JT's Graduation!

My nephew, JT, is very special to me. He is the oldest child of my second brother, and was born when I was just 18 years old. I've always thought he was the coolest kid, and during most of the summers of his life he has spent a week hanging out with me. 

The photo below is me holding JT just hours after he was born in September of 1999. I had just begun my freshman year in college and moved away from home for the first time when he was born. I think it's so amazing that he was born the year I began college, and now our baby Seven will be born not long after he begins college!

Chris and me with JT when he was about a day new.

My brother and his family live in west Tennessee. It takes about 10 hours to drive to their house from our house, so we don't make it down their direction very often. In fact, we hadn't been to their place since before the twins were born! Even though it was a long trip, there was no way we wanted to miss JT's high school graduation. It was an important milestone, and we wanted to be part of it!

JT's graduation ceremony was scheduled for the evening of Monday, May 15th. We left our house early (6:00am) on Saturday morning to drive to Tennessee, be there Sunday and Monday, then drive home on Tuesday. Brianna was still in school - and did have school on Monday and Tuesday - but we let her teacher know that she'd be missing school those two days.

The trip there went really smooth for the most part. It was a long day, for sure, but we tried to make it as fun as possible for everyone. We are planning a driving trip to Colorado in June, so we looked at this trip as practice for our Colorado road trip. 

About an hour and a half into the trip, we crossed into Arkansas. The Arkansas visitor's center was the perfect place for our first bathroom break and photo op!

After stopping at the Arkansas visitor's center, we made great time all the way to Little Rock. The kids were doing better than we expected, so no complaints about that! I was certainly struggling to stay awake and took a bit of a nap as I'm still just SO tired ALL the time from being pregnant. I'm definitely ready to have some energy again!

In Little Rock, we stopped and had lunch at Jason's Deli. 

At this point, we were about half way through our trip, and were right on schedule to be in Tennessee at 5:00pm. We were shooting for 5:00pm because Jeremy and Shawna had planned a family (and a few friends) dinner for JT at a local restaurant called Snookums that we didn't want to miss. We drove all the way through to Memphis with no stops after lunch while the kids took naps. When we got to Memphis, we decided we needed a break to stretch and walk around a bit. This was the first time for the twins to be in Tennessee!

We walked all around the visitor's center right on the river in Memphis. It was a great break!

The kids were fascinated with the bridge.

And, the pyramid that is now home to a Bass Pro Shops!

This is the face Bren gave us when we told him it was time to get back in the car :-).

These sweet girlies were happy to run around for a bit, though!

We made it to my brother's house right about 4:30pm, which we felt like was great. The last hour we were in the car was a bit rough as the girls were very fussy, but we survived. We never know how road trips are going to go, and the potential for things to go down hill in a hurry is always there! 

Dinner was really nice, and afterwards we went back to Jeremy and Shawna's house for a bit to visit. Shawna's parents were staying with Jeremy and Shawna, my parents were staying in a motel, and Chris and I were staying at Jeremy and Shawna's friends' garage apartment they rent out through AirB&B. Our big kids stayed at Jeremy and Shawna's house with their cousins, and they were so excited to do that! The garage apartment worked out beautifully for us to have our own space and bathroom, so we were very thankful to have that available to us!

On Sunday morning, we all planned to go to church with Jeremy and Shawna. I ended up being super sick that morning with nausea and gagging, so I was afraid I was going to have to stay behind and go back to bed. However, I was fine by about 9:15am . . . just in time to go to church with everyone!

After church, we all went back to Jeremy and Shawna's house for lunch. "We all" included Jeremy, Shawna, JT, Kaylee, Shawna's mom and dad, my mom and dad, and my family. Since we were a large crowd AND it was Mother's Day, Shawna thought it would be easiest to cook and eat at their place. We had a delicious ham lunch, then put the kids down for naps while the rest of us had a lazy and calm afternoon. Before we put the kids down, I took them outside to get a Mother's Day photo with all my little blessings. I'm still just amazed that I get to be the mom to these precious children!

A lazy afternoon was just what everyone needed after traveling all day the day before. The kids were happy to have their cousin read to them after they got up from naps.

That evening, we went back to church and then out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant for dinner. 

The next morning (Monday), JT had a senior breakfast to attend. Shawna had asked Chris and I if we wanted to go with him, and we were happy to do so! We dropped the twins off with Shawna and G-Jo at Jeremy and Shawna's house, and rode with JT to the breakfast. As it turned out, only the seniors were allowed to eat and JT preferred to sit with his friends. Chris and I stayed for just a few minutes, then left to go get a drink and meet Jeremy, Shawna, Grampy, G-Jo, and our kids on the main street that runs through town to watch the graduates' parade. 

The parade was literally the graduates carrying a balloon walking through town, haha!

When JT walked by, we all whooped and cheered as loudly and obnoxiously as we could. I'm not sure he found it as amusing as we did :-).

The town where my brother's family lives is small and quaint and home to Freed-Hardeman University. Both of my older brothers and sister-in-law received their college degrees from there, and I remember visiting the campus as a grade-schooler when my oldest brother was a student. Shawna now works there as a faculty member, and that is where JT will begin college in the Fall. I wanted to walk around campus as I hadn't been there in several years, and also show my kids all around. We were standing on campus during the parade, so as soon as it was over, we began our campus tour.

I thought this was a beautiful spot for a photo op :-)

Of course, my brother had to get in on it . . .

This is real life when taking photos with lots of littles! The twins girls in the coral shirts belong to the good friends who let us use their garage apartment. 

G-Jo and Brooke enjoying a pretty day on campus

Brianna, Brooke, Brenson, and Brecklyn sitting on the FHU lion.

FHU

We were able to visit Shawna's office, the new library, and the new commons area. The touring crew included Sharon (Shawna's mom), Shawna, Grampy, Gary (Shawna's dad), Brooke, G-Jo, Chris, Brecklyn, Jeremy, Brianna, Brenson, and myself.

After grabbing a quick lunch, Chris and I took the twins back to where we were staying for a nap. Brianna and Brenson stayed at Jeremy and Shawna's house and played. After the girls woke from their naps, we headed on over to Jeremy and Shawna's house to take some pics, get the big kids ready, and eat sandwiches before we had to leave for the graduation ceremony that began at 7:00pm.

JT looked so good in his cap and gown!

We are all so proud of his accomplishments!

I wanted a nice pic of JT and the twins, but it proved harder than it should have been.

This was the best I could do, haha.

JT and Brianna

JT and Brenson

The grandkids on my side of the family . . . 

Chloe Jo (they had arrived not long before this), Brianna, Brooke, JT, Brecklyn, Brenson, and Kaylee

The men headed up to the auditorium to save seats for us at around 5:00pm, and it was a good thing they did! By the time the ladies arrived with the children, the place was packed out! 

Waiting for graduation to begin . . .

Grampy and Brecklyn

This whole row was our crew!

Ummmm . . . 

This is the other side of the same row.

We also had this whole row!

Chris and I thought we were going to sit with no children, but Brecklyn quickly decided she needed to be with us. I think she was feeling a little overwhelmed with the whole situation.

Finally, the graduation ceremony began.

Brecklyn was still unimpressed, haha.

JT getting ready to walk across the stage

We were sitting on the wrong side of the auditorium to see his face, but we cheered as loud as we could for him!

Thankfully, the ceremony didn't last a crazy long time. I think it was just over an hour? After the ceremony was over, we all headed back to Jeremy and Shawna's place for cake.

Brecklyn, Uncle Jeremy, and Brooke

JT and his cake

Before eating cake, we had a prayer. It was already over an hour past the girls' bedtime, but they were being SO good. They were super sweet during the prayer with their little hands folded!

Grampy, the graduate, and G-Jo

The graduate and his family

Our family with the graduate

While we were having cake and some other snacks, JT opened some graduation gifts. 

Of course, when you start opening presents, you draw a crowd of children :-).

JT had Project Graduation that night, but before he left Brianna wanted to get a photo with him and her class pet (a stuffed zebra), Zoe. Brianna has always adored JT, so she was sad to see him graduate. I think she thinks she won't see him anymore.

I think it was almost 11:00pm by the time we got the twins in bed that night, but it was well worth it! The next morning came early, for sure, but we wouldn't have wanted to miss out on JT's special time. All of the out-of-town guests were planning to leave Tuesday morning, but we all met for breakfast before hitting the road. All, that is, except for JT . . . He was catching up on his sleep :-).

Less than an hour after getting on the road toward home, the little girls decided to catch up on their sleep, too. They were so tuckered out from our weekend!

Brecklyn

Brooke

After stopping for lunch and letting the kids play on a playground for a while, we continued our trip for home. ALL the kids went to sleep almost immediately after lunch, and they slept for over THREE hours! They slept so long that Chris was tempted to wake them up because they were missing the whole trip. I, on the other hand, was enjoying the peaceful car ride :-). We both kind of needed to stop for a potty break, but there way NO WAY we were going to risk stopping and having everyone wake up!

We made great time on the way home and couldn't have been happier with how smoothly the travelling went. It really was a great weekend spent celebrating a cherished young man, and I'm so thankful we were able to be a part of it!