Nathan's Graduation

One of these days time will slow down, right?   I never imagined when I first sent him to Kindergarten on the big yellow bus in Palatine, IL, that the next 13 years would go so quickly.  Yet in some ways, his Kindergarten year seems forever ago.  I can barely remember some things, and others are so vivid.  I remember the day his Pokemon cards were stolen by some older kids in the courtyard.  I remember him and the neighbor kids climbing all over the big tree that got knocked down in a wind storm.  I remember that he always wore sweatpants, never jeans (until high school!).  His four front teeth had silver caps, his "chompers", and he was proud of them.  He was afraid of the wind.  He loved Legos and Ninjas.

He went to Kindergarten in Palatine for two months, then we moved back to Bainbridge where he went to school for his entire career.  First at Blakely Elementary while we lived with my parents, then at Wilkes after we built our house.  Then Sakai Intermediate, Woodward Middle, and Bainbridge High.  One of the most touching things in his graduation packet was a 5x7 notecard with the thumbnails of all his school pictures since Kindergarten glued onto it.  One of the reasons I love living in a "small" town!


The graduation ceremony was held at the Bainbridge High School stadium.  I went early to get seats.  All the bleachers were packed, but somehow there were nine empty chairs right up front!  And our friends, the Blackfords, were sitting right behind us. Their daughter, Erin, was also graduating.  It was nice to have someone to chat with while we waited.

The graduation ceremony was very inspiring.  Two students sang original songs they had written for their Senior project, three students gave wonderful speeches, and the Principal and the school district superintendent also spoke.  Then they presented the diplomas to the graduates.  Nathan and his friends were sitting in the second to the last row, so it took a while for their turn. 

Waiting in line...

Receiving his diploma...

It's official!

The ceremonial cap tossing!

Nate with my parents.

and with Brad's mom and Alicia

Our family.  We didn't intend to be so color coordinated! 

Nate with some of his friends.  

L to R:  Grace Knight (she just moved to Las Vegas a few months ago, so she should have graduated from BHS), Mackenzie Marcum, Alex McMillan, Jared Bell, Alex Nowjack, Nate, and Erin Blackford.  

Nate has known Jared since they were born. They're only a few weeks apart.

What's next for Nathan?  Well, at the moment, his plan is to go to Seattle Central Community College for the Fall quarter, then go to BYU-Idaho for Winter and Spring semesters, then go on a mission.  Eventually, he wants to get his PhD in European History and be a Professor. I'm excited for his future, but I hope the next 13 years don't go as quickly as the last! 

Prom!

Back at the beginning of May, Nate asked Emma Starnes to the Senior Prom.  Brad and I were very pleased with his choice.  Emma is a wonderful girl; she's fun to be with, easy to talk to, very smart, talented, level headed, kind, respectful, motivated,spiritual, and beautiful!  (Oh, and she's LDS and her mom is the Stake Young Women's President.)  We knew they would have a great time together and that we wouldn't have to worry about the police calling us at 4:00 am.  The rest of their group was great, too: Gabe Clark and Erin Blackford, Makenzie Marcum and Collin White, Alex McMillan and Ellyse Fisher.  All good kids who would have fun together without getting into any trouble.  

Anyway, back to the asking.  Nate made this "fish" as his way of asking Emma if she would go to the Prom with him:

He set it on the front porch and waited for her to come over. At first he waited inside.  She didn't arrive when she said she would, so he went outside and waited. And waited.  And waited.  She was really late and he was super nervous. He paced up and down the porch, then sat on the porch step with his head in his hands, then got up and paced some more. She finally arrived and I held my breath, hoping she would say yes.  If it's this stressful over a prom date, what's it going to be like when he asks the BIG question? Thankfully, she said yes, and all was well.  They were both really happy and excited.  So excited that they tried to set the fish bowl on the porch railing and it toppled off and shattered all over the porch.  The fish survived, though!

On the big day, Nate went to Emma's to pick her up and take pictures at her house, then came back to our house so we could see them together and take more pictures.  

At Emma's house:

At our house:

Don't they look great together?!

I never realized how much Nate looks like me...

This is only picture I saw from the actual prom, except for the professional picture they had taken at the dance, which was at the Space Needle.  I think this picture was actually at the restaurant before the dance.  

Afterwards, they all went back to Mackenzie's house to play games.  We told Nate he didn't have to be home by curfew, but to call us when he left the dance and be home at a "reasonable hour."  At 5:00 in the morning, I woke up and realized I hadn't ever heard from him!  I was just about to panic when I heard the garage door open and a minute later he was up in my room, grinning sheepishly.  He had a wonderful time and  I'm so glad he was with a great group of friends!