That's right... We graduated.

Greetings from Lincoln Illinois, where Kenyon and Michelle just GRADUATED. There's a few pictures below (we don't have the pictures with Kenyon's family yet). We'll have some even better ones shortly, but here's a couple from the big day:


Michelle's two brothers, Christopher and Kevin.
Poor Kenyon had to wear a pink tassel.


Yet another picture where we look like sisters...

Both of us felt very honored at graduation. It was noted at graduation that Kenyon would be joining the Marines, so he got a couple hoots and hollers from proud citizens in the audience. Michelle received a bunch of cool academic honors that were mentioned also. We're basically the coolest.

Kevin surprised us by showing up at graduation. He actually graduated from USMC boot camp the day before and spent his first hours of freedom at my graduation. What a brother, huh? The picture below is one from his graduation. We're so bummed we couldn't be there...



My grandmother was a Marine, so she was able to get all dressed up in her blues for the ceremony. How cool.
Kevin will be part of a Marine Corps Band and will be assigned to a general stationed in Okinawa. Even cooler.

We had a great time during the weekend in general. We were able to see family, but more importantly, we were able to hang out with good friends. We hung out on Saturday night and laughed until we cried. It was so fun. We miss them so.

Stay tuned for more graduation pictures. We'll put an album with all the pictures from graduation on our website when I get back to New Hampshire.

Dave's Tribute to Ricky

I know many of you don't know Ricky, and this just won't mean as much to you, but to those of you who do know him, or to those of you who want to know just what it was that we loved so much about him, there is this:

http://richardjnelson.com/

This is our dear friend.

Ricky

With all that is going on in our lives, I fear we only have one thing to share tonight.

Kenyon's best friend, Ricky, was killed in Iraq on Monday.

He is one of the greatest men we will ever meet.

We love Ricky, so much. We miss him, and will never forget him.

How March Rolled on Out...

So, the major excitement of this month was having Kenyon's family come to visit. We were able to do some more of the tourist-y things that we love doing, plus were able to hang out with people we like best. Perhaps the highlight was the Fenway Tour... Tim (Kenyon's dad) was lovin it- it was neat to watch.



Kenyon's family came the week after Easter. Easter in itself was fantastic. It was neat to be a part of such an outreach-centered church on a weekend like Easter. It was tiring, but so rewarding and a wonderful experience for us. Even though, Kenyon had to work on Sunday afternoon. So sad.

We're in the season of making our final decisions right now, but more importantly... IT'S ALMOST TIME FOR GRADUATION! We're finishing up our last classes and counting down days. It's so exciting to have something on paper that says, "hey, I recognize how hard you worked... here's proof it was worth it."

So close. I'm so excited.

As we make our final decisions, we'll keep you in touch. Right now, there's just nothing to tell. We're preparing for a six-month stay in either Illinois (probably Lincoln) or a six-month stay here in Manchester. Kenyon has a job opportunity here, but we are waiting for news about what a job could look like for me here. If that doesn't work out, we will happily be spending time in old familiar places before January. Now, I say January because in May, we are only choosing where to move to for six months. Kenyon leaves for boot camp in October, but is finished in January. Now, January is when Kenyon will be doing his basic training, and I'll be able to live with him then. This all happens in Virginia.

So that's the short version. Again, nothing is set in stone yet, so there isn't much I can say for sure. As soon as we know, we'll fill you in!

Miss you all...

How March Rolled In...

Bonjour mes amies! Some exciting highlights from the last couple weeks:

1. Michelle drove in Boston. And she survived.

2. Chrispy and Sarah visited! It was so good to see them. They stayed with us in Amherst from Saturday to Tuesday. We spent Sunday in Boston doing the aquarium, Hard Rock, some shopping and Quincy Market. After they spent some more time in Boston on Monday, we had a Guitar Hero party that night and a little more time in Boston together on Tuesday for a beautiful trip. What great memories.





2. Michelle had acupuncture. (WEIRD)

3. Kenyon and Michelle received two more successful haircuts.

4. We met a sting ray.

5. We caught up on LOST!

6. >> shift to serious tone >> We have a small group that we really love. We're meeting weekly, but we're also hanging out- as good friends. The group is full of young people - our age - in our place of life - who are wonderful to grow and be stretched with. We're loving it. They will be hard people to leave if we return to Illinois in May. What a blessing.

It's been a neat month. We're finally making some progress on figuring out our futures, and we're able to just get excited about where we are at. We are growing together; we're being stretched in a new place, but we're loving it. We're excited to get settled somewhere, but we're enjoying the ride.

We hope things are well. We're looking forward to being in Illinois for graduation and seeing everyone. A couple more months!

Dad's Visit

So, I'm totally convinced that the weather in the Midwest is worse than it is here. *gloat*

Dad visited this weekend. We did all sorts of fun things:

... like snowshoeing! Super fun. Not quite Little House on the Prairie style, though. I was very sad about that, but content with the experience overall.

Besides... we saw a porcupine den. That's stinkin' awesome.

Oooh, and a beaver pond. A HUGE pond created by a little family of beavers chewing trees. How crazy!

The place really was beautiful. Just a forest reserve, that happens to stretch right behind my house, because we live in the most beautiful place on earth.... New Hampshire.

We spent a lot of time at home, playing some crazy Canadian card game called Kalucki (sp?). Kinda like rummy, more like Phase 10, but truly fantastic and sleep preventative.

After church on Sunday, Kenyon was able to join Dad and I and we all headed to the coast. We loved it. We drove up to New Castle, NH. It's a beautiful little spot up in Northeast New Hampshire where our friends often go collect sea glass. Oh- so much fun.

Pictures from the coast:
>> click on the photo to open a larger photo






And since those pictures were probably much more helpful than all my words, that's probably all I'll say about that.

As far as life in general, there isn't too much to report. Kenyon's up to more like 30-35 hours a week, and is gaining a lot of respect from his co-workers and shift managers. This is of course a super exciting time for him. He's SO GOOD at his job, and people are noticing!

We're still struggling with our "big decisions" that need to be made for the Spring. We're sorting through military options, volunteer options, employment options and SO MANY THINGS. Through it all, we're striving to remember that we are young, and that we have time to do a lot of the things we want to do. We just have to decide what to do first.

I hope all is well. Let us know how you're doing!

A "Squall"

I had to look up the word "squall" today on Wikipedia, because it's one of those words that you read in books... but you're not sure what it is in reality.

In the forecast for tomorrow, the little picture said, "SQUALL."

So, whatever that is, we're having one tomorrow. We live about an hour from the coast, so maybe it's some sea captain term. Either way, it means snow and wind and cold. So I say... just another day in New England...

Not much to report. I've been putting off posting because my report would be so boring. So, here's our boring report:

1. The Fulfords' cat loves Kenyon more than the Fulfords or me. I'm really bitter about the whole thing... he doesn't even like the cat. I crave its attention. Stupid cat.

2. Kenyon, the Fulfords and I are just about finished with season three of Lost. We'll start watching them on TV next week. For the record. Just so you know.

3. I really don't have anything else to say. I just felt like a number three was necessary.

4. Ok, I got one: I was able to speak in the church service last Sunday. It was neat to be given such a unique opportunity to share some insight... and from Deuteronomy no less. (Kenyon's been playing acoustic and running tech stuff... they love him. We're all over the place.)

So... we miss you guys. That's all.