grade 8 grad

• Katie, today was your big day.  Your grade 8 leaving ceremony.  
• I love the dress you chose.  It was summery, stylish, pretty and age appropriate.  A perfect combination in my books.
• I dropped you off at Charles Best at 10am.  You guys did a run through, then had a BBQ, then got dressed up and ready for the ceremony.
• I arrived quite early with George and Jane because I remembered at Jane's graduation the parking was terrible.  I'm glad I did because we had an easy time parking, and we also got great seats with Kathy and Dawne.
• George, we had some time to kill before the ceremony, so I took you out back and we found a huge bank of salmon berry bushes.  You gorged yourself plus we picked a bunch of berries for Jane.
• Daddy managed to come too!  He arrived just before it started.  I was grateful his principal gave him the time off, and also grateful to Sandra for covering his class for him.  It wouldn't have been the same without him.  
• Katie, I'm so proud of you.  You've worked so hard and grown an INCREDIBLE amount during these three years of middle school.  You've learned to face your fears and pursue what you want.  You rocked soccer and school.  You go girl!
• After the ceremony we hung out and ate and took photos with your friends.  Daddy picked Lila up from school and brought her over to us before heading back to his school.  He has to move classrooms this year, so he's been busy packing up and getting things in order.
• Katie, I've been eyeing up a little hillside of grass the last couple weeks and I knew this was the occasion to use it for photos.  I parked in the Save-On lot, left the rest of the gang in the van, and ran across the street to take photos of you.  The location was perfect.  You're such a beautiful girl Katie Bean.