Julie's Graduation

Last night was Julie's graduation! It was such a good time. On the way home, Julie said to me "Tonight was just perfect" and it really, really was! 

With friends before the ceremony

Walking in

Julie receiving her piece of paper that says that grades and diplomas will  be released at a later time diploma

 The slide show!

A very talented girl from their class played the guitar and 

sang an original song. It was so good!

The tossing of the hats!

Then onto the reception! 

In my unbiased opinion, Julie had the best table. 

Here's a collection of some of the stuff she's done over the past year- sporting tickets, museum passes, birthday invitations, plane ticket here... she's been busy!

Lots and lots of pictures with friends!

(I told Julie that she was Kate Middleton today and I was her paparazzi. To which Derek replied, "Who's that?! ... uhm... has he been living under a rock!? )

My parents and sister came down and Granpda came too!

These two are funny together.

Julie and I have fun together too. I am going to miss this girl!

It has been a super fabulous, albeit busy, week with making graduation posters, attending final concerts, and getting her all situated to finish the school year and all ready for graduation. It was all super fun and I had a great time with it all, but there is a part of me delighted to know that I won't have to do this again for another 16 years.

The 5k at 5 months pregnant

So, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Today, I participated in a 5K as a fundraiser for Julie's school. Of course, I didn't have a spectacular finish time (1 hour, 9 minutes), but I finished! Being 5 months pregnant and pulling an extra 60 pounds in a wagon while walking up and down hills, over bumpy sidewalks, and across the field-- I think finishing in itself is quite the achievement! And I've decided that since I did the walking for four persons, that I actually get to divide my time by four, so that turns out to be a pretty awesome time quite actually!

Not that my husband is impressed. I sent him a text message and the one I got in response:

I ran 3.5 miles today too and didn't break a sweat.

UGH, Jerk!! Who cares what he thinks anyway!?

I hadn't been planning on participating because I didn't really know how I was going to be feeling, but I woke up feeling pretty good and I really wanted the chance to help out the school. Not only is Heartland High School the one that Julie is attending while she is living with us, it is the high school that Derek graduated from several a few years back.

The school offers an outstanding education in a Christian environment. I am friends with several of the teachers and I can say without a doubt that they invest so much in all of the students! Several of the teachers have even volunteered their evenings and some weekends to come and help Julie with some homework. How much more involved can you get?!

Being a private school, the students pay tuition, but the school has never declined a student for financial reasons. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are allocated each year to allow every student the chance to attend. They even offer free tuition to all students of a family member deployed in the United States military as a service to them for the sacrifice they make.

I'm not trying to sound like an advertisement here, and I am definitely not getting any sort of compensation for the post. I just want to share about this wonderful ministry and why I decided to walk a 5K at five months pregnant!

Here are some pictures of Julie starting the race. Of course, she finished a long time before me, so I wasn't there when she finished.

Okay, now that you're already impressed and everything... I have to admit that I am so completely sore and achy. I chilled out on the couch with a heating pad for an hour and half this afternoon!!