Getting Ready to Graduate

So, first things first, Dan passed the boards!!! And he's thrilled - can you tell?

It really was one of the best days ever. He passed, and now he can get his license and be a real live dentist! Good job, honey, on the all the hard work. It's finally going to start paying off (not in money so much as acheivement, really).With that good news, we went to the senior banquet. We got all dressed up in new clothes and even had a neighbor take some pictures of us. It was really fun, although dinner was not great (most people were there for the beer), and Dan wouldn't dance with me after. But, we still enjoyed it.

Here we are with the Roring - aka, The Boring Rorings. We will miss staying up untill all hours of the night with these silly kids. Here is a shot of my sweetie at the banquet, looking sharp and happy.

People in the picture are Erin & Celeste M., Jon M., John Lee R., Dan, Tyler C., Dave T., Matt L. and Dan M.

After the senior banquet, we decided we needed to party with the just R-Dep group. So, we spent the day at the institute hanging out. Here are the boys.

And here are the dental students. There is only one difference here, and that is Celeste in the picture rather than Eric.

And here are the girls. What great friends we've made during this long adventure.

Crazy boys. Whose idea was the pyramid? I don't know, but they were all on board as soon as it was mentioned.

Since the year is coming to an end, Emma showed off her dancing skills at the dance recital last thursday. She did great! She watched her teacher, and remembered lots of the moves. Dan and I were so proud and excited - it's pretty funny to think what a big deal we thought it was.

Our little balerina certainly has a knack for entertaining, and she didn't get nervous on the stage. There was only one near casualty when she smacked her neighbor with her feather duster during one of the songs. But, it was smoothed over fine.

Here she is with her little buddy Gracie. These two girls are together every chance they get. Emma will miss Gracie so much when we are gone.

And here is the whole group. There were tons of little dancers! But Emma was by far the cutest and smartest and sweetest and bestest one.

Until she yelled "I have a tummy ache" and started crying right in the middle of this photo op. We had taken her out for ice cream before the recital, and then ran out of time to eat dinner, so the poor thing was dancing on nothing but a strawberry oreo shake.To end the year, several of my friends got together and made friendship quilts. We all made 25 squares out of the fabric of our choice, then we swapped so that we all ended up with 25 different squares. After that, the design, borders and finishing was up to us. I just finished mine, and wanted to show off how good it turned out. I love it!

Another end-of-year event, the last day of preschool. I said goodbye to my preschoolers on thursday, and it was so sad! These little kids have been so darling. They've all worked so hard, and they all know their alphabet and numbers, and they all write their names (if they are in the mood). I'm so sad to see them moving on.And here's one last picture of our little Emily. Emily has been at our house mon, wed and fri this whole year. Emma has loved having a little "sister" to play with, and Emily will be sorely missed when we are gone. She is a dolly. We pulled out the bikes last week on a sunny day, and they both kept yelling "faster!"

The reality that we are moving has really hit me the past few days. I've been in denial about it happening for so long, but now I know it's inevitable. We are so blessed to have spent our time here in the heartland, and made so many wonderful friends. Those pictured here are special, but we also want those who aren't to know that we love them and will miss them like crazy. You all know who you are!