Senior Parent Appreciation Dinner

Remember the sarcastic remarks I was making about having to shell out $20 a pop for the Senior Parent Appreciation Dinner? Well...I take all that back. What a special night tonight was! And if the way I felt tonight watching this slide show is any indication of what's to come with graduation...I am in trouble:






Luckily, (because maybe people figure Mormons only like to hang with other Mormons?) we were assigned to sit with the fabulous Joneses...who ALWAYS make us laugh, so I didn't shed too many tears. Although when it came time for "open mic" and the Sr.'s had the opportunity (only if they wanted) to read aloud their prepared letters for their parents...Pa Jones offered Troy $10 to go up and read his because he wanted to see me cry:






Josh making good on his dad's offer.

He actually said, "$10 if you read it, $20 if you rap it"...which would NOT have made me cry...but I guess he figured seeing Troy rap would be just as entertaining...so he won either way.

Throughout the evening, there was this cute deal where they would ring a bell, and whenever it rang, the kids would have to hug a parent. Pretty soon, kids were running around hugging parents who were not their own. It was very sweet...and although my favorite hugs were from Troy, I enjoyed my bonus hugs, too.

Then they had the Sr.'s bring each of their parents this lovely gift:


And made them hug us and say they appreciated us. (It didn't sound forced at all.)


I LOVE these! I'm going to try to get on the committee for Patrick's graduation in 2012 just so I can get two more and have a full set.


In other news, the school yearbook came out today. After school, Troy and I sat on my bed and looked through the whole thing. His pics were great. They do formal, casual, and baby sections just for the Sr.'s...and then there's all the sports and activities he was in, too. We turned to the Sophomore section to find Patrick's last name spelled Stewart. FAIL! Two problems with this: First of all...it's a small school and everyone knows they are brothers...HELLO! Second of all, they spelled it correctly each and every other place Patrick was pictured in the yearbook...but on his official picture...the one most people will be looking at...no. What gives?

Anyway, we got to the Sr. superlatives section (you know...voting for who is "best dressed", "most likely to succeed", etc.) and imagine my surprise when I see this:


I asked Troy if he knew about this and he said he'd known for a couple of months (since they announced the results), but wanted it to be a surprise. The funny thing is, I had never thought about any of these categories (I mean, come on...the best he'd gotten so far was "sweatiest athlete" at the wrestling banquet) but after I saw this and thought about it...there is not one title I'd be more proud of him being voted into. I have always seen what a gentle, calming presence Troy has...but it was pretty sweet to see his peers recognize what a kind soul he is, too. He's a pretty amazing person.

Now I'm just plain bragging, so I'm going to stop and hit the hay.

Nighty night!