Well, the grad party went off without a hitch!! It was an amazing night of love for our seven grads. We decided to celebrate, not just our four high school grads, but we also included three college grads who are either in the family or so close they should be, in a backyard graduation ceremony.  

We started the night at Korie’s where she had set up fifty chairs and a graduation stage complete with a podium, flag, balloons and ferns. (No self-respecting grad stage is complete until ferns are put out. Can I get an Amen?) It was perfect!! The guest were welcomed with summer drinks and water and while everyone was ready to hug away, they didn’t. We maintained safe spacing as we greeted each other with grateful smiles. Grateful to just be out and able to see each other. 

Korie had assigned different parts of the ceremony to our seven grads. Kelly and Rowdy led the crowd in the pledge. Bella and Maddow read scripture. Kaylea and Christian prayed. And Will introduced our illustrious speaker, no one more capable than our very own Willie Robertson. I have to say I’ve heard Willie speak since he was fourteen years old and I’ve heard many graduation talks and this one, last night, was one of the best ever. Willie challenged the grads to live a life like the apostle Paul and, of course, Jesus Christ. It was also perfect! (Side note: Will’s intro of his dad was nearly as good as the speech. So precious.)

After the ceremony, we had all the cousins and siblings surround the grads and pop confetti as the grads tossed their caps in the air. Again, this would have been a moment of lots of hugs, but we refrained and settled for cheers and yells. 

We moved the party over to our house, which is directly behind Korie’s. As I told you in an earlier post, I started the decorating process a few weeks ago by pulling down from the attic all past grad decorations. (I am a serious “don’t reinvent the wheel” kind of girl.) After assessing what I had and what I needed, I put an order into Oriental trading and Amazon for table cloths, helium tank and balloons, grad mints and straws, 4X6 sheets of poster paper, and a few cute grad signs. 

I used my evenings to repaint past decorations, adding this year’s grad’s names and the year 2020 and to mount pictures (probably displayed around 300 pics) of the grads to 4 X 6 poster paper. (I use all black just because I think it looks cleaner and neater. Just me.)

The week before the party, I ordered 140 pounds of crawfish and enough potatoes and corn for all attending, ordered the cutest cupcakes ever from a sweet friend of mine, and ordered eight pizzas for the non-crawfish eaters in the group. (Hard to believe but some people don’t eat crawfish!!!)  In the south, crawfish is always a welcomed and fun party food in the spring because that’s the only time we get it. And, this year with not being able to go out, everyone was ready for some crawfish! I had already assigned the salad and bread to my mom who is awesome and, at eighty-nine, is still willing to help me and had assigned a fruit tray to my Aunt Barbara who is also awesome and so willing to help!! Food—ready to roll. 

The day before the party, I did as much decorating as possible since the day of the party I had several meetings and a webinar with Sadie and Korie to do. I currently have a college student living with me so she was a tremendous help pulling this feat off. We put everything out except the phots as the Louisiana humidity isn’t kind to photos outside. And I’ve learned over the years to tape everything down as the wind is no respecter of persons and destroy party decorations in a snap. Decorations—ready to roll!

After eating, we gathered up for the final part of the night. Many years ago, we started the tradition of reading the Dr. Seuss poem, Oh, the Places You Will Go, in a choral reading with several aunts and uncles so we started the program with that. It’s silly and fun, but also full of great advice. One of my favorite lines is: “You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You’re on your won. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who’ll decide where to go!” We’re no pros of choral reading, but it’s effective anyway. Lol 

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The next thing on our agenda was the parent blessing and prayer for each graduate. That always includes some fun stories from their childhoods. I have to tell you one. Korie told of how Bella would run to me anytime she saw me and never wanted to go home when she was with me. Now that will warm any grandma’s heart! The parents did such a great job at honoring their grads and making each one feel so special because THEY ARE!! 

It was a beautiful night and I’m so grateful we were able to celebrate the accomplishment of our grads. This is definitely a year to remember and my prayer is that they take note of everything that has challenged them and learn and grow from it. That’s the prayer I have for all of us. 

Happy Celebrating!!