Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Start of Summer

Nina and Lyla wrapped up the school year on June 16th.  By the time the year came to a close, they were both ready for the school work to be done, but the year flew by!  Next year, Nina will be a junior and Lyla will be a freshman - both at Independence High School. Right before the kids finished up school, Mark and I got out for a for a little day date to Ravens Rock and Bear Chase Brewery.  Both places are beautiful for the views, and the post-hike refreshements are hard to beat at Bear Chase!
  
  
As for Nina, she’ll be spending some time this summer at her first job.  She took the lifeguard certifcation course this spring and had already completed her CPR certification through school, so she got hired on by the pool service that manages the pools in our neighborhood and got started working on Memorial Day weekend.  The pool hours were limited until school got out, so she’ll be looking forward to more hours and more paychecks now that summer is officially here.  When Lyla and I came to the pool, I tried to sneak a picture of her on the stand with my phone without being too obvious. Ha Ha!!
The weekend just after school ended was Father’s Day, so it was great to gather out at Mouse and Pop’s house with the family and enjoy some good food, time outside, and celebrating the fathers. 
  
  
Father’s Day was also Emme’s 18th birthday, so as of this picture here, the cousins are ages 18,16,15,14, and 11.  It’s hard to believe.  I’m so thankful that they have each other and that so many of their good memories are attached to times with family.
 

Saturday, June 18, 2022

The End of Middle School

It’s hard to imagine, but we are officially parents of two high schoolers.  As weird as that sounds, Lyla will be heading to Independence High School next year, leaving Brambleton Middle behind.  The 8th graders had an eventful last week.  They had their Awards and Recognition ceremony Thursday evening where Lyla was recognized for her role as an Amassador, the 8th grade dance on Friday night, then when they returned after the weekend, they were off for a full day at Kings Dominion.  
 
They had a lovely evening for the dance, and according to all reports, it was a blast!
 
 
 
 

Thursday, June 02, 2022

Emme's Graduation

It’s hard to believe, but the first of the girls has graduted from high school!  This time last week, we were celebrating Emme’s graduation from Trinity Christian School.  It’s hard to even believe we’re at this point, but Emme has worked hard, enjoyed high school, and is ready for the next chapter at Virginia Tech in the fall.  We enjoyed being there for her commencement, then having some more celebration time with dinner together, then cake and more celebrating back at the Williams house.  Congratuations to Emme on all her hard work and success in the past few years.  We are so proud of her and know great things are ahead for her!!