Tori's Graduation Weekend

(I am going back on my word and putting up a lot of pictures in this post. There was no good way to chop it up, so I am not going to.)

Tori walking in. White collar for Honor Society, Yellow which-a-call-it for FFA, medal for Academic Excellence (I think) and the green cord for Science. She lost her other cord, for something else. 

She was Third Honors, so she was in the front row.

Her hat was bedecked with the Wyoming Cowboy. 

This is also where she led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. There was a certain amount of dithering beforehand about how to properly do this, getting nervous, practicing on us all, and leaving out whole sections of the Pledge, which her nieces and nephews were quick to correct her on.  And no, of course us Vaughans did not make comments like "How did you get to be Third Honors if you don't know the pledge?" But she did beautifully in front of everyone.

Lined up for diploma getting

Mrs. Andre, the superintendent giving Tori her diploma. The Principal and Superintendant were all dressed up in these robes this year. And the hat... I am not sure what that is all about. Maybe bigger schools always do this and BMC is just catching up. 

The tassel thing they do.

And then, I decided to do some flowers for Tori's graduation party. This is a little thing of vetch, a wildflower around here that I have never picked, since it is vine-y and has very short stems. It looks sort of funny, but I like it. 

Hosta flowers and ferns. 

(Why do ferns have to droop so quickly? They are quite lovely; for a few minutes.)

My last peony, delphinium, lupines and my first hydrangea

Cute little basket with smooth bedstraw, hosta flowers, fairy roses, and branches from an unidentified bell like flowered shrub

The cake Livie made. I don't think I got a good picture of it. She painted elm leaves with white chocolate and then peeled it off. She decided she should have done a lot more leaves, but I thought it looked cool. Oh, and there is the bunch of daylilies, cosmos, and brown eyed Susans. I didn't really like that one, but as the days go by, I am starting to like it more.

Ashley did some arrangements for the food table, and they were all lovely. She can make grass look dramatic and gorgeous!  

Sweet daisies

Kids waiting for the cake cutting

Alex and Lily

A pogo-ed out Levi

Nate and Dave

Checking out Jeff's watch

It was a beautiful day, despite the foreboding sky.

Livie cutting her cake

Sisters

Rolled cuffs and a scooter

Hoyt and Owen

Some pool time

It was a crowded pool

Then some target practice. 

As I took this picture, the phrase "Clinging to our guns and religion" popped into my head. Apparently we do both. Although, I just clung to my camera, since guns do not fascinate me.

No, target shooting with 14 kids in attendance didn't seem like a good idea to me either. But everyone survived. 

(Funny story--while we were shooting, a State Trooper came by to check on what was happening. He drove past and seemed satisfied. Later that night, we saw that one of our neighbors, (a slightly pompous, but harmless neighbor) had posted on facebook about how discourteous it is to target practice during a manhunt, since it distracts law enforcement from what it should be doing. We remain unrepentant.)

There were strict instructions about kids staying in the tall grass

Pool hair

This is my husband. I like him. And he is a pretty good shot.

Evan set up for the kids. 

Justin bought a little gun for the kids to target practice with. 

Shooting clay pigeons

Cody has his shooting face on

Picking up shells and clay pigeon bits

Elsie and Livie 

(Love this picture) 

Walking (or running) home

Then up to the haymow, for a blurry time

Tire swing, old hay, and lots of room. What else do you need?

Burrowing and fort making

The girls had a stage at the other end

Elsie just swung

There was a delightful war of the sexes, with the girls raiding the boys side and the boys retaliating by raiding the girls stage. A good time had by all. 

The boys. And my camera is not good in the haymow.

Girls secrets which can't possibly include Nate

Who went and had a sit by the window

Some boy cousins 

Trying for a group picture of the kids

Pretty great group of kids!

Silly faces!

Hoyt, with a tricycle and a little bulldozer. Two of his favorite things

Sunday, Mom and Dad did a picture with all of their (13!) grandkids. I forgot my other lens, so I couldn't get far enough away to get them all in. But my sisters will share I am sure. 

They are all getting so big!

Cheyenne reading to kids. She read a lot this day. She is quite a helper.

Standing in the living room, I realized that the cousins had progressed from parallel playing to parallel reading. Levi had Calvin and Hobbes... 

...Elliott had Foxtrot...

...and Orianna had Li'l Abner

And they were all happy as clams.