The Graduate!

On Thursday night we celebrated the 9 years Ella has spent growing in knowledge, faith and skill at her school.  She graduated 8th grade and is now an official high schooler!!

Here are some fun behind the scenes details about grad night.  We went pretty low key, since that is Ella's style.  Her dress was a hand me down from a dear friend who also has a petite daughter.  Ella LOVED it and was happy to not have to shop-- what a gift!  The friend who cuts our hair taught me how to save the hair appointment and do the beachy waves Ella wanted in her short, layered hair myself.  We even decided to skip a fancy dinner out at a restaurant beforehand and just made something delicious on the Traeger for a special meal with the family.  

Doesn't she look cute? :)

Here are 2 of Ella's best friends, above, Ruth, below, Ansley.  We have sat through too many of these middle school and high school gradations to even count.  I was not expecting this one to be much different.  But, when it is your own kid it is SO much more special and even emotional. (I know, duh, right?  Don't know why I didn't consider this!)  The gold ropes Ella is wearing are something she surprised me with as she dressed in her robe.  I learned it was for her President's Award for Academic Excellence-- a GPA of over 3.5 and a standardized test score in the 85th percentile.  She was only one of 15 in her class awarded this honor.  I got a little lump in my throat when her favorite teacher draped them on her!

Walking in.

 Receiving her diploma.

Singing the class song, "In God Alone" after the sermon and all the speeches.

Recessional

And family photos in the receiving line afterwards!

 Best friends!

Then, it was time to party.  We hosted this at a nearby church that one of Ella's friends is a member at.  We moms had a fun time planning this, shopping and prepping for it and getting to know each other much better in the process!  One of my favorite things that we did was a "Gradates' Favorite Desserts Bar".  Each girl picked her 2 favorite desserts to share and we moms used our special recipes to make them.  Ella chose cheesecake bites and Boeterkoek.  So fun to sample everyone's favorite sweets--  much more fun than cake!  The girls did all the flowers and decorations themselves and did a beautiful job.  They are a creative, artistic bunch!

 Each girl had a table of old pictures and some special things to represent them.  Ella had a few favorite art pieces out.

The girls with one of their favorite teachers, Miss S., the choir director.

This was pretty special-- these are 3 of Ella's former elementary teachers who are still a part of her life!  I can't say enough about how thankful we are for all the voices of truth and faith who have been guiding and shepherding Ella all these years.  She's a pretty amazing gal, but I think it's because she's had an abundance of pretty amazing encouragers along the way!  This party was a wonderful way to thank all those people and celebrate the role they've played in our graduate's life!