DRIVING

 

Meet Stewart.

The latest in our "fleet."

Missy got her permit in April and we came across a deal that was too good to pass up and so she purchased her first vehicle and is eagerly awaiting her license in 8 short months. 

In the meantime, it is nice to have an "extra" vehicle around just in case.

Because we've had a lot of "just in cases" this summer.

JUST TWO MORE

 Rather than edit my previous post, just two more from graduation day.

I have several more shots that MJ took, but I'll have to save those for another time.

Congrats again!!

GRADUATE #2

This past May, we had our second-born graduate high school.

She was part of the North Jersey Christian Homeschool graduation group.

Rehearsal day and photos 

There was some special music during the ceremony and Bean played piano for one of the pieces.

"The Graduate" by The Arcadian Wild

This graduation was extra special since cousins got to graduate together.

Certainly made it easier on the family

After a fiasco of a broken down car, we finally got home and the girls decorated their caps for the following day's ceremony

Graduation morning!

All lined up.

There were 27 graduates in this class, if I remember correctly.

All done!

photo op

Afterwards, we celebrated with grandparents at a local restaurant.

We started out outdoors, but the wind was pretty vicious and so they were able to move us under a tented enclosure.

One of Bean's friends took pictures from the graduates point of view, 

Thanks, Ella!! lol

The ceremony includes a slide show and personalized, recorded message for each student.  

Parents come up on the stage to present the diplomas and then watch the slideshow with their graduate, this is one of the most special parts of the graduation.

Congratulations, Beanie!!

We love you and can't wait to see where the Lord leads your paths.

UNSINKABLE

 Bean was part of Faith Center's Summer Theater Intensive this year again.

And let me say, intense is the right word.

Scripts are handed out at the end of June and then rehearsals start the last week of July and run for 2 weeks.  8 hour+ days, 2 weeks in a row, culminating in two performances on the final weekend.

She and I'm sure all of those involved absolutely love every minute of it.

This year the show was :

Bean was cast as a server and a DaMico dancer.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the dance costume.

Saturday night show was sold out!

The theater was packed.

It was neat how they used the entire theater, and the audience was part of the boat.

Evacuating passengers..

Captain and some of the crew

MJ actually helped build part of the set.

The show was roughly 3 hours long with a brief intermission.

Quite an accomplishment!

From the music to the set and acting it was a wonderful, sad performance of the tragedy of the Titanic.

Fantastic job by all involved.

INTRODUCING HENRI

Henri came to us on June 14th on a trial basis.

And never left.

You remember we surrendered our previous pup back to the breeder in March.

We weren't sure when we were going to be ready for another dog, but it was a future goal.

So, sometime in late May, the breeder contacted us with a potential doggie.

He was almost 3 years old, chill personality and he needed a home because his "mom and dad" were getting a divorce.

She thought he would be a good fit for us.

(Pic that was sent to us.)

So, we said we would try him for a week and see how it went.

He was super shy/hesitant for the first 2 days

(first day )

He is smaller than Koda but still a good sized dog and thankfully, he has none of the issues Koda did.

Btw, we found out that Koda is "living his best life" down south with a single, retired man.

Henri would run and try to hide at loud noises (hm..family of 11, there are ALWAYS loud noises)

No animals have ever been allowed on the furniture, however, this seemed like a comfort thing for him and so for this dog and this dog only, we allow it. Much to my dismay. He doesn't shed, so not too worried about that.

A couple of days and he found his people.

He LOVES these two boys especially.

Follows them everywhere.  He will not settle down too well if one of them is not in the room with him.

For about a week, he didn't sleep well unless one of them were there. So they would camp out with Henri.  He has since settled.  They are the ones that do most of his care.

Henri has some weird habits and though we were told he was trained well, he definitely was not and needs some work --but overall, he is a good boy.

Just hanging with the boys..

Welcome to our home, Henri.

PROM #2

Prom #2 was a Masquerade Ball held at The Meadow Wood.

This was a Senior/Junior Prom put on by the North Jersey Christian Homeschoolers graduating class.

The venue was beautiful. 

These first two photos are credited to Andrew Murphy Photography.

Prepping

Nails were done

This picture (below) credited to another guest.

Almost all the ladies in attendance..

The girls said this prom was the best they've been to.

There were a lot of little details that made it wonderful and the food was amazing!

Til next year!