Josh's Graduation!!

Six down, one to go!! Congratulations, Josh!! Josh graduated with a 4.0 GPA!! All of our children have graduated with either a 3.9 or 4.0!! Josh got several honor cords, but ended up losing one somehow during graduation. 

I had told Rick that one of us needed to go an hour early in order to get seats on the shady side! He offered and said that when he got there a little after 7:00 a.m. it was already really crowded! He was lucky to get seats! I came thirty minutes early and had a difficult time even finding parking! 

It turned out to be a little chilly in the shade. Whereas the people on the other side of the stadium were all fanning themselves because it was so hot in the sun! Rick had first put on a long-sleeved shirt and I said, "Why are you wearing long-sleeves? It is going to be really hot!" So he changed, but then he wished that he hadn't listened to me because he was cold! By the time our seventh child graduates we should have it figured out -- come over an hour early to get in line in order to get the shady side, but bring a jacket! 

The program was good and the students who spoke did a great job on their speeches. Josh's friends were the Valedictorian and Salutatorian. Josh sang with the other senior madrigals for the musical number. The program ended in about 90 minutes. We took some pictures and then took Josh out to lunch at a restaurant called Bishops. It was really good. Then we came home and took naps!! Tonight he will go to Grad Night at the RINQ! 

Yesterday I made candy leis for Josh. They took a lot longer than I remembered. In fact it took several hours to make the four leis. It also took a good while to iron Josh's graduation gown. I think Josh is glad to have high school behind him. Rick and I are glad that he is graduated and can now move on to bigger and better things! Now he can start focusing on mission preparation!! 

Josh Jensen and Bridget Layton 

Adam Parkhurst, Josh Jensen, Caleb Parkhurst 

A few of the soccer seniors... Zach Buck, Ethan Scott, Brock Boyce, Josh Jensen, Kadan Morris

To see all of the past graduation posts, click HERE!! 

Jaiden's Graduation from Snow Canyon High School!!!

Jaiden graduated from Snow Canyon High School this morning! Jaiden has done very well in high school! She was incredibly involved (a little TOO involved) and accomplished a great deal! When she was doing Sterling Scholar the instructions said that they could link to one on-line document in their portfolio. She could have added a link to a page on the Distinguished Young Women website that had a nice picture and bio of her. That was one idea. Another idea was to link to a blog page. I recommended this to her because then she could basically copy and paste her entire resume into it and easily update it. So check out her blog: JaidenJensen.blogspot.com to get an idea of just how busy this girl was all throughout high school! After Sterling Scholar was finished I added her Sterling Scholar portfolio and some of her other awards to the blog. It is just a fun way to keep everything in one place. 

Now for graduation. Last year was the first time they had graduation on the football field and we ended up on the west bleachers and it was extremely hot and uncomfortable! So this year I vowed to show up an hour early to get seats on the east bleachers. It ended up being more like 45 minutes early, but still early enough for the good seats. It was well worth the extra wait. We were in the shade most of the time and the temperature was very comfortable. Our poor graduates were another story! First of all, the turf is apparently way hotter than the surrounding area. I could feel the temperature rise as soon as we walked on to the football field after the ceremony. Second, they got new caps and gowns this year (I was sad about that because I had just purchased Janelle's cap and gown last year and figured I would get a year off from buying new ones, because I figured that Jaiden could wear hers). But alas, it wasn't meant to be. They changed the caps and gowns so that everyone has the same gown (instead of blue for the boys and green for the girls, like they did in the past.) The material is also much thicker material and so our poor graduates were probably dying! 

Since Jaiden was graduating with a 4.0, she got to sit on the front row and be in the first group of students to graduate. (She is the first child in our family to graduate with a 4.0. The older four children all had a 3.9, which is awesome too!)  She also sang the musical number with the Madrigals. I scanned in the entire program and put it in Dropbox if anyone is interested in it. I also cut and pasted a few things from the program into a collage for this post. After graduation Rick and I took Jaiden out to eat at a restaurant called Bishops. Then Jaiden took a nap and headed to a dance rehearsal. (The busyness won't let up for her until her Senior recital is finished next weekend!) Then she headed to Grad Night with her friends! Congratulations, Jaiden!! (And congratulations to us as parents -- five down, two more to go!!) 

I just have to explain the significance of her "splits" picture. Just a few days ago a "memory" came up on Facebook that I had written in 2010 after Jaiden's kindergarten program: 

Right near the end of her kindergarten program, Jaiden gets down on the floor (in her dress) and does the splits. Ummm...sweetie, I don't think that is part of the program! I think only those of us in the front row saw her but I was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face!

You can see that post here: https://wendyjensen.blogspot.com/2010/05/kindergarten-program.html

Janelle Graduation

Janelle graduated from Snow Canyon High School this morning! Last year the high school graduation ceremony was virtual due to Covid. This year it was outside at the high school football stadium (I am assuming this is still due to Covid) instead of at the Burns Arena at Dixie State University, like it usually is.

Honestly, I would have been fine with the virtual ceremony that they had last year where pictures were all taken beforehand and the ceremony was all professionally recorded. Instead we sat in the sun in sweltering heat on hard bleachers with a spotty sound system trying to tune out the chatter of the people sitting behind us. Janelle sang (along with the other Senior Madrigals) and I tried to hold up my camera with the heavy zoom lens frustrated that the people behind me wouldn't shut up. Needless to say I didn't get a very good video. I still might add it to this post when I get a chance. 

But anyway, Janelle is graduated and very ready to move on! We were going to take her out to lunch at Cliffside, but there was an hour wait and the streets were filled with traffic due to all all of the graduations from the various high schools that were taking place at the same time. So we went to Lamys, which is just a few blocks from us. I had never been there before and it was quite good! Janelle then met up with friends to go to Gunlock Reservoir for kayaking and cliff jumping! Janelle had a great time at high school and we are grateful for the amazing friends she has! We look forward to seeing what the future holds for her! 

Here is a HUGE poster that Jaiden helped make, along with the other Exec Council members! 

Jared's Graduation from SCHS

Congratulations, Jared!! Jared graduated as a Utah Scholar with a 3.9 GPA. Way to go, Jared!! 

I asked Jared if I could get a picture of him with all the Track Medals he earned the past three years!