June 2023 Part 4: Idaho Trip for Wyatt's Graduation

In mid-June, Emily's Wyatt graduated from high school, in the middle of the week, 5-6 hours away. I felt like I needed to go since it was really important to Emily that someone came. I looked into flights, but eventually landed on driving. I recruited my friend Serene who has family over on that side of the state to go with me. Brian picked up Serene's stuff when he picked up Rachel from Elsie's (Serene's daughter's) birthday party. 

We left later that night (Wednesday, June 14) after Serene's rehearsal, and drove to Twin Falls to stay the night. We got there around 1:30 in the morning. Our hotel had the cutest mini Dove bar of soap. 

All too soon, we were up again, grabbed breakfast from the hotel, and hit the road. I dropped Serene off at a gas station, where her cousin was waiting, and headed to Caldwell to where Wyatt was graduating. I arrived in enough time to catch my breath and get settled before the ceremony started. My mom knew I was coming; Emily did not, so that was kind of fun. (I didn't want to tell her I was coming when I wasn't sure until the very last minute that it would work out.)

The Chadwick In-laws know that among the top 10 told stories is the story from Cal's high school graduation back in 2005 where the member of the school board got up and droned on and on and on. His only job was to accept the graduates and sit down, but he gave the longest speech of the night. We figure it was because his son was one of the graduates, and he was feeling sentimental and forgot that none of the graduates actually listen to any of the speeches. He kept saying, "And in conclusion, I want to leave you with these 5 points," and then, near the end of the five points, "I want to close with these final three thoughts," and then 10 minutes later, "Finally, I want to end with these four reminders." He did at least three times, possibly more. I think Brian and Thomas would label this as story #4. Anytime there is a long winded graduation speaker, the story gets retold. The principal did a similar thing at Heather's graduation in 2022. 

We were all so overjoyed that Wyatt's graduation was short, sweet, and to the point. We were in and out in about 45 minutes! Nobody spoke too long, and everyone got to walk across the stage and get their diplomas. It was awesome!

The trickiest thing was finding Wyatt on the lawn at the end! 

(Left to Right above) Grandma & Grandpa Linville, Mom, Wyatt, Emily, Pete, Pete's mom Sandy, and Pete's step-dad....I forgot his name.)

After the graduation, Pete and his mom treated us to a delicious homemade BBQ meal. We played games, had Italian Sodas, and I had a really nice long talk with my Grandma. 

I stayed overnight in Henry's room, and the next morning, Emily helped me dig up bulbs from her Dad lily, the lily that our neighbor and friend Kita gave each of us when Dad died. Chelsea never got one because she was expecting to move shortly after the funeral and Taryn and I left ours at our previous houses. Emily's lily had grown and multiplied, so we dug up some lily starts for me to take back to my sisters and plant in our yards. 

I took some selfies with my grandparents. 

And someone got this three generation shot. 

Then Em with Mom. 

I headed to Serene's cousin's house and picked her up, and we headed southeast towards home. Serene was awesome to let me stop to see Ethan at his school (Wendall High School), and then on to see his house in Jerome. Ethan had taken a job teaching at Shelly High School, so I knew this was my last chance to see his Jerome house and the school he'd taught at for several years. While there, he showed me the chicken coop he built and I found his first egg! It felt lucky or something. We also went out to lunch at a Mexican Restaurant in Jerome. 

After seeing Ethan, we made one last stop at Shoshone Falls. Serene and I were laughing about how nice it was not to have kids, and how much they'd all be complaining if they were there. "Mom, it's too hot. Can we go home yet?" Meanwhile, we just got to stay and enjoy the serenity of the falls. 

We stopped in Tremonton to drop off lilies to Taryn. We met up with Dustin near the freeway at Thanksgiving Point so I wouldn't have to take her all the way out to Saratoga. We had a nice time chatting and laughing in the car the whole way. Thanks for going with me, Serene! Hope you had fun with your cousin!