Graduation

Jake graduated from Shawnee Mission South High School on May 20, 2008 (I graduated on May 20, 2002). The graduation ceremony was long - it was a huge class, but the entire trip was great. It was mostly a time to see family and just hang out. A narrative would be pretty boring, so here are some pictures with some of the highlights from my trip.

At Jake's graduation party, I hung out with my cousins. Most of my cousins are at least 12 years younger than me, so it was a lot of fun. Claire (3 or 4) made my day when she said, "I really like your husband, Richard," and he wasn't even with me, so she remembered him from Christmas. Pictured is my youngest cousin, Madison (24 years younger). I stole her for most of the party because this was only the 2nd time I had seen her. I think she is absolutely adorable in that giant bow!

Of course, one of the highlights was playing with Holly. My dad has trained her really well so we went for a run together, took her to get a haircut, and played with her ball. I was impressed with how well she behaved until the last night. My dad went to pick up Jake from his project graduation party and Holly barked for 10 minutes straight! Let's just say I wasn't quite as friendly with her at 12:30 in the morning!

Mom set up a "shrine" to Jake for all to see at the party. I am not sure if you can see how many medals are on that bulletin board, but there were a lot. They are all from track and cross-country. By the way, he is competing at the State Track Meet this Friday and Saturday in the 2-mile, 1-mile, and 4 x 800. GO JAKE!

Pop-pop and Gram (Taylor Grandparents) came from Texas and our Great Aunt Sarah and Uncle Wick came from West Virginia. We spent some time out at the campground and I even had my first taste of fried SPAM (verdict - not bad at all). I hadn't seen them since my wedding (2 years ago), so it was one of the highlights from my trip. We used to live so close to them in New York, so I miss seeing them now that we live so far away. Pop-pop can fix anything and he is going to help dad add on to the deck. At the graduation, it was a little breezy. I snapped a picture of Pop-pop that is awesome.

And what would a graduation be without a family picture beside a tree? Seems to be a tradition in our family. We are all leaning in this picture and we must be on a hill because mom is not that short. Oh well, it's the Taylor family.

All in all, it was a great trip filled with laughter and fun. Speaking of laughter, I have to show what my Gram bought for my dad. Below is a moose key-chain. Looks pretty unsuspecting, huh?

But, here is what happens when you squeeze his sides...

Haha. It still makes me laugh.