Tennie is a High School GRADUATE!

What a whirlwind of happy activity we've had around here! After a 9-day road biking trip with the advanced road biking intensive, to wrap up the school year (more on that coming soon), Tennie graduated from high school last Friday.

My mom, Geoff's dad, and wife, Robin, and Geoff's sister Ingrid and family came into town for the event. We could only get 7 tickets, so grandparents joined us for the pomp and ceremony of graduation itself.

Ceci and I tracked Tennie down to give her her cords. Tennie was feeling all kinds of mixed emotions.

Ceci wanted to stowaway for a walk across the stage.

We grabbed a picture of the gathering of the 2018 graduates. Tennie is right in the middle.

We got there early and got pretty good seats with a direct view of where the graduates would walk. Here she is walking across the stage...

 

And then right as she neared where she would get her diploma, some young people stood up with large poster board signs to cheer on their graduate whose name was just called. I couldn't see a thing! I missed her getting her diploma! I sat through a 90 minute graduation and missed the 10 seconds I was there to see! Oh well. Thankfully Geoff's dad got a distant shot. The principle, Nathan Justis, is in the tie, and is a good friend of Tennie's. He wrote her BYU recommendation. In the vest is Tennie's teacher, mentor and friend, Trevor Huish. He introduced her to road biking, and they rode to and from school every day for the last 18 months. He also wrote her a BYU recommendation. Too bad the pictures are all so blurry and/or dark!

Adele ran into her favorite AISU friends, Raja and Alexa.

We met up with Tennie for a few minutes after to get a few pictures. Here Keenan is videoing Tennie's explanation of each of her cords.

Tennie was in the top four in her class with a perfect 4.0. We're so proud of her natural curiosity and hard work.

On Sunday we gathered family to celebrate.

After eating taco salad and strawberry shortcake, we gathered around while the adults gave advise, everything from paying your bills on time and reading the assignments before class to staying humble and relying on the Savior in difficult times that are sure to come. There was so much love and support and encouragement in that room!

Geoff and I gave her four symbolic gifts, each representing something we have tried to teach her throughout her life, as well as our greatest tools/resources to encourage her to use going forward.
1. A copy of all of her father's blessings, a reminder to remember who she really is and why she is on this earth.
2. A new set of scriptures (a step up from the basic paper ones she got when she was baptized!) This was to symbolize holding to, and feasting on, the word of God.
3. A new iphone 8. (Let's not pretend this wasn't her favorite gift.) This was symbolic of the power of prayer and constant communication with God.
4. Lastly, she opened the quilt I made her with pieces from her childhood clothing, a reminder to wrap herself in the comfort, direction and testifying power of the Holy Ghost. And it might just remind her of a happy childhood.

And just like that, in the midst of hoopla and friends and family and love, a chapter ended.

Her future is bright.