Chase and Graduation

Our oldest son, Chase, graduated from high school this past Friday. Although the school put us in a major dilemma, giving him only 10 tickets (Are they kidding?? We have 7 people in our immediate family!) the 10 of us who went enjoyed it very much. I must say, being an Arnold at graduation time is much different than being a Williamson. Chase was number 6 to walk across the stage, while I sat at the very back of the floor in the Carolina Coliseum at my graduation, where my fellow W-Zers contemplated ordering a pizza - certain that it would arrive before they called our names.

Saturday was Chase's graduation party. He wanted a 'party like Brianna's' and invited all of our family and some close friends from Maryland. It was a great time, we all worked hard getting this monster of a yard under control, cleaning the house, and preparing tons of food for Chase's guests. On the menu: BBQ from The Pompous Pig, pasta salad, black bean & corn salad, taboule, baked beans, chips & dip, tortilla chips & salsa, + blueberry salsa (yum! My favorite!) and trays of fresh fruit and veggies. A lemon pound cake I made from an old family recipe, cupcakes from Aunt Leanne, and a giant chocolate chip cookie with Class of 2011 on it from Elaine and Buddy.

I would like to thank everybody who took the time to come to Chase's party, especially those who had to travel to get here. Our good friend Storm drove 8.5 hours! And some of our family live a couple of hours away. Chase was so happy you were all here. Our entire family, but especially Chase, has had a tough couple of years. He had to live away from us last year, which was very difficult, and then he had to leave his good friends in Maryland to come to a new school 500 miles away for his Senior year - none of his grades transferred and he had some difficult (but good) teachers for his AP classes - he was at a disadvantage because the other students had these teachers in previous classes and he was brand new. I know how hard it is to be the new kid for your Senior year and now both Brianna and Chase have had to do that, too. If you don't think you know someone who has been affected by the crash of the housing market and the lack of jobs in this economy, reconsider: our family certainly has and it made Chris' retirement much more difficult. So THANK YOU for coming to help Chase celebrate making it through this time and going on to work for his dream at UAH, majoring in Aerospace Engineering with full scholarships for 4 years. Hooray Chase!!

Here are just a few pictures - taken by Reid.