Start of a New Chapter for Lillie

On August 16 we embarked on a long trip that would take us to visit family in Hawaii and ultimately drop our baby girl off at college in Utah at BYU!!  When we left it was technically the first day of her new school situation, so we took a first day of school picture as we left the house early in the morning as our flight for Hawaii was at 6AM. 

Hawaii was beautiful as ever. Hot and humid

But beautiful!  

A few days after we arrived a threw a graduation party for Lillie. It was held at a place called Natsunoya Tea House and we served all of Lillie’s favorite Japanese food!!

Most of her aunties and uncles and cousins were there from both sides of the family. For Lillie, she had never met some of her cousins. She was overwhelmed with all her relatives gathered together to celebrate her. 

Lillie’s parents (haha):

Lillie’s only living set of grandparents:

Lillie’s Auntys and Uncles (most of them. Uncle Stew and Aunty Shelley on the left, then Aunty Annie, then Aunty Kanani and Uncle Joe, and finally Aunty Momi and Uncle Terry on the right):

Lillie’s cousins (except for 6 of them who were not in Hawaii):

All of Lillie’s first cousins, their spouses, and all of Lillie’s first cousins once removed (haha):

We all had such a nice time being with family. Everyone that attended the party was related to Lillie. Lillie loves her family!!

After dinner we had a short program in honor of Lillie. We showed a slide show of Lillie’s life and talked about all her accomplishments and Lillie played a piece on her violin for they group!  The family loved it as most had never heard her play!  

We took an overload of pictures with all her cousins:

Cousin Katy:

The Miyahana Cousins:

The Miyahana family:

Dad’s side:

The oldest and the youngest cousin:

Haliaka:

Nika—who will be teaching in Ogden and will visit Lillie in Provo:

Justin:

Amethyst:

Kekela and his wife:

Makakoa:

Shaners:

The President of BYU Hawaii:

Paul—the one she nursed back to health in 2014:

Ian:

When they were small he would carry Lillie around on his shoulders. They still do it today:

Hawaii was so much fun!  Next up, a nostalgic return to Utah!!

Good Bye to the Atkinson Twins

Last night we went to see the Atkinson’s and say good by to their twins who are also off to college. The Atkinson’s have been our good friends since our Capitol Hill days and Lillie, Mirabel and Sofia have been friends all along. It is hard to believe they are off to college already. Mirabel is headed to Virginia Commonwealth University, Sofia is headed to William and Mary. They are so smart and ambitious. We know they will do well at college, including our Lillie. It was sweet to see them. Below is a picture they tried to recreate in the current. Haha. Very cute!

A Really Big Day for Lillie—Graduation Day

It seems like just yesterday Lillie graduated from 8th grade and we were looking at the county’s book of graduation requirements for high school and trying to map out her four years, trying to make sure she took all the required courses. And now she is done!  She graduated this week!  And she worked so hard. She ranked very high in her class (top 5%), did well on all her AP exams and excelled in track and on her violin. We could not be more proud of her. She really was outstanding in every way!!  

We got to the arena early and the stage was set!

We were so proud to see her name in the program with all her honors!!  She had one of the longest list of achievements!!

The orchestra was ready to go. It was bitter sweet to see them without Lillie as their concertmaster. That was HER seat and to see them without her was poignant. 

She gathered with her classmates in the back. 

Then the processional started. And we waited to see her walk in and there she was with all her honors and achievement ropes and her graduate with distinction medal and her national honor society shawl. She looked so happy!

We could see where she was sitting as the program went along. 

Then just like that they announced her name and she shook hands with the principal and walked off the stage as a honors graduate!!

After the ceremony we found her. Our family had sent a bunch of leis. So she was lucky to have the Hawaiian tradition of layers and layers of leis piled high. She looked so festive. She saw a few friends and then we were off to celebrate her at her favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot. 

Later that evening the school had a party for all the seniors. It was from 11PM until 4 in the morning. They rented Dave and Busters, an arcade and bowling center and had all you can eat buffet and soft drinks. Lillie had a lot of fun!!

The day was so festive. We hope Lillie had a good time celebrating all her hard work in high school and being recognized for all the honors she deserved!!

Seminary Graduation

This certificate was well earned. Lillie got up every day for four years at 4:30AM to attend class. She also had to do online seminary and that was so difficult in the morning. But we are so proud of her. We hope she will know she can do hard things and that the Lord will bless her for doing things HE has asked of her!!  

Senior Awards

 The stage was set for the awards ceremony. 

Not only was Lillie slated to receive many awards for her hard work these past four years, but she was selected to play her violin for a special musical number. She would be the only student doing a musical number. She auditioned for the spot and got it so she was happy and so nervous. She would be playing A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman. But in the end she did such a good job as always:

As proud as we were for her musical number on her violin, we were even more proud of her academic achievements!!

She was awarded:

AP Scholars with Distinction—which honors students with an average test score of 3.5 on all their AP tests taken with a score of 3 and above on four or more of these exams. We were really proud of her for this one. She studied so hard for all her exams. 

Graduate with Distinction—students with a 3.9 GPA and above. 

The Superintendent’s Award for Outstanding Educational Excellence—for getting all A’s in every class for the entire year. 

The President's Educational Award—for GPA higher than 3.5 and a SAT score above the 85th percentile

Governor’s Award—top 5%. There were only 16 of them in the whole class. 

National Orchestra Award—for outstanding talent and contribution to the orchestra. 

What is amazing, though, is that this isn’t just for this year. She had to keep up all her grades through FOUR years to get those awards!!  We are so proud of her!! 

It’s so hard to believe this is all coming to end for her. But she has so much to look forward to at BYU!!  

Senior Prom

Lillie had her senior prom tonight. She looked so beautiful and happy!!  Eaton was her date  they looked so cute together  and their “driver” was Lillie’s best friend, Sammy!!

Lillie performs with her school orchestra

 Lillie had her LAST concert with the school orchestra last night.  She did an AMAZING job and has worked on her violin since she was in fourth grade.  We know she hasn't always liked it, but she has done such a good job all these years.  We were so proud of her!!  She was finally able to do a concerto with a live orchestra!!!  Click on link below to see her performance.

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Towson University All State Orchestra

Lillie participated in the Towson University all state orchestra. They started it last year and this was the second annual. It is for juniors and seniors and the students are all recommended by their teachers from the various high schools in Maryland!  The most impressive thing about this orchestra is that they learned three pieces in ONE day and put on a great concert!!

Lillie honored for her participation in track and field

Today Lillie was honored for her participation in track and field. She makes us so proud with everything she does 

We got a pin with her picture in it  

They had bouquets of flowers for the girls. 

Dad was proud to wear his pin. 

All the graduating seniors. 

And they even made a banner for each of the graduating seniors. 

Lillie was a great manager for the team. The coach and all the team mates were so appreciative all her tireless efforts. It’s hard to believe her high school years are coming to a close. But she has done so well in everything she sets out to do!!

The banner now hangs in our living room for now—to honor our graduating senior!!

Lillie goes to New York with her orchestra

Lillie’s high school orchestra took a trip to New York. She had a blast with all her friends. It was a good way for her to enjoy a little senior trip!!  She felt good being back in a city she loves!!  Such excitement in the city!!