Jenna’s Graduation Party

The youngest of our first five grandchildren (two young ones left) is about ready to graduate from high school. Her parents, Maggie and Bryan (our son) gave her a wonderful party last Saturday.

Here she is with her cake. It was really good but you kind of ended up with blue lips, tongue and teeth for a little while.

One of the things Jenna wanted at her party was a piñata. After letting the two littlest granddaughters have a couple of whacks at breaking it, and unsuccessfully, it was Jenna’s turn. The first hit didn’t do much damage, but as you’ll notice in the second image, she did the job in great style! Candy flew everywhere much to the delight of little sister Jordan and cousin Joy, and they didn’t waste any time in gathering up their fair share.

At the end of the party she wanted to release her balloons, like her older sister Jessica had done a few years previous. Here is that release. It was a wonderful day and the Lord blessed us with  beautiful  weather after several days of rain and cold.

   

I wonder what the three of them were thinking as they gazed skyward at the ascending balloons.

 

We were fortunate that Jenna’s party  also coincided with the 50th class reunion for my husbands oldest brother Johnny, because that gave us time to have a huge cookout at our home the following day. This was the first time all five boys had been together in three years (since the passing of their mother). 

I’ll have to get a wives picture from one of the others that had their cameras handy that day…hint hint everyone!

Standing L-R:
Kirk (Corydon,IA), Pat (Granger,IA), Alan (San Antonio, TX)     Seated L-R: 
             Jerry (Des Moines,IA), Johnny (Santee, CA)                        

Boys will be boys!  Or boys will be children sometimes!

As we all get older  we begin to think more about our own mortality and it draws us closer together. The day, and our home were filled with laughter, a few tears and a lot of memories both old and new ones that we were in the process of making.

Our house bulged with husbands & wives, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, cousins, and a couple of doggies. What a glorious day!
I can’t wait to do it all over again :)

The sad part was saying good-bye to everyone at the end of the day for the locals, and the end of their stay for the out-of-town visitors.