May 2025 Part 5: Commencements

On Monday, May 19, my nephew, Matthew, graduated from High School. He had a party beforehand that I meant to attend, but I was trying to finish making our European travel itinerary book so Taryn could bind it for me (she has the stuff to do it, and she was going to be at Chelsea's house to do it.) I finally got it all ready, and arrived at the graduation 30 minutes into the program after finding parking. I missed all the speeches, and I have to admit, I really wasn't sad about that. I helped Chelsea by taking pictures on my phone while she took some videos. I meant to bring my big lens, but I forgot it in all my panic to get there in time. 

Here's Matthew with my mom, his mom Chelsea, and his sister Amber. 

Matthew was born while I was serving my mission, and I remember each p-day that January waiting for news that he had arrived. I can't believe he's graduated from high school! 

Here he is with Cal and Cassidy. 

And with David, Abby, Taryn, Aaron, Evie, and Elijah. 

Afterwards, we headed back to Chelsea's where I got to enjoy leftovers from the party I missed and hang with my peeps for a bit. I had brought my dog and Michael's fish with me, and thankfully, it was cool enough that they were okay in the car while I was in the graduation. David helped me get the tank set up for the fish, and Taryn got my two itinerary books all punched. With feelings of guilt for how long we'd be gone, I said farewell to Gracie and my family and headed back home. 

On Wednesday, May 21, Rachel had her advancement program, commemorating the end of elementary school for her and her fellow 6th graders. Somehow, she ended up clear in the back. Can you spot her? 

Each student got to have their name announced and walk to the front again to get their advancement certificate. 

This time, she ended up more in the front of her class. 

Here she is afterwards with her friends Maelyn and Emery. 

and with Maelyn, Sadie, Emery, and Sariah. 

Here she is with Mrs. Haskell. 

And with me. 

I can't even get over this! But also I'm super excited for her to move on to 7th grade. Parenthood is strange. 

After the program, the PTA put on a luau for all the 6th graders at a nearby park. As part of the party, there was also a petting zoo. My friend who volunteered to help sent me this picture of her. 

 This was Rachel's very last day of elementary school since we flew to Europe the next day. So, just for fun, here's a couple of pictures of Rachel's first day of elementary school: 

And since I'm feeling sentimental, here's more: 

 

(3-year-old preschool)

(4 year-old Preschool)

 

Dear January 2012 Devri, hang in there! You will have another baby (two actually), and one will be your promised Rachel. She will bring you so much joy. She is so good and incredible, and someday, you will be writing a blog post about her last day of elementary school with tears of joy at how blessed your life is. 

May 2025 Part 4: Flag Football

Most Saturdays in May took us to Pleasant Grove Junior High for flag football games. We had a lot of fun watching both boys play. I finally brought my nice camera and zoom lens to their last game. First up, Gabe and his Falcons team. 

This year, Gabe got to score two touchdowns, and his team made it to the second round of playoffs, something we would never have imagined at the beginning of the season. He has played up every season, and we love seeing how much he grows each year. 

His coach was so patient and loving with these kids. We are so grateful! 

Michael's team was mostly freshman and sophomores, and they played a lot of teams with juniors and seniors. Amazingly, heading into playoffs, they were ranked 2nd. 

Michael absolutely hated being assigned to the Chiefs. It's the only team in the NFL that he really hates, but he played hard, despite having walking pneumonia throughout the season. 

Unfortunately, his team didn't make it to the Championship game. There was a major upset and the 1st and 2nd place teams got eliminated. We were disappointed, but they still played a great game. 

As soon as we got home after his last game, he threw his chiefs jersey into the trash. He recently mentioned to a friend how fun flag football is, so I know that he had a good time. I lost track of how many touchdowns he had, and I hope he keeps playing because his games are really fun to watch. 

May 2025 Part 3: Mothers' Day

Mother's Day seemed to come out of nowhere this year. In fact, it was one day shy of being the earliest that it could possibly come. Did this mean that the kids and Brian were unprepared? Nope, they still spoiled me. 

I came out of the shower to a breakfast tray and a fabulous balloon. 

I got to open my amazing presents. 

The kids made me things at school. Brian got me a bag of the fun size version of my favorite candy bar, Take5s. Gabe and Rachel also pitched in with Brian to get me another beautiful Willow Tree statue. Brian got me a new KitchenAid (I had given ours away when we got the Bosch, but have occasionally regretted it. The Bosch is great for big batches of things, but the KitchenAid does other things better.) Rachel drew this really cute picture of our family.

Gabe and Rachel gave me a pedicure. 

Brian and his siblings each filled out this questionnaire for their mom. Here's Brian's responses. 

Meanwhile, Michael had spent the night previous to this with Nana and Papa. The plan was that he would come back to our house after going to Music and the Spoken Word, but he ended up staying all day. I was sad to not have that kid who first made me a mom be with me, so I was really happy when he made it home. He made me a new wooden bowl, and he had to use Papa's lathe because his broke. He stayed longer so that he could make a second bowl. 

I really love my sweet children, and I'm grateful for Brian for all his efforts to make Mother's Day special for me. And, I'm really, really grateful for my mom. Each year, I discover more things that she has done for me over the years. So much of who I am, I absolutely owe to her. She's my sounding board, my support, and my dear friend.