Graduation 2010... what a day!

It starts out with the usual preparations..

But what do you do while you wait for such a milestone in your life to arrive?
Well a dog always knows exactly what to do. Ive never gotten bad advice from a dog...

Then we send him off to the stadium,

It will probably be the last time we see him before his big moment...

Yes, it's always sad to see them go... even when you know they are coming back.

The emotions were running very high that day.

Finally we head out... and the traffic on a Tuesday afternoon was horrible!

Good thing I know how to drive from the backseat :)

And a rare photo of Papa in the backseat...

Wow, then we catch this sea of blue... no way we would spot our teenager in this crowd...

I forgot I had and advantage... ol' Elmer Fudd aka Eagle Eye was with me... he could spot a deer, elk, whistle pig or his own teenager from a hundred miles away...

And the wait...

That song always gets me... but he looks SOOOO happy!

We look pretty happy too huh?

Well it was all good, I was loaded up with 2 camera's and a video recorder... I was not going to miss one moment of this occasion. So Jim grabs a camera when we see the graduates names coming up on the screen, so he can get a photo, while I video tape.

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Well he starts asking me all these questions about the camera and how to zoom in, AND....

Yep... I missed getting the teenagers name called!!

What?? I was DEVASTATED!!

I can't even describe the emotions that were rushing through my veins!!

It was one of my biggest horrors, not to capture the moment (hence why the camera bag FULL OF EQUIPMENT). I was prepared for a battery outage. I was prepared for a blocked view. I was prepared for a shutter problem.

I was not prepared for what had just happened.

I couldn't even believe it happened.

I wanted to cry.

I wanted to shove my strong (not so silent) mysterious man down the flight of bleachers.

But it was such a special day, I had to pull it together.

I didn't want to spoil the teenagers big day by killing his father.

So I prayed as hard as I could to forgive him... as he was SOOO proud... he had "Got the shot".

yay... we have his name in lights... yay (this is me being sarcastic.

I was able to recover as I sat in shock and awe through the rest of the 285 names being read off. Ugggg. It was the hardest thing I had to overcome and get happy about, probably ever!

This helped... it made me smile.

The teenager has always had a great sense of humor, and he was reverent and poised the whole ceremony. No pranks, no acting out. Even when the parents were being so rowdy during the program!

And I was very happy I got it on video!!

Very happy!!

When we finally found each other, I think it finally hit the teenager and he broke down into his Dad's arms.

He made it! We are so incredibly proud of him.

This was going to be the famous sandwich kiss photo... but our teenager was not having any part of it, and we couldn't hold him down, and he was too tall for us to reach and get up that high... so it's just a silly, funny photo now.

Afterwards, Papa and Nene took us all out to dinner.

The teenager got to pick any place he wanted and he chose Tucanos Brazillian Grill.

Before graduation I had taken a very special watch Papa had given the teenager years ago that we kept in a special place for him to just wear on special occasions to get the battery replaced so he could wear it. Thinking he was probably old enough and mature enough to take care of it finally.

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He had wore it for the graduation ceremony and just as we were getting out table, he took it off to give back to his Dad to hold on to for him and the back fell off and all of the tiny insides of the watch fell off in the floor... and went everywhere.

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So Jim and I are scrambling to find all the little pieces without Papa seeing what we were up to.

We got everything picked up and slipped over to the table, trying to be inconspicuous... and Jim is holding all of this in his hand under the table.

He was now in the same horror I had felt earlier. He was sooo mad, and freaking out about the condition of this very special watch.

I went and got something he could wrap it up in and put in his pocket, when I returned, he realized one of the thin gold hands was still missing.

So we took turns going back out into the foyer of the restaurant on our hands and knees looking for it. To no avail.

I can only even write this down now, because I finally got the call from the jeweler we took it back to and he found all the parts and has it put back together. Phew!

But talk about stressful... what a day.

Everyone was wiped out from the long day after dinner and went back to their hotel rooms.

But I wasn't sure we had enough pictures... remember beauty is painful?

Well they all endured a few more minutes of pain just for me!

I know... I will always be a Mom!

It was a big day for everyone... no body wanted to be left out of anything.

Congratulations Jacob, we are so happy and proud of you!

We love you,

Mom and Dad