My mom was in town for Helmut's graduation this weekend and she mentioned that my Grandma Higginbotham was upset that I wasn't blogging anymore. So I am going to try my best to blog more. She is an awesome grandma, and I would hate to disappoint her! This is for you Grandma.
Yep. As you surmised from the title, Little Helmut graduated this weekend. It was a whirlwind. Mom and Dad came into town from Utah. And Matt, Maria, Lucas and Lincoln came in from San Antonio. It was so nice to have them here to share this special experience.
We started off the day with a special luncheon for Helmut and Madison at Maggiano's. They serve a super tasty all-you-can-eat (in a classy way) family style lunch. We started off with Stuffed Mushrooms (of which the teenager/fun aunt and uncle table consumed an embarrassing amount), Crispy Onion Strings, Chopped Salad and Caesar Salad. Our entrees were Lasagna with Mama's Meat Sauce, Fettucine Alfredo and Chicken Parmesan. The lasagna was so good! We finished off the meal with Apple Crostada and NY Style Cheesecake. I am only telling you about the food, because we are all about the food.
The Commencement Ceremony ended up being very nice. Somehow they made it through 658 graduates in only an hour and a half. I thought for sure I would be swimming in a pool of my own tears by the end of it, but not one tear was shed. The student that spoke were a bit cheesy, so they didn't induce any crying. And surprisingly, I didn't cry when they called his name and he walked across the stage. The only emotion that came to me was happiness. I was so happy for Helmut, for all the he had accomplished (graduating Cum Laude and getting accepted to BYU) and all that lay ahead of him. He has so many great experiences and opportunities coming in the next couple years. And as his mother, I helped to get him to this place. I am just super excited for his future. Plus I just kept telling myself, "save your tears for when he is gone, don't waste the minutes you have with him now".
Graduation was in the evening at 7:30 which made the lighting for pictures very unflattering. Luckily, I took a few shots before hand when I dropped Helmut off.
I love it that these two cousins got to experience high school together!
Thanks for coming all the way from Utah Mom and Dad!
A quick shot of some of the graduation attendees.