graduation weekend

first we start with saturday's purchase of a diffuser for my camera. yay!! i LOVE it... :) i had to try it out as soon as we got home, and when i was reviewing the photos, i noticed madison's hair in a few of them. i've noticed her little fuzzy mop sometimes has a reddish cast to it, as do her eyebrows, but i wasn't sure if it was really noticeable. that is, until i saw her photos...... does that bit of hair next to her ear look strawberry-blonde to anyone else?

and then we move on to sunday- we caught a bite to eat at mom and dad's before the ceremony. madison had her first taste of watermelon and liked it so much that she licked it right off mommy's fork. no kidding- she literally vacuumed it and wound up with an entire chunk in her little mouth! anyway, ted was there for lunch, as were erica and chase, so it was plenty fun! we got some pre-ceremony shots in, but i had to limit how many i'm posting...

sarah's final choir performance; they sang josh groban's "thankful" and the traditional "you'll never walk alone". absolutely beautiful!!

miss sarah and her diploma!!

she got a congratulatory kiss from cole... he wasn't too sure about his auntie sarah in a funny hat and tassel at first, but after a few reproachful looks, he warmed right up.

and miss squish was ALL about the tassel... she couldn't stop watching it. and reaching for it, which was a bit scary, considering her hand/eye coordination is impeccable.

congratulations, sarah!!

all of us with sarah- we got three or four shots on our camera and none of them were close to perfect. i had to decide between this one or madison staring at sarah's tassel and this one won. cole's goofy face sealed the deal.

after the ceremony, we went to king's table with grandpa and grandma pheifer and mary and dale. it's a tradition!! good food, great times, lots of fun!

daddy let cole have his first taste of shrimp. he spit it out. hmmm, takes after his mommy with that one...

i'll explain: mom and dad got sarah a little "gag" gift... it's my understanding that the tweezers always ends up missing, so they got her one of her very own to take with her when she moves out. we got a chuckle out of it...

so- congratulations to a wonderful baby sister who's not really a baby anymore! you've accomplished so much in your almost-19 years and your potential is limitless. we're so proud of you, the person you are, the things you've achieved and we're behind you in whatever decisions you make. we love you, sarah!!