Recognition of hard work came L's way this week

 This week, recognition of hard work came L's way.  First, on Tuesday night, she was inducted into the HHS National Honor Society along with some of her friends.

This picture is of the ceremony where they came on stage after hearing their name read.

Here she is (2nd from left) with some of her friends who were also inductees that night.  The three girls on the right have been L's friends throughout elementary school and now into high school.  

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Then Thursday was the swim team banquet at DSC. First, a word about swim team.  The swim team is actually comprised of three high school teams:  HHS, DHHS and PVHS.  The combined team is called Tridents.  They practice together but they compete by high school. There were sixty-five swimmers on Tridents who finished the season.  HHS had eleven who finished the season, just to give a number comparison. Here are some of the HHS swimmers with three of the four coaches (not all team members attended the banquet and unfortunately the other two who attended the banquet left before this picture was taken).  Back row: KL, LS, LG, SF, and two assistant coaches.  Front row: LB, BB, and the head coach.

  L and others with better than a 3.7 grade point average received a certificate for maintaining good grades while participating on the team.  Here L is receiving her certificate from the head coach, and to the right is L's swim buddy B waiting for her certificate, too.

Here is L with her certificate (and to the left is her other swim buddy La). 

Then the happy surprise of the evening was that L received a varsity letter for swim!  The coach said that normally they give varsity letters to everyone who qualifies for the state finals, but this year there had been 51 of the 69 swimmers qualify for state, with 45 of them qualifying for state in individual events, which was an amazing accomplishment for relatively small teams.  However,  the coaches felt the award would lose its significance if nearly the entire team received a letter so they developed different criteria.  They decided to awarded them based on the highest cumulative point totals (practice points, meet points and meet scores). They awarded the top twenty percent (or where there was a natural break in points) of swimmers.  L (third from left) and K (second from left) were the only team members on the HHS team to receive their varsity letters, and of course, they were part of the overall top twenty percent of the Tridents to receive letters.  I was thrilled.   

The big 18th

We have had another birthday at our house and not just any birthday.  T has had his eighteenth birthday! He had very specific plans for his birthday which included receiving a particular Xbox game and playing that for as much of the day as he could!

Here are two novice parents and one great son about eighteen years ago.  B and I do not know a whole lot more about parenting than we did then, but we have had more experience--eighteen years to be exact.  I do not know if any child has been more anticipated than T.  A couple of old folks having a baby is a pretty big event.  If you cannot tell by the picture, I will tell you that we were pretty proud parents of that little guy.

I have been remembering some of the things T liked to do when he was small.  I remember when he was just a baby, he liked to study his hands.  He would spend hours just looking at his own hands, turning them this way and that.  I remember how fun it was that from an early age, T could get a joke and tell a joke.  I remember how he was more interested in playing with things found around the house like the TV remote and locks than playing with his toys.  I remember how he loved to have pretend arguments.  I was to say something and he would say the opposite (such as "Yes!" "No!" or "Go!" "Stay!" and a myriad of other "opposites").  I remember all the hours we spent watching big machines work and reading about big machines and watching videos of big machines.  I also remember that he loved to have me sing to him.

We have had a lot of good times watching T grow and learn. From the beginning, he has loved science and nature.  Unlike his mother (who always learned for the test and then promptly forgot everything), he can actually remember things he has learned about subjects that interest him and can give them back in detail.  I remember reading to him an adult-level book about rocks and minerals as bedtime reading.  It took us forever to get through that whole thing but we did.  He has always been very curious, funny, observant, intelligent, and quick to learn. He has a good heart. 

Here he is getting ready for a performance for school band a few years ago.  T has always liked school.

Now he is a senior and ready to graduate from high school.  Where did the time go?  Good luck, T, with all you do!  We love you and are glad you are in our family! 

Happy Birthday to Dad