Nathalieland Update - Portraits/Awards/Crafts/Cold/Birthday

School Photos. The portraits are in! Nice smiles, girls.

Jessi - Grade 9

Emily - Grade 11

Grade 10 Honour Awards. This month we had the pleasure of attending Emily's grade 10 Honour Awards ceremony where, through her hard work and dedication, she managed to exceed her results from grade 9. She received five subject awards (for Math, Computers, English, Business, and Careers), the Cayley Math Contest medal, and the Gold Medal for the highest average in her grade. Wowza!

Episode 49: The Grade 10 Honour Awards

Jessi's Arts & Crafts. Jessi's been very busy with schoolwork, but when she has pockets of time she fills them with art and crocheting. Her latest crochet projects took a few weeks to complete, but turned out beautifully!

Goodbye warmth, Hello Cold. Our deck furniture is all tucked away now for winter. We moved our two egg chairs indoors so they'll get year-round use, but we already miss hanging out outside.  

Let the Birthday Celebrations Begin. Steve is turning 42 this week! We celebrated with Nanny and Papa this weekend. More celebrations (and Halloween!) to come.

Jessi's Grade 8 Graduation

Jessi's Grade 8 Graduation Photo

It's the end of an era! Our elementary school days are over now that Jessi has officially graduated grade 8. The ceremony was on Tuesday at 4:00pm and was followed by dinner with her friends and a boat cruise for all the graduates.

Lots of preparation went into this big event, from dress and shoe shopping to a manicure (by her cousin Lorelei!) and a curly hairdo (by her Mama!). Jessi picked everything out and her final look was so her! She looked amazing.

Necklace borrowed from Mama
that matches perfectly with her dress

With all of us dressed up, I couldn't help but request a few family pictures. I'm so glad they obliged and had fun along the way.

The best words to describe the graduation ceremony were: hot, long, and memorable. There were 227 graduates at the school (from four different programs), and with 1-3 guests per student, that meant an unairconditioned gymnasium filled to the brim with people during a major heat wave (33°C feels like 42°C outside). It took nearly 2 hours to get through all parts of the ceremony: diplomas, awards, four valedictorian speeches, and teacher/principal remarks. But we survived! With the help of fans, water, and good company.

Jessi and her bestie ♥

We somehow got lucky and were seated with a perfect view of Jessi down the row. We smiled and waved at her a few times.

Necessary accessories

After the diplomas and subject awards were handed out, it was time for the School Awards for Outstanding Student Achievement. We were so pleased to see Jessi receive the Arts Award for her program! The teacher gave a nice speech about Jessi's accomplishments in the arts.

Episode 48: The Art Award

The ceremony ended right on time for Jessi's dinner at Cataraqui Golf & Country Club with six of her friends before heading downtown for the boat cruise. Sounds like they had a great time!

What a special day!