Throw Back ThursdayGrand Canyon

We took a trip to the Grand Canyon in 2010 on our way home from St. George.  Josh is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon right now and we are hoping he has a great time at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day is holiday where we honor those who served in the military who gave their lives so that we can be free.  I'm so grateful that we live in a free country where I can spend quality time with my family.  We often forget what this holiday means, so I'm taking a few minutes to pay tribute on my blog.

To start the weekend off, We went to check out the new Mesa High pool.  We watched this pool being built on the way to and from Mesa High.  It was great to finally walk through the doors to the pool.  There is a lazy river, a small child section, and a deep end. The lazy river was a hit, but the kids didn't find anywhere to swim. Emily is a good swimmer, but doesn't feel comfortable in the 7 ft section.   Emily loved wearing the life jacket, but you can't swim underwater with it.  

Mesa High Pool under construction

Paces playing at he Mesa High Pool

Monday night, we went to the Riverview Park, where Angela and Emily climbed what they call the Eiffel Tower.  It was fun to watch them climb and see their confidence get stronger the closer they got to the middle.  The park was really busy and it was getting hot, so we stayed for about an hour and headed home.  We will have to go again when it's not a holiday.

Paces playing at Riverview Park

Memorable MondayClass of '87

Josh is our first child to graduate from high school,.  He earned a scholastic diploma with honors.  We are so proud of all the hard work he did in high school.

Watching Josh graduated made me think about the night I graduated from high school.  Both Jim and I graduated in the class of '87.  Jim graduated from Mesa High and I graduated from Jordan High.  Here are the pictures of our diplomas.

Class of '87 diplomas

Jim's Diploma

Mesa High

Tami's Dipolma

Jordan High

Josh's Graduation

The day that every high school kid anticipates had finally come - Graduation.  I was secretly hoping that May would never end, but the day arrived and I couldn't have been prouder of my son.

Graduation Announcement. 

We started the evening off with family photos - of course.  I love pictures and can never get enough of them, especially on important days.  This is a really important day in Josh's life, so that means LOTS of pictures!!!

Pics with Grandma and Grandpa Pace

Josh and Britt - Class of 2015

Pics with Grandma and Grandpa Wall

Britt and Danni 

Family Photo

Before Graduation, the "Taylor Squad" took pictures with Mr. Quamo before they had to be on the field for Graduation.  These students had Mr. Quamo for a teacher at Taylor and came up with him to Mesa High.  What a great group of kids!!!!

Taylor Squad

Josh played 2 different instruments at Graduation.  After graduation, he will need to give up his bass clarinet, since it belongs to the school.  He is really going to miss it.  

Josh and his clarinets

Seniors in the band getting ready to sing "Carry On" 

Josh graduated with Honors - He is in the top 5% of his class.  He took a lot of hard classes and worked really hard in high school.  We are so proud of him.

Josh with his dipolma

Josh with his parents

Josh and Mr. Brooks

Josh and Mr. Quamo

Josh and Britt - they will be smiling all night

Graduation was a success!!!  Now they are off to Amazing Jacks to celebrate.  Have fun!!!!

Throw Back ThursdayMy Graduation

I graduated June 11, 1987 from Jordan High School.

My diploma

Seminary Graduation

Josh graduated from seminary tonight.  There are new requirements to pass seminary, pass 2 tests and read the required book.  This year, they studied the Doctrine and Covenants, so we read the D&C.   It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.  

My three kids read the D&C

Grandma and Grandpa came to recognize Josh

Congrats Josh!!!

Bishop. Josh and Grant

Josh with his parents

School Awards

Danni earned some recognition at the Harvey's (MHS Drama Awards Show).  She won an award for the  best Bird Girl in Seussical.  She worked so hard in drama this year.  She is so talented and I'm glad that she earned some recognition.  Great jog Danni!!!!

Danni and her trophy

Emily received an award for 4th quarter Citizenship award.  I'm so proud of her hard work and attitude.  I can see why she earned the citizenship award.  She is the sweetest girl on home and at school.

4th Quarter Certificate

The next day, Emily received another citizenship award for the year.  It's nice to see her get recognized for her hard work.  She was also recognized for her participation in orchestra, campus-care club, and hope club.  I love that Porter has clubs for the kids to join and feel apart of school.

Citizenship Recognition

Emily's Citizenship Certificate

Emily planted a seed in Campus Care Club

Emily did various activities in Hope Club

Memorable MondayPictures of Josh in Yearbook

This is Josh's last year in high school.  He has been involved in a lot of programs, especially music.  I loved getting my yearbook on the last week of high school.  Here are the pictures of Josh in his high school yearbooks.

9th Grade Year - Freshman

 10th Grade - Sophomore

11th Grade - Junior

12th Grade - Senior