Graduation- Kindergarten AND High School

Things have been crazy busy this last week over at our house. We have been preparing for Ashlyn's last day of kindergarten and also Ben's High School Graduation. I finally have a minute to sit down and blog.
Ashlyn's class had a little presentation on Monday June 4th. They sang a few song for all the parents. It was really cute.

I was running the video camera, so these are the best pictures Dominic got.

After the singing program we went back to Ashlyn's classroom were the did another litter presentation about bugs and then we watched a slide show from the school year.

I can't believe that my little girl is going into the first grade. It makes me sad to see how fast the kids grow up. She is excited about being a first grader soon, but not about having to go to school all day.

Ashlyn's last day of school was on Thursday and since I didn't get a picture of her and her teacher Mrs. Cameron during the program the other day I snapped this picture of them.

After I picked her up from school we decided we would kick off the official start of summer with bowling. We hadn't been bowling with the kids for a long time.

And of course no bowling is complete without nachos!

It was fun to go spend some time together as a family and I bowled my highest score ever! I guess the bumpers help me too. LOL

On Friday was Ben's graduation. These past five years have gone by so fast. It seems like we were just at his 8Th grade graduation. We have been so blessed to have him in our lives.

The graduation ceremony was outside and it was a little windy. Luckily it kind of died down when the program started. At least it wasn't so scorching hot. When you go to any graduation it makes you reflect on your own high school experience and friends. I was lucky enough to live in a small community in Wyoming for most of my high school and had some really good friends. It is sad that life separates you and you lose touch. There are a few though that I still keep in touch with and I consider them family. They will always be family, and no matter how far away we are from each other, I know they are there for me. Ben has a great group of friends too and it will be a little sad to see them go their separate ways. 

When Dominic and I took responsibility for his siblings five years ago it defiantly threw our life for a curve ball. We had to move to a new town and were now responsible for two teenagers that were only a few years younger than us. It was really hard at times, especially financially, but I wouldn't change it for anything. It has given Dominic that chance to become really close to his brother. Our children know and love their aunt and uncle and it has made Dominic and I close to each other. We have done a lot of growing up in these last year, faster than most of our other friends have. But we have manage to get through it all. I am sad that this chapter in our life is changing in a way. I know Ben is still going to be around and we are still a family, it will just be different. I am so proud of the adults that Cherish and Ben have become. They all have been through a lot in their lives and have came out of it on top.