.

The actual ceremony was wonderful! They of course try to make the ceremony formal so they don't want you to take large noise makers, etc. Well, Steve always breaks the rules and brought 3 air horns and then gave them out randomly so the noise wouldn't just be coming from our section. In fact, Steve initially was going to give Angela one so that every time a air horn went off that she would counter it with hers. We nixed that idea because it would be too obvious for her to carry it.

She won the highest honor for our school and that is the Pastor's award. It is given to the young person who shows true character, has a servant's heart and goes the extra mile. Well, Angela was so nervous just walking down the aisle, she said she felt like passing out. So when they called her up for her award, our Pastor was quoting the teachers who worked with Angela everyday as Angela, out of nervousness, kept tapping the bottom of the trophy. As he talked, he finally said, Angela is good at many things, such as her drum playing on her trophy!

One of former Principal's from our school talked with her on Awards night earlier in the week and said if she would dance on stage that he would give her $20 or $40. A few others pitched in and said they would give $20. I told them to be careful what they tell her to do because she is motivated by money. They all thought Angela was too shy and wouldn't do anything. Well, as soon as they announced her as a 2009 graduate, she took off her hat (we all thought she was going to throw it) but no, she went whooping and running down the aisle! We were all in shock, as we did not expect that. In fact, I had my camera up and was ready to take a picture when she jumped off the platform and took off. Everyone started laughing because it happened so quickly.

We asked if she had planned that all along and she said, "no" that she had decided on the spot to do something. I think she thought it was the fastest way out the door! Congratulations to Angela, she has worked so hard this year and missed "A" honor roll by 1 point and that is taking a very very full load (Chemistry, etc).

We had our famous large Memorial picnic yesterday at the church. I think we normally have about 500-600 that attend each year. We always start off with saluting the flag with the pledge of allegiance, sing the National anthem with the help of the Boy Scouts and American Heritage girls and then a moment of silence for those who served our country and are currently serving our country. We are a blessed nation no matter the financial crisis we are in! This is truly the land of the free and home of the brave.

We always have wonderful food. The kids have moon walks to play in, a roped off area to ride their bikes, sno cones, etc. The adults play raquetball, volleyball and the famous softball/baseball. The guys always start before our picnic and play all day. They have the famous singles against married men game and also the women's softball. There are those who play horseshoes, cards, just fellowship with others, or stay close to the food and graze all day. I always enjoy watching the guys/girls play ball. It rained at first but then the sun came out and was just beautiful. As it was all getting close to ending, the rain came down. It turned out to be a wonderful day.

This is my last week before starting work. Hard to believe how the time has flown by. I still have the nightly struggles with my legs but so does my grandma who had breast cancer the same time I've been going through all this. It makes you miserable, especially at night but we have so much to be thankful for that I try not to dwell on it and just make the best out of it.

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Love,

Leah