Molly had a fun-filled, packed graduation week. I remember how fun my graduation week was so I was excited for her to have a turn. I'm glad she participated in {most} of the activities and happy for any of the pictures she sent me {wink}.
Walk of the grads-
All graduates don their cap and gowns and go back to visit their elementary schools. They walk through the halls, high-fiving all the elementary kids and visiting with their old teachers. Molly's class is the first graduating class of Daniels Canyon Elementary since it was brand new when she was a 5th grader. She loved seeing Mrs. Vanhouten, her awesome 5th grade teacher, who is always asking about her and who generously slipped her an Amazon card and nice note.
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| Jackie Bingham and Molly |
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| Jackie and Molly |
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| Jackie, Mrs. Vanhouten, Molly |
Molly asked if her friends could have a sleepover on the tramp that week and I was totally okay with that. Molly is an adult now haha. Her friends are just awesome and I love having them over. They actually did this two nights in a row.
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| Molly, Amberly Howe, two under blankets |
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| Amberly, Regan Heywood, Jackie (I think), Molly |
Some of the activities that week were Senior Sunset and a trampoline park.
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| Regan, Pallas Andersen, Carolyn Ritchie, Sarah Hottle, Molly, Amberly, Jackie |
Graduation-
Graduation was held Thursday, May 29th at the high school. This was a new venue, it has always been held at the events center at the fairgrounds. I was skeptical about having it outside at the high school with no back-up plan for weather. And Molly was bothered that it was so much later in the month than it typically has been held. (The timing was perfect for me, after a really busy April and May and back to back vacations...I was feeling really swamped and I got a pretty nice cold after Florida, so having a couple of weeks before graduation was just what I needed.) Anyway, it ended up being a perfect day and I thought it was pretty cool that those kids got to graduate on their very own football field.
Molly had a four hour graduation practice that morning which she said was boring and hot. The graduation was not until 5:00 that day so she had plenty of time to get ready. Each student was allowed to wear one thing around their neck; Molly tied some ribbons around her Fiji beads and wore those. She also got the yellow cords for high honors and a medal for a CTE certificate that she hadn't even known she had earned. She drove over to the high school with Jackie.
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| Molly and Jackie |
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| Molly, Amberly, Pallas, Jackie |
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| Sarah, Jackie, Pallas, Amberly, Carol, Molly, Regan |
I was curious how the seating would go and how they would fit all the graduates and all those who were supporting them. All graduates were given 8 tickets. They had the graduates in the stadium seats and everyone else sitting on the football field facing them. There was plenty of space. It was a really warm day and the turf was super hot. But better than rain or wind. The ceremony was well-done. Great speakers who did not drone on and on (Molly's friends, Carol Ritchie and Collin Anderson were 2 of 4 speakers). Obviously the commencement ceremony where everyone's name was read as they walked across the stage to get their "diploma"; they also read the names of their parents, which was cool. Then they moved their tassels to the other side of their caps and threw their caps in the air. They were officially graduated! Yay! What a cool moment! |
| this is about half the graduates-Molly is in there somewhere |
When it was over all the graduates walked single file down the bleachers and into the aisles where the audience was. I didn't know they were doing this before I found our seats and was so excited when they walked right past where we were sitting. So we got to see and hug Molly. Love that girl, what a day for her!
We met her where she ended her walk and took all the pictures. We were able to borrow a couple extra tickets from Molly's friend who wasn't using her 8 so that all grandparents, siblings, and Uncle Brett could be there.
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| Brett, Grandpa Gene, Molly, Grandma April |
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| Grandma Kay, Molly, Grandpa Moyes |
When those were done, I sent all the family home and followed Molly around getting pictures of any and all friends she saw. It was a big celebration and I'm so grateful for the role each of these people played in Molly's life.
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| foreign-exchange student, Hannah |
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| Jake Webb, Jalynn Pough, and their baby, Jovie |
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| Amberly |
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| Pallas and Emma Stinebaugh, from the ward |
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| Carol, Regan, Molly, Sarah, Jalynn, Jovie |
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| Regan and Kylie, soccer besties |
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| Jackie and big sister, Callie, who graduated last year |
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| Libbie Locke |
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| Sophia Locke |
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| Maggie Lundquist |
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| Lucy Jibson |
We got one last picture out in front of the high school and then headed home where everyone was waiting.
It's tradition to go out to dinner after graduation but I kind of assumed everyone else in the valley would be doing the same thing. There are not a lot of food options in Heber so I knew everywhere would be a zoo and decided just to make a dinner at home instead. Molly wanted Cafe Rio pork salads and that was perfect, since I could make everything before graduation. It was a late dinner (we didn't get back until 8) but tasted even better since we were hungry. Molly had already gotten her gifts from my parents so she opened a gift from Gene and April: an Apple watch. Her old YW's leader, Rendi Holm, also dropped by with a book from President Nelson and a hug. 
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| Oaklyn and Rendi Holm |
That night was the all-night party at the rec center. Molly played spikeball and soccer and there was also a hypnotist. She had a lot of fun and got home really late (or really early the next morning, actually). After two consecutive nights sleeping on the tramp with her friends and then this, she was a little tired. She spent some time that weekend catching up on sleep, although she was careful not to sleep whole days away. She went to the movie with Justin and had to go to work on Saturday. |
| Amberly and Molly |
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| Carol, Regan, Sarah, Molly |
Sunday, June 1st was seminary graduation. It's done by stake and I'm sure we were the last stake in the valley to hold graduation. It was really good. Molly was asked to give a short talk/testimony and she did a great job. She spoke about her experience in seminary over the last four years and talked about how it felt so good to go to the seminary building and be instantly accepted. She spoke about the Christ-like attributes each of her teachers showed her, regardless of what was going on at the great big high school. "We did not come here to earn our worth, we brought it with us to help each other." Molly's testimony burns bright and I was so happy to hear her share it with her peers.  |
| Daniels Canyon youth and their bishop: Kelsey Larsen, Lauren Whimpey, Samantha Steiner, Molly, Emma, Pallas, Ethan Munford, Justin |
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| Molly was crying here because Jackie was moving to Logan that very night |
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| Jackie, Amberly, Regan (who is in a different stake but came over to say congrats), Molly |
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| Grandpa and Grandma Moyes |
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