from celebration to orientation

last sunday we were celebrating her high school graduation.

this sunday we are on a plane heading to her college orientation.

yep, that about sums up this thing called parenting. this thing called kids. this thing called in-the-blink-of-an-eye.

our theme music: the final countdown.

and, of course, i feel my heels dig in and my back stiffen up. i want to brace myself in this progression of next things. but i know, more than bracing myself, i must embrace her and the moment and the beautiful mystery of watching a child move on ...

we are learning to linger even when time doesn’t allow.
we are learning to pause when everything else pushes ahead.
we are desperate to hold that which hurries away.

all week i’ve wanted to post a few pictures of emily’s party. and so tonight, as the sun sets and the plane flies south, i am taking this suspended sliver of time and sharing last week’s celebration. maybe a final hurrah to the high school things she sheds.
for tomorrow morning will come. and the progression of time will continue. and we will all move on and into the next thing. but tonight, this plane, it allows me to pause.

to breathe ... to dwell ... to linger just a tiny bit longer on last week. 

the next things will come.
tomorrow always does.

   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

the party. it was a lot of work -- no doubt about that -- but worth every crazy minute. pure pleasure for this mama to plan food and photos and decorations and details. 

i’ve thrown a ga-zillion birthday parties for my kids over the years, but this was my first graduation party --- and it felt special. different. we don’t have to do anything to warrant a birthday – they just come. but this graduation thing, it’s different … there’s a long road which leads to this place. a road which has had its share of hard work and hard days and hard bumps. and so to be at this place where we can cut a cake and order balloons and turn up the music --- well, that’s pretty cool. i know you parents of recent grads know. i feel the nod of your heads. you know -- that’s a place worth celebrating well. that's a place well earned.

emily, we are so proud of you!

friends and family ... you're the best! thank you for stopping by and celebrating with us! i want you to know that night as emily was going through cards and replaying moments from her party she was downright overwhelmed with the love. like it about took her breath away. not what she got, but what she's been given. the people who love her, support her, celebrate her. she felt the immense humbling of that --- a beautiful thing. thank you for that gift, dear ones. thank you.

caps and gowns and diplomas, oh my!

last week -- it was like drinking from a garden hose.

three daughters.

three graduations.

and three thousand moments to capture, things to do and events to attend.

all of it. good.
just plain old goodness.
all of it.

within a seven day stretch we joyfully watched bella graduate from kindergarten, sarah graduate from 8th grade, and emily graduate from high school. on the off days -- that is, when we weren't attending a graduation ceremony -- we had a blessing dinner, a baccalaureate, grad parties and even a ballet recital. did i mention both sets of grandparents were in town for the week, as well? (hooray)!

we capped it off with emily's grad party sunday afternoon. (yes, my head was pretty much swimming by the weekend). speaking of swimming, i woke sunday morning to an alert on the phone: FLASH FOOD WARNING. not exactly what the graduate's mother wanted to hear on the day she was planning an outdoor grad party at her home for about 180 people.

needless to say, my slumber ended promptly at 4am with that unkind weather alert.

all weekend it had rained. you've heard the phrase "torrential downpour." yep, that kind of rain. thankfully (and i do mean THANKFULLY) an hour before emily's party the rain came to a halt. though thunderstorms continued to surround our area, we had a slice of clear skies for exactly the three hours of her open house. not a single rain drop. (i will attribute that to a whole lot of desperate prayer).
kind of crazy, huh?

crazy, but good.

all of it. good.

so good ... and so fast ... and so much to take in --- like that water from the garden hose (or the showers from heaven)!

i wanted to linger over every single moment. savor it. taste it. take it all in. 

and, truly, i did my very best. but i'm sure i missed a drop or two of something. because how does one live in these kinds of big moments when they come back to back to back. no room to breath in between ... just throw on another dress and some lipstick, grab the camera and some kleenex and out the door we go! it was a running in high heels kind of week for sure!

and though i might be able to write paragraphs and pages about each experience, i'm going to rely on pictures in this post to share our week. i'm so thankful that we were able to capture some great photos of these great moments and i'll let these images below relay our joy. 

(many, many thanks to my dear diana rouse as she was close by for most of these events and avidly snapping photos).

BELLA'S KINDERGARTEN GRADUATION

i love this -- not a great picture, but it captures bella's excitement! she's waving to us - her family!  (oh melt my heart).

SARAH'S BLESSING DINNER

SARAH'S GRADUATION

EMILY'S BACCALAUREATE

emily and her friend, luke, gave the parent tribute at baccalaureate 

proud of these girls and their hard work!

EMILY'S GRADUATION

so cool to capture all of us! (thanks diana)!

p.s daughters: your dad and i would appreciate it greatly if, when the day comes, you'd schedule your weddings a little further apart!

p.p.s daughters: we are proud of you and we love you!