On Thursday May 17, Elizabeth graduated from Joy School after two years with Teacher Wilson. We have loved Teacher Wilson and Elizabeth was very sad after graduation that she would "ynever find a teacher as good as Teacher Wilson." She learned so much in Joy School; not just her ABCs, numbers and reading (which she is doing great at) but also, through the Joy School curriculum, she learned about imagination, country pride, service and self worth. (She also made great friends!)
Graduation was so cute and the kids did a performance of the songs they have been learning. Elizabeth is quite the performer (but it was a little toned down from last year) and she sang beautifully. They then got to do the graduation march a couple times, in their robes, (Elizabeth said this was her favorite part) and have their names called. It was a sweet performance and we all loved it.
Grandpa Stones came to watch her and he brought her a flower from Nana, who was in UT this week. Grandma Newson was also able to come and she brought Elizabeth's cousins Hannah, Sam and Eli, who were visiting from UT for the week. We were all really proud of her. (Ben wasn't able to be there because he had a business trip in FL.
She will be starting kindergarten in the fall at Longmont Estates Elementary School. On May 4 she was able to go to a Kindergarten Shadow Day; where she was dropped off, with the other new Kindergartners, and got to spend a couple hours with the teachers and in the classroom getting to 'experience' kindergarten. She was excited (except to see the big kids- I assured her, she wouldn't have to) and had a good time during Shadow Day. She got a shirt with her graduation year: Class of 20WHAT? Wow- doesn't that seem so far away and so unreal?!
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Thursday, May 17, 2018
MASTER Newson from CU Boulder
Ben GRADUATED!! We are all so excited! Just writing this I am getting happy tears (yes, I blame a lot of that on pregnancy emotions but a ton of it is real joy).
It has been a long hard 2 years; I was often home alone with two kids and it was tough. But Ben took everything on and was amazing; he worked full time, served in church callings, was an amazing Dad and took on a lot of hard and time intensive courses. He learned so much and can already see the benefits of this program in his personal and professional life. This is something he has always wanted to do and he DID IT! We are all so happy.
Graduation was on Thursday May 10 at a field on the CU Campus. Ben forgot some stuff at home, so the kids and I rushed to campus to give him what he needed. The kids were able to see him in his robes and they loved it. They did not go to the ceremony because we thought it would be a little too long for them (thanks Rachel for watching them).
The ceremony was really nice; I thought speakers might ramble and that I would be dying but it really flew by. It was hot under the tent but there was a pleasant breeze and anything (even misery) would have been worth seeing Ben's pride and excitement. I was preparing myself to run up and get a picture of him walk across the stage but he jumped the line to the K's, so that he could go with his friends. So... I got some pictures from the back.
It really was so worth seeing his childish giddy excitement. Afterwards we went to a reception at the CU Stadium and I got to meet a bunch of his classmates. Everyone raved about Ben and how helpful he was in their experiences of the program; He is such a good team player, he is positive and he is diligent. Can I say again how proud of him I am?!
The next day we had a Graduation party at the Newson's house. Ben took the day off of work and spent the entire day tirelessly preparing the yard for it, instead of getting a much needed rest. The party was so much fun; we invited a lot of the people from the Louisville Ward, who helped to support Ben through the years and encouraged him to get his Masters, and some people from our new ward in Longmont. (There were 80+ people there- wow) We had pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, watermelon, potato salad, pasta salad and chips for dinner. And we had an assortment of cookies for dessert. (I was worried there wouldn't be enough food but, of course, there was.)
The Early's DJ'd it with music through the whole thing, we had toys/games on the tennis court for the kids, we hired a Priest from the Louisville Ward to be a 'parking attendant' and we enjoyed having so many fun friendly faces around. Again, Ben is so loved and I am pretty proud of him.
To end the graduation celebrations, we went to a grad BBQ with the people from Ben's cohort on Saturday. I got to meet more people, the kids got to play on a park and Ben got to reminisce and be with his friends.
It was a great weekend to celebrate a great guy and his GREAT achievement. We can now call him Master Ben Newson and he can now claim to be a true CU Buff!!
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| CU Alumni Family!! |
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| On April 15 we had Rachel take some family pictures for our party announcements. |
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| So excited for our smart "thinking" man. |
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| The kids are so proud of Dad! |
Graduation was on Thursday May 10 at a field on the CU Campus. Ben forgot some stuff at home, so the kids and I rushed to campus to give him what he needed. The kids were able to see him in his robes and they loved it. They did not go to the ceremony because we thought it would be a little too long for them (thanks Rachel for watching them).
The ceremony was really nice; I thought speakers might ramble and that I would be dying but it really flew by. It was hot under the tent but there was a pleasant breeze and anything (even misery) would have been worth seeing Ben's pride and excitement. I was preparing myself to run up and get a picture of him walk across the stage but he jumped the line to the K's, so that he could go with his friends. So... I got some pictures from the back.
It really was so worth seeing his childish giddy excitement. Afterwards we went to a reception at the CU Stadium and I got to meet a bunch of his classmates. Everyone raved about Ben and how helpful he was in their experiences of the program; He is such a good team player, he is positive and he is diligent. Can I say again how proud of him I am?!
The next day we had a Graduation party at the Newson's house. Ben took the day off of work and spent the entire day tirelessly preparing the yard for it, instead of getting a much needed rest. The party was so much fun; we invited a lot of the people from the Louisville Ward, who helped to support Ben through the years and encouraged him to get his Masters, and some people from our new ward in Longmont. (There were 80+ people there- wow) We had pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, watermelon, potato salad, pasta salad and chips for dinner. And we had an assortment of cookies for dessert. (I was worried there wouldn't be enough food but, of course, there was.)
The Early's DJ'd it with music through the whole thing, we had toys/games on the tennis court for the kids, we hired a Priest from the Louisville Ward to be a 'parking attendant' and we enjoyed having so many fun friendly faces around. Again, Ben is so loved and I am pretty proud of him.
To end the graduation celebrations, we went to a grad BBQ with the people from Ben's cohort on Saturday. I got to meet more people, the kids got to play on a park and Ben got to reminisce and be with his friends.
It was a great weekend to celebrate a great guy and his GREAT achievement. We can now call him Master Ben Newson and he can now claim to be a true CU Buff!!
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