~Elijah and Mary graduated from Kindergarten!!!!~

Dear Kara took these adorable pictures of Elijah and Mary in their caps and gowns.
~My Sweet Mary!~

~Our Dear Elijah~

~Two happy graduates!~

 

~The future is before them!~

~Jesus gave us a WONDERFUL graduation.
There were a lot of guests that came and Jesus helped us!
Kara took most of the pics during the graduation.  ~

~I was running around trying to finish everything before the graduation, so Kara got Mary ready.~

~So Sweet!~

~Dear Noah~

~I've wanted to make a rainbow cake for quite some time, so I decided to make one for Elijah and Mary's graduation.  3 of my layers baked quite crooked, but Jesus and Kimberly and I healed them. ;-)
Instead of putting icing in between the layers, I mixed vanilla pudding and strawberry jam together. It was yummy!~

~Kara and Bethany, along with my family and JESUS REALLY helped me get everything done.  The girls made the pom poms out of colored tulle.~

~Dear Luann brought the supplies for me to make these chocolate graduation caps.  The girls helped me make them.~

~I made a small loaf of French bread to give to each family who came to the graduation.~

~My friend Caro gave us some neat balloons.
Kara and the girls helped me with the decorations.
We used the colors of crayons to decorate.  Mostly red, blue, and green.~

~And just in case my cake wasn't enough to feed everyone, I made some cupcakes.~

~The dessert bar!~

~And the people started coming...and kept coming.   We were THRILLED to have everyone here!~

~I forgot to bring an American flag, so I asked Luann to bring one, and she brought 4! :-) ~

~Mary looking at her little chocolate graduation caps.~

~At the top of the stairs ready to come down.
Bless her heart, Mary was at the point of TEARS when she saw all the people. She told me that she was scared and didn't know if she wanted to come down.  So, I assured her that everyone down there in the living room Loved her, and that she didn't need to be afraid.
I quickly prayed for she and Elijah and then they came down the stairs.~

~Elijah and Mary coming down.~

~Marching In!~

~The little graduates Praying!~

~Valen and Abigail.~

~The Lord helped Phillip!~

~Baby Abigail~

~2 happy graduates...and the people behind.  We didn't get a count, but there were around 40 of us.~

~Pledging to the Bible and the American flag.~

~Mary playing a little song on the piano.  The Lord helped her get over her nervousness and she did great!~

~Sweet little Mary...who reminds us so much of Kimberly when she was little.~

~Elijah and Noah playing a song classical guitar style on their acoustic guitars.~

~Mommy's little Elijah!~

~Mary and Elijah saying Psalm 100~

~Our family sang a couple songs together.  SADLY, This is the only family picture we got that night. :-( ~

~Phillip did a good job speaking.~

~Phillip presenting their diploma to Mary.~

~Elijah getting his diploma.~

~With their diplomas.~

~Turning their tassels.~

~Elijah and Mary GRADUATED AT THE TOP OF THEIR CLASS!!!  Lol! ;-) ~

~I made a simple meal of my Chili, with tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, and little crackers similar to oyster crackers, veggies and dip, LOTS of homemade rolls, butter and jam.~

~I haven't seen punch bowls ANYWHERE here.  In Colombia I bought a NEW FISH BOWL to use, but here I couldn't find any of those either.
So, the morning of the graduation, I went out looking and PRAYING that God would PLEASE guide me to something I could use to serve the lemonade.  I ran to 5 different stores, and at the last one, I found these 2 LARGE plastic ice buckets for $2.00 each.  Praise the Lord!~

~My friend Caro made Hot Green tea as well!  Yum!~

~The kids outside feeding the fish in the pool behind our house.~

~Mary and Abigail wearing their new matching jumpers.~

~And here's my TALL cake.~

~I LOVED the strawberry merengue icing!  So light and delish!~

~For the top....I just threw on some strawberries that had a touch of white chocolate and dark chocolate.~

~Noah's friend Ariel.~

 ~Something came up and U. Charlie and A. Yoli couldn't be at the graduation but U. Charlie stopped by a few days before with these nice gifts for Elijah and Mary.
This is the gift table before anyone arrived.~

 

 ~These "candy gifts" are recorders/flutes, and Elijah and Mary LOVE them and play them all the time.~

 

~The kids gift table...overflowing. :-) ~

~Bro. Fernando helped me with little Abigail.  I had LOTS of helpers with her that night! :-) ~

~I asked Phillip to cut the cake, 'cause I was scared it would fall on me. :-) ~

~The cake was GREAT!  It cut beautifully and was DELISH!!~

~I didn't put icing in between the layers, I put a mixture of vanilla pudding and a tad of strawberry jam.~

~So FUN!~

~Valen, Sarah, and Bethany acting crazy.~

~Kara took a selfie...thinking that there would only be THIS picture of her.  :-) But, Phillip told me to take a picture of her, our photographer, so I got one of her eating later on.~

~Phillip acting like he was going to eat this HUGE slice.~

~Serving the cake.  We just served each person one colorful level. :-) ~

~Elijah and Mary are so happy with their gifts!~

~I enjoyed using my new fun little wooden box for the plates, napkins, and silverware on the dessert bar.

~Phillip found a list (and then added to it) of successful people (many famous) who were  home schooled.  That list includes 14 of our U.S. Presidents.~

~Whenever I do something like this, I often ask JESUS to inspire me how to decorate.  During the night the idea of tying markers and balloons to make a "banner" came to me.  :-) ~

~Here's a picture of our photographer (Kara) eating. :-) ~

~U. Leo and A. Caro gave Elijah and Mary these cute little marker books that teach you how to draw.  Here's her "dolphin,"

~And here's her adorable turtle!~

Jesus gave Elijah and Mary a wonderful graduation!
We are so THANKFUL to each one who came, and to Jesus for His help!
It was a nice evening that we will Long remember, and Elijah and Mary LOVED every minute!
~Heather~