It’s all about Ben

The last few months have been all about Ben. We have been getting the house ready for his open house, attending award ceremonies, banquets, dessert socials…. And of course the big day itself, graduation! Now I have to take a moment to brag on our Ben, really his whole class. There is always so much talk about this next generation and often it’s negative, but going to all these events let us see just how many of Ben’s peers are amazing kids. In his class of just under 200 there are kids attending, Harvard, John Hopkins, Brown, Norte Dam and a record number going to the University of Michigan. The list of amazing things these kids have done just blew us away, so many community involvement activities and missions it’s just so cool. And just to brag a bit more, Ben was in the top ten percent of his class and was given the largest scholarship, a full ride to the U of M!!! Go Blue! This amazing scholarship also added to our already busy schedule as we told Ben that if he achieved this we would take him anywhere he wanted to go. His first choice was New Zealand, but it’s winter there right now, so that was out, then Iceland, the day I went to book the tickets, yup, volcano, that was out, he settled on surfing in Hawaii. So I found us amazing deals on flights and a condo on the island of Kauai and two days after the party we where off! What a great time we had, it was really special to spend some time with just Ben talking about his “grown up life” and what it will look like. He’s an amazing kid that will most certainly live a full life; I can’t wait to see it happen!

So while we were in Hawaii, Miss Mariada spent some time being super spoiled by Grandma she even got to spend some time with Great Grandma up at her cottage, she had a blast. Now we are back in full soccer mode. Practice every week, camps and she’s even dual enrolled so she will be playing for two different teams! So basically its summer and we are busy as all those that live in the north can attest to we always cram why too much into three months!

One more thing, we have some bloggy friends that are on their way to Albania to adopt their second child! Would you please keep them all in your thoughts and prayers, as many of you know the process can be so much work, things you never thought would come your way are there tossed in with so much joy. It can be very physically and mentally exhausting.

Now on to pictures, lots and lots of them, it’s time to catch up!



Did I mention, this class was awarded 4.5 million in scholarships!


A very proud sister.
The "Big House" cake, so cool, and no I didn't bake it :).
I was so happy it didn't rain, since our porch was the plan B, forgot to rent a tent!
Our three on the bungee run, what fun!


Hanalei Bay our surf spot, so pretty. We packed a lunch.
The outside break is called summers, very fun wave and the locals had really good attitudes about us being there!
Na Pali hike, Ben ran...
we took breaks :)
The view from our condo, and yes that's a rooster and a rainbow. Sounds like a kids book!

A different break and Ben is on that wave, no really he is ;) I just don't have a good enough zoom.

We took a boat trip to the Na Pali coast as well, amazing....



On the way back a pod of dolphins joined us, so cool.
Our last day we flew over to Oahu and saw Pearl Harbor. That's the Mighty Mo behind my boys. We took the iPod tour, what a ship!