I've always thought that Chase had a very cute smile. But up until his graduation day, I am not sure I had actually seen his real smile before, at least not as brilliantly as I did that day.
By the week of West High's graduation, Chase had had a couple of weeks of training up at Aspen Grove and was ready for a few days at home. He had had some great days and some pretty sucky ones too, as we figured he would when starting a brand new job for the first time, not to mention moving away and graduating high school. It felt like a very monumental couple of weeks.
I was glad to have him home, and to have a few days to celebrate with him. It was pretty busy - he had a rehearsal and a couple of things like that, plus he wanted to see some friends. So graduation day itself came quickly and man was Chase happy. He was kind of glowing.
I haven't been to a high school graduation in quite some time. Maybe even since my own. I can't remember going to any others in the 30 years since. Going up to the Huntsman Center on the UofU campus was quite the exercise in chaos and pandemonium. The East High graduation was just letting out as all the West High kids were arriving. And it doesn't seem to matter what instructions are given to families about not holding photo sessions right outside the venue. The photo sessions were not only happening but were very much more of a big deal than I would have expected. Mayhem, I tell you! It was a relief when we finally figured out where he needed to be so I could send him off to be with his friends while I found a seat.
I was actually really dreading the graduation. I had fears that it was going to be long and very boring. So when then first student speaker began her speech and it was extremely poignant, I was not only surprised but I totally teared up. There were a lot of feelings expressed about what a tough year it had been for these seniors and the students shared their thoughts eloquently.
Chase was invited to a post-graduation party, and I was relieved that he declined the offer but also sorry that he wasn't spending his graduation night with friends. He chose instead to do the most Chase thing ever, which I thought was fantastic. After we got home from graduation, he changed his clothes, got comfy on the couch, ordered up a little popcorn, and started a Jurassic Park marathon. I think he watched two of them that night, two more the next night, and we watched the most recent Jurassic World movie all together as a family on Sunday.
On Saturday, before he got started with round 2 of his Jurassic Journey, we actually did hold a little party for him. Peter and Sheri came up, and friends from around the neighborhood joined us as well for a huge amount of Pie pizza and a lovely evening in the back yard.
I had to include this adorable photo of Chase with one of his best buddies, Brandon. I wish he didn't live so far away - he's such a good kid and I love seeing him now, especially when in my brain he's still a little kid.
Brandon brought his little sister Camilla with him, who is a dear friend of Emma's. That was a really fun treat for her. Again, I was shocked at how tall this kid was! Amazing how much people grow when you don't see them for 18 months at a time.
The final event of the weekend was Seminary Graduation on Sunday night, before we took Chase back to camp. He worked so hard to graduate from seminary, after skipping his freshman year. I was proud of him and was so happy he had a chance to share a few of his thoughts and feelings from the pulpit during the evening.
It was a great weekend of celebrating Chase and his survival of high school.
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