Brennen's Graduation Party

We returned from Rwanda one week prior to Brennen's graduation party. Caelan and Noah took excellent care of the house and Graysen with Chase and Gabby's assistance :) They had the pork and rice they'd made on spring break cooking in the crockpot when we arrived home on Father's Day--a little celebration. We were so tired and sick, I don't think I took any pictures. But it was really nice! My NGF brought lasagna and all the things the next night, which was so nice, too. We slept for three nights of 12 to 14 hours. I don't recall accomplishing much else, other than maybe laundry?

Thankfully, Caelan took on the party planning for Brennen's graduation. Along with prepping for Africa, much of my time in the weeks prior to our departure were spent ordering and gathering supplies for Brennen's party. Wow, those were really full days! No wonder the blog is months behind :) It seemed like Caelan found new ideas to add to the to-do list each time she stopped by, but as long as she stopped by with the supplies to make them--or got Gabby involved in the making--I had no problem with them decking the halls!

One afternoon we watched Bluey, another afternoon--the balloon arch prep day--they watched the Cars movie (the one where the characters all turn into international spies--such an unexpected plot line, ha!) Also, wow was that a lot of balloons! It is hard to see from the pictures, but those contractor bags are a short person high and two large people around . . . and there were a dozen of them? Our guest could not reach her guest bed in her guest room, nor could our puppy reach her kennel in her corner. We had to do some rearranging before bedtime for sure!

How this house holds all the things it does, I'll never understand! I suppose because it is just in temporary spurts, things find nooks and crannies--and entire rooms--and then filter on to other purposes as needed. It all looks good when it's used as intended though!

The venue gal really liked us, so she was like, "Come on in whenever you want and start setting up as early as you are available. I'll just leave the doors unlocked, and we'll check on you after church." This worked out great for us. We went to early service, then the boys and I started taking loads of things out to the venue while Buck and his mom worked on lunch and loading all the other cars (as they arrived with newlyweds from various churches) with more things to bring to the venue, too.

Pretty soon all the temperature sensitive items were taken care of: cakes and veggies in the fridge, endless bags of pre-blown up balloons dumped out on the venue floor. The girls worked on building balloon arches and mantles and twists for outdoors, like pros (seriously!) while Grandma J and my NGF worked on kitchen prep. We had Noah's groomsmen helping with table decor, just like at the wedding. Actually, everyone was helping everywhere, and Buck was out getting ice--lots of ice. The venue's drink tank thingy is gigantic! I brought all the misc. juice boxes and ICE flavors and mini pops that we don't seem to gravitate towards at home, and they were very popular. I should have brought more juice boxes, actually, because there were some bummed kids that they didn't get any. Such random things come to mind as I write before midnight!

My NGF's youngest daughters helped so much getting all the food out and then with the memorabilia tables. They've been our party set-up people for all the parties. I'm going to need to start providing some payback in the future years, I think!

The wedding candy dishes made yet another appearance! We also set up a special table for Noah and Caelan as they prepared to set out for their college years in a state that currently feels far, far away. We wanted them to have a send off party, too, and Brennen was willing to share. Their table doesn't look very full in the photo, but we hope their hearts felt full of love. It's an exciting next step in their marriage and their lives!

The Brennen Quiz was fun! Making up the questions sparked some entertaining conversations during the party planning :) The "LEGO" on the table are actually the not-LEGO that Brennen and I spent weeks last summer sorting before Caelan's wedding. We figured if anyone wanted to take home what they built--no problem! :) The vases are from Gabby's wedding. The twinkle lights have been at both weddings and this is their third grad party :) The balloon centerpieces, Caelan designed. The table covers are actually shower curtains because I wanted fabric and fabric is expensive, but shower curtains are not :) Let's see, other decor items--I VERY CAREFULLY drove a couple of Brennen's giant LEGO builds to display at the party; they got some impressed comments. The sparkle lights arch is from Chase and Gabby's wedding, and I think Noah untangled it both times (Grandma J and I tried!). Caelan added the ribbon fringe for Brennen's party. It looked great!

Below, Dale set up the yard games we borrowed from our other wedding helper friends--he was determined to play them, even though it was hot outside. It was nice to have the interior and exterior entertainment options. We weren't sure what the weather would be like when we won this prize in a fundraising auction back in November, but it turned out to be a great place to celebrate Brennen's big day.

It was a big space to fill with decor and partygoers, but I think we had a great turnout! My college roomie surprised me by walking through the door and getting some tears rolling for me. I tell you what, hosting this many big events this close together--I feel like I get to see so many friends and so much family, but I don't have time to sit and talk with anyone for very long. So let this be my announcement for whoever is reading and also attending--thanks for being there! I appreciate you :)

Super cool that a big ole crowd of flag football guys showed up to close out the party! I have a whole series of pictures like this. Fun group of young men. They actually picked Brennen up and carried him away--to where I'm not sure, but he did arrive home for the dinner party afterwards at the same time as everyone else, so maybe just to his car :)

Originally, I thought maybe we could just go out for a sendoff dinner with Noah's family after the graduation party. But Caelan pointed out that we'd have family in town from several states, so why not just have dinner at our house? Lol :) Easy, peasy! Actually, it worked out great. Buck fired up the wedding smoker before church and made delicious pulled pork sandwiches. We added traditional summer sides like potato salad and watermelon, Caelan made Jello Jigglers, we added a refreshing batch of Gabby's wedding punch for refreshments, Noah's mom brought chips and guac, and we enjoyed graduation cake for dessert. It was a little warm out still, but nice in the shade, so our deck worked fine for additional seating.

Uncle Buck and Baby H had a magnificent time playing with some of the Africa things I brought back. I'm not sure who enjoyed the game of slight-of-hand and gravity testing more :) He had a good baby day! First holding our former music teacher's little guy at the party and then all the niece giggles from H. It was a good day all around, good to see family and friends, good to celebrate Brennen's accomplishment, good to send the newlyweds on to their next adventure, good to put our teamwork/party planning skills to good use once again, and good to sit on the couch in our pajamas with candy and blankets to close out the night :) Countdown to next party: 152 days. Gah!!!! 😅