Wed June 8 Me and my folks went to the Jr. Grand floral Parade. It was in the Hollywood district- on the other side of the river near the residential area (where we parked) and old town stores (kind of like downtown Beaverton). It was a long parade- mostly all middle school bands and various youth groups. Unicycles, drill teams, cub scouts etc. It was fun. After Rachel marched by I followed to meet her at the end. They took 3 busses to get there, but only had 2 to get them home so I gave her and 2 of her friends a ride home.
That evening for combined mutual activity the priests took us on a hike up to Pittock Mansion. I was a driver so dropped my carload at the trail head then drove up the rest of the way. We set up yogurt with toppings by the front lawn of the mansion for when they got there. They had been sent up with maps on different trails in groups of 4. Each group had a very heavy back pack to carry up. Adults were stationed along the way to suggest other trails. When all the groups reached the top they ate yogurt parfaits, enjoyed the view and Nathan and the Bishop lead a discussion of their journey up the trail. The theme this month was Endure. The bishop said the hike didn’t quite turn out how they had hoped- the guys with the backpack were being studdly and didn’t share the burden with their group. Also everyone stuck to the trail on their map. However they got some great discussions and thoughts shared.
Thursday June 9th was graduation day! It took us a long time to get there with bumper to bumper traffic. We were to be there at 6:30- made it there after 7. Melissa and the band took another route than we did , they left at 5 and got there as people were let in at 6:30. The band sounded good- they were in the bleachers this year behind the podium in the corner. The Chiles center was packed. We sat in the bleachers behind the graduates. The choir sounded good. The speeches were nice- the whole program seemed a lot shorter than last year, but the graduating class was huge and it took a while to read through all the names. It was a pretty mellow ceremony- only one beach ball came out and it was quickly confiscated. (Jessica said that her class was pretty boring). We took pictures and made it home with barely enough time for Jessica to open her cards and gifts. She took a piece of her graduation chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting to eat in the car as I took her to the school to catch the bus at 10:30pm. I picked her up the next morning at 5- she was tiered, but had a great time. She won some smiley faced boxers and a camera.
Saturday, June 11, was the Grand Floral Parade. We met up with Sis Walker at her usual spot to enjoy the festivities. It was a cold day- but no rain. Rachel brought her friend Serena- they had fun shopping at Pioneer place and drawing rainbow pony on the street. Grandma and pa now can boast that they have been to a rose parade in both California and Oregon.
After the parade, the band had a party at the Oak Hills rec center, and Rachel and Serena went swimming at the pool. The clouds cleared and it was a beautiful sunny day. Jessica and Melisa went to another grad party that evening.
Grandma and pa left here Monday morning- next stop for them at Uncle Jon’s, then off to Uncle Jim’s to meet up with some cousins visiting from Australia to tour the Disney studios and go to Yosemite.
Things are calming down here now that the concerts, parades, and graduation is over and that company is all gone. Melissa has been doing finals. Must not be too hard cuz I haven’t seen much studying going on around here. Jessica has been sleeping in and then spending time with Nate. Today she, Lanea, and Chelsea kidnapped the guys from the band room after finals and took them blindfolded to OMSI for the Narnia exhibit. They are now upstairs playing Mario carts. Brother Chin and Adam are now our Home teachers and visited this evening. Melissa and Jessica have been spending her spare time preparing for girls camp. Grandma helped when she was here painting. Rachel has been exiled from the bonus room where all the camp secrets have been stockpiled and worked on. Tomorrow is Rachel’s 8th grade graduation party. I will be going to help in the BINGO room with Mrs. Kennefick.
On November 7th Kevin, Jessica, and Melissa traveled with the Marching Band for their last competition of the marching season to Corvallis to compete in the OSU Marching Band Competition and Oregon State University. To my surprise after getting them all sent off, Brian says, "Let's Go!". I was in shock, because Brian rarely even wants to go to the local competitions. I guess after all these years with kids in band it is finally grown on him. So He and I packed up our coats and rain gear and headed off to Corvallis, Oregon. We got their just in time for lunch break- which was boring. But once the shows started again we enjoyed ourselves. It was fun to see all the different bands and the variety of shows and ability levels. It was a fun day. I'm glad that we went (even though it was freezing!) Our kids our great! 
Yea Saxophones! 
Yea Tubas!
Yea Percussion Rack!
He had band practice after school from 4-6, and then a football game at 7. So I took a cake in during their dinner break for the band. (Also Togo sandwiches for our family). Did I say "a cake"? Well actually I took in 4 Costco cakes. 
Something fun that his friends did for him was to decorate the van. They did it a few days early, because Jessica gets the van on Fridays afterschool to go to piano lessons. (They had filled it with balloons one friday, and she was surprized- they had to pop them quickly so that she could see out the window and get to lessons on time). This is what they did: (I got the photos off of facebook)
