Graduation!

End of May brought the final weeks of Kaleb's time at FLEC as he neared the 8th grade graduation. Hard to believe.  He enjoyed several days of field trips the last week - Busch Gardens and Islands of Adventure. In addition to the theme parks, there was also a beach outing on Friday afternoon with a bunch of kids from the class out at Pone Inlet.

Enjoying the beach

Their chaperone group at the theme park

Thursday evening is the 8th grade graduation at the Forest Lake SDA Church.  We started the evening off by having dinner with Bergherms and the Bond families, along with of course Amy's Mom and Lyle.  We enjoyed Italian food at Carrabas before dashing over to the church.

Evan, Sam and Kaleb are the 8th grade graduates

The whole group

Kaleb's class had about 83 kids with only 9 receiving high honors (very different from Zachary's class who had 90% that were all high honors).  We were proud that Kaleb had extremely high grades - he is very driven to do well in his grades and he was able to see the fruits of his labor which is always nice.

He was only allowed to wear 2 medals - so he chose his NJHS and Uno Voce medals (although he could have had also had soccer and high honors medals if he had been allowed to wear all 4).

Congratulations Kaleb on high honors and to the rest of the class!

Kaleb auditioned for the opportunity to do the family tribute with his friend Leticia, and they were the ones chosen -- the teachers saying that they had done a great job of both writing the tribute as well as delivering it with both ample eye contact and the articulation.  With 600-700 people in the graduation audience though, we weren't sure what to expect but they totally knocked it out of the park and did a fabulous job - no nerves at all!

Kaleb gave flowers and a letter to Grandma & Grandpa as well as to Amy & Karis

With the last name of Zbaraschuk, Kaleb was the last one to get his diploma 😀

Afterwards Kaleb had the opportunity to take pictures with his various friends and mentors from his time at FLEC - we have been so blessed by FLEC, it was a great experience. 

Our immediate family

And our extended family inclusive of the Johnsons who came to watch Kaleb graduate as well

Kaleb, Jonny and Evan

Lily and Kaleb

Emma, Lily, Kaleb, Becca with Lena in the front

Our other very special graduate is Miss Sadie who graduated from pre-K.   She is just as adorable as one child can get - we love you Sadie!

Camp Kulaqua Joy, Soccer Winners & the Very First Vocal Recital!

The Spring is aways a busy time in the Z household and this year is no different - the FCSL soccer league at FLEC launches and Karis has now multiple years been the coach.  He thought this year that he wasn't going to be needed for either child but in the end various coaches weren't able to do it so he ended up once again coaching both kids' teams -- which seemed fitting seeing as this was Kaleb's very last year at FLEC in FCSL.

And wonder of wonders, both kids' respective teams won first place in their grades!  Yahoo! That was a fun ending to the year.  What was even crazier is that Kaleb's team ended up winning always in penalty kicks - how stressful can that be?  And he was the one who got the goal that tied up the semi-final game forcing it to go to penalty kicks - really happy for him as he often in the past would play defense so didn't have the chance to get goals, so it was fun to end his run with some goals both in the Varsity soccer as well as now in FCSL.  He also scored in his respective penalty kicks, so that was an added bonus!

Kaleb's winning team

 Very happy Father and son!  Congratulations!

Addison and her team ended up winning their final game in penalty kicks as well.  She played both goalie this year as well as out on the field.  She was super excited to win first place. 

Addison's team

Goalie at the ready!

While out at the field, Amy ran into these two handsome boys and couldn't resist getting a picture of them -- glad they came out to support their little siblings!

This time of year is always Camp Kulaqua the first weekend of May with our Forest Lake SDA Church.  It is always fun to go and reconnect with friends and spend some time out in nature.  This year for the first time Amy's mom and Lyle came out for the weekend so we were able to cross paths with them as well.

Always happy to see Grandma and Grandpa

This year for Sabbath school they brought in animals from the zoo, which Addison had a fun time.  During the sermon she ended up though getting very snuggly on Dad's lap and fell soundly asleep, complete with her mouth open 😁

Every Sabbath afternoon our kids stay around the camp rather than doing the river float, so there is always a trip to the zoo and to the canoe.  The water and trees make such a lovely cool trip that it is just wonderful.

Sabbath evening we congregate for a potluck supper with anyone and everyone who would like to come - over the years it has grown....and grown....and grown... to the point this year where we had about 100 people!  The more the merrier and there is always a ton of food.

Saturday evening the Spikeball games came out and the men remember their younger years and come out in droves!  So fun to watch and cheer them on.

Sunday morning found us at the horse barn going on a trail ride.  Erik, Elin and Addison were excited about the chance to ride horses while Kent and Amy tagged along.

Addi was riding right behind Amy so it was hard to get a picture!

We scampered home from Kulaqua to head very quickly that evening to the final Spring piano and recital concert.  This was the very first time that Kaleb has ever participated by singing a song!  We were super proud of him - he sang the song that he practiced the first 18 months of voice lessons - it was a Christmas song!!  Thankfully he has moved on to other songs in recent years. 😂

Kaleb and Miss Esther

Even Zachary came to this recital - and Grandma and Grandpa never miss an event for the kids

Addison did a piano piece - deciding that she wasn't quite ready to sing a song in front of everyone - she did a great job on her piano piece.

Fourth Grade Project - Highlights of Florida!

In fourth grade, the classes do a project highlighting something special in Florida.   Addison chose to do the Disneyworld highlights (well, actually she suggested one and then Amy took it to the next level by suggesting that she do one from EACH of the parks....overachiever as always).  It was a fun project and Addison did use a lot of different crafts in order to create it -- she did Magic Kingdom castle, Epcot world globe, Animal Kingdom Tree of Life, and the Hollywood Studios Tower of Terror.

Creating the Tree of Life from brown clay and green pipe cleaners

It is a family affair - all hands on deck

And the finished project in the diorama box - she did a great job!

We had the absolute joy of being able to participate in the baptism of Erick and Lucas - they were baptized in the lake that they live on with a lovely program and dinner afterwards.  They had been doing bible studies with Pastor Matt. They had about 50-60 people there, and the boy's friends were given the opportunity to go up and say a few words, which made it a special memory for sure.

Enjoying looking out at the lake with Caffrey and Canaan before the baptism.

The boys with their parents welcoming the group as the sun shone so beautifully through the clouds

Such a sweet moment as the brothers hugged each other after Erick was baptized.

All of the kids that were there at the event

The final weeks of school saw us having Friday chapels and the Pathfinder induction for Kaleb. 

Amy was able to come to one of the Friday chapels

Kaleb's pathfinder induction happened - it was a good year.  He didn't do the advanced this year as the advanced requirements were so extensive that Auntie Heather just decided to pass on it this year - and who can blame her!  

Miss Karen and the grade

The entire club - it is a huge club this year

At the end of the year, Uno Voce had their final concert along with the orchestra, so that they could watch their trip video - it was great fun and then the 8th graders did a tribute to Miss Esther and they each painted a Christmas ornament for her - showing off their individual personalities which was a neat gift.

Addison has a case of older girl envy - loving Lili and Caylie

Upfront giving their speeches for Miss Esther

And lastly, the flag football season has come to a close. Addison enjoyed being able to learn the game and to play with Erik.  They were very gracious with her allowing her to join the team and play.

Our Very Final Adventure Induction

How can this be?  We have been in Adventurers for so many years, enjoying all of the various campouts and activities and now we are participating in the final Induction ceremony as Addison has now aged out - it will be Pathfinders for her next year - just in time to go to Gillete Wyoming in August 2024 for the Pathfinder Camporee (the new location as they have transitioned from Osh Kosh).

Her sash is so full of the patches that we couldn't even fit the last year's of patches and as she was done we just didn't bother doing a 2nd sash.

She had the opportunity to walk in with the Pathfinder Colorguard with the flags - she was quite proud of that chance.

Her class was quite a large one - there were a lot of kids that joined after Covid at our church as their respective churches didn't continue the program so the classes got huge.  Blessings on all of the teachers who managed to keep control out of that chaos!

Olivia and Liam were two of Addison's good friends this year - they are twins.

Amy's cousin Judy and her husband Jay came into town for the weekend, so we enjoyed having a quiet opportunity to catch up with them on Friday evening at Amy's Mom's house for a yummy dinner - always a fun experience as they are quite humorous and have lots of stories.  Thanks for coming to see us!

A last-minute picture before we headed out the door

Addison had a fun year in band doing the clarinet, although the practice is more than she is ever desirous of so next year she is switching to choir next year as she starts to try and angle to get into Uno Voce a year from now in grade 6.  

Clarinet beside Michael - one of her 5th grade besties

And in random pictures Amy was out at a football game for Addison and it started to rain - Aunt Kelli saved the day by sharing her umbrella.  Thanks for keeping Amy dry!

Amy, Kelli, Kaleb enjoying the umbrella

During April Amy suffered from a bout of TMJ - thankfully it wasn't joint related but rather muscle related - her back teeth couldn't touch for about a month - that is NO fun trying to eat and enjoy one's food.   Thankfully after two torture sessions at the massage therapist (wow, that was as bad as birth - Amy was chanting silently in her head "I've given birth three times, I can take this" over and over through the experience but it worked!!!   And now Amy enjoys eating once again with a normal bite.

Trying to surreptitiously take a picture of the fact that her teeth can't touch in the back - anyone who saw Amy take this picture would have thought her quite odd!