Graduation (again)

Wednesday, May 27, 2009 was Robert Bryan Crouch's graduation from Weber High School. It was the third graduation ceremony our family has participated in this month and Bryan thought it was 'no big deal'. Bryan played his trumpet with the Jazz Band at the beginning of the ceremony. They sounded great and it made me melancholy because it was the last time he will play in a high school band. We've been to so many band concerts over the years and now we are done with that (Cami absolutely refuses to march or play in a band and has given up her violin so we won't even get orchestra concerts).

Bry with the Jazz Band (his cap and gown are on the floor by his feet)

Rob and I arrived at the Dee Events Center at Weber State University an hour before the graduation started so we could get good seats. We sat on the first row at a good angle to watch the Jazz Band on the stage, so we were confident we would have a good view of the entire program. But of course when the graduates came in, Bryan was on the opposite side of the building so we didn't get any good photos of him 'walking' in his cap and gown. We did get a couple of photos his cute girlfriend, Larissa and some of other friends and ward members who walked on our side of the building.


Larissa waiting to receive her diploma

When we finally found Bryan after the ceremony we were all hungry and tired and ready to sit down and eat. Bryan's choice for dinner was Cafe Rio, so we all drove our separate cars and met for Mexican food.

The remainder of the evening we celebrated
graduation at our house by hanging all the tassels and displaying all the diplomas on the baker's rack (a graduation tradition at our house) We all admired Rob's huge tassel from the class of 1975. Rob claims the following year was the 'great fringe shortage' due the size of Los Gatos High School class of '75 tassels. He also claims there were many injuries that year in Northern California due to the heavy tassels damaging neck muscles of graduates and breaking rear-view mirrors off of windshields.

Kelly, Dani, The Grad & Cami at WSU

Bryan and Larissa spent the rest of their evening with friends celebrating their freedom from school work for a couple of months. In August Larissa is heading to USU in Logan and Bryan will be attending the U or U in Salt Lake. I think they are going to miss high school...and each other.

Bridals

On Wednesday, May 5th Dani, Cami, and I met up with Marjean Jolley, our favorite neighborhood and ward photographer and Cindy Ahern, Dani's future mother-in-law at an old church house on Jefferson Ave. in Ogden. Dani was decked out in her new wedding dress and we had so much fun posing her and watching Marjean work magic with her camera. I'm including just a few of the hundred or so photos Marjean took that beautiful May evening.

Graduations

Saturday, May 2, 2009 marked a huge accomplishment for Kevin James and Danielle Marie Crouch. Our two oldest children are university graduates!

We've known for two years that Kevin and Dani were going to graduate on the exact same day and time at opposite ends of the state so we've had time to come to terms with Rob and Bryan driving south and Cami and I heading north to attend the ceremonies.





It was a rainy, gray day in Logan, but the sun was shining in my heart as I watched my oldest child accept his diploma for four years of hard work. Rob had a similar experience in Cedar City with our second child (except without the rain and with all the umbrellas we own in his car).

Now both Kevin and Dani are moving forward with their plans to obtain their Master's Degrees, Kevin at USU in Logan, UT and Dani at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. Hopefully those graduation dates will be spaced far enough apart for us to attend as a family.