John's Graduation

It's over...my last one is out of High School!
It has been very busy the last few days. I had more of my kids and friends come into town than I was expecting for the graduation and party.
The graduation ceremony went well. We were all worried because it was overcast, cold and looked like rain when we all arrived but the weather cleared up half way thru.

I rented one of the meeting rooms at the Best Western Garden Court Inn for the graduation party. We shared the room with one of my son's best friends Vince and his family. That worked out well because Vince wasn't going to have a party because his Mom was working that day.
The manager at the Hotel included use the pool and hot tub until 10 p.m. I made the party a pot luck so we had alot of great food there. I couldn't believe how much food was there! The first part of the party was mostly adults so I let my son and his friend take off for awhile to visit some of their friends parties that were going on.
After they came back most of their friends started arriving. I think most of the other parties shut down around 5 p.m. so come 6:30 we probably had about 40 kids there. LOL, at 7:30 my son came back into the room and said the wrestling team was on their way over! At that point I wasn't so sure we did have enough food! We still had plenty of food and I was surprized alot of the boys brought food to. The rest of the night went well..groups of kids wondering in to eat and then head back out to the pool and hot tub. I think at one point there were probably about 60 kids out at the pool and I couldn't believe how quiet they were. I think I only had to talk to them once all day to quiet down.
I can actually say 10 p.m. came to soon! We all had a great time and I got lots of hugs and kisses and thank you's from all the kids that showed up. A few stayed to help clean up and load up the car. Home by 11 p.m. and after everything was put away my son left for a campfire sleepover at another one of his best friends houses. I'm very proud of him...he skipped all the parties where alcohol was being served. He made a strong commitment to a sober graduation for himself and his friends and they all stuck to it.

A favorite teacher that gave him lots of extra work this past year to keep him interested in school.

Let's get this party started! Vince is in the blue shirt.