Elementary and Middle School Grads

I was so proud to go to the elementary school graduation and cheer for Hiram!

The next day, I was proud again to go to the middle school grad and cheer for Teague.

I love these sweet boys!

 

Provo, Here he comes!

Kaleb was honored to be a part of the Wheatley Institute at BYU for the summer.  He absolutely loved his time there.  He met a visiting professor who is a rabbi in the Jewish faith.  He was welcomed into his home with his family to celebrate Shabbat.  The rabbi explained that Shabbat is spelled with 3 Hebrew letters and each letter means something.  The 3 letters mean Stop, Turn, and Restore.  I love this idea to use during my own Sabbath worship of God.  To stop my daily, worldly tasks.  To turn to God and worship Him.  To restore my relationship with my Father in Heaven.  

As an interesting side note, I discovered that all 5 of the universities Kaleb was originally accepted to were founded by religions.  Emory by Methodists, Duke by Methodists and Quakers, Penn by Anglicans (even though their mascot is the Quaker), Notre Dame by Catholics, and BYU by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I think as mankind seeks to have a greater relationship with God, we also want to gain as much education and knowledge as possible.

 

Philly

Our trip to Philadelphia began with Leonard and I taking Kaleb to serve in the magnificent temple there.  The next morning, we all went to tour the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.  After leaving Penn, we went to historic Philly to show Kaleb the sites.

I remember seeing this pub last year.

It looks like the Khyber Pass Pub was swallowed up by apartments!

We visited Vanderwende's to get some delicious (and way overpriced) ice cream.

Our next stop, the enchanting Elfreth's Alley.

There are 32 houses built between 1703-1836.

Most of them are still lived in. They are tiny though, at approximately 900 square feet.

I wish all of our neighborhoods were this charming!

We also stopped by Betsy Ross' house.

And visited the gift shop.  I'll replace Beer with Chocolate, ha ha!

Benjamin Franklin lived quite the life!  I feel like such a slacker ;)!

Hundred of thousands of visitors each year toss pennies on his grave for good luck, and to give a nod to his adage, "A penny saved is a penny earned."

Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were signed by our Founding Fathers. The USA has had 9 capital cities! Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Baltimore, Maryland; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; York, Pennsylvania; Princeton, New Jersey; Annapolis, Maryland; Trenton, New Jersey, New York, New York, and finally Washington, DC.

The Signer, symbol of American Freedom.

There were 3 wedding parties taking photos outside the Merchant's Exchange Building.  Last year when we visited, we saw other wedding parties taking photos too!

These gorgeous hydrangeas just light up my soul!

William Penn, you should be proud of your holy experiment.

His wife, Hannah, should be proud of her contributions as well!

Of course, we had to get some cheesesteaks!

And cheesecake!  However, we couldn't find any in Philly.  We had this in upstate New York on our way home, tee hee!

Penn

In high school, Kaleb was accepted to five universities- BYU, Duke, Emory, Notre Dame, and Penn.  He really wanted to go to BYU, but they don't have an architecture program.  He had Notre Dame's pennant in his room all year, so I thought he would choose it.  However, Penn offered him the best financial package, so he chose that school for his freshman year.  He was also excited to go there as it is the oldest university in the USA founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740 (it's older than the USA), and it is an ivy league school.  Unfortunately, covid closed campus, so he studied online before his mission.  Since Kaleb turned down BYU, he was offered a spot in the summer Wheatley Institute there.  Again, because of covid it had to be postponed until after his mission.  On his mission, he really felt inspired to re-apply to Notre Dame as a transfer student.  He got accepted!  We wanted to take him to visit Penn though, so he could have closure for not staying there.

This university is HUGE!  The exit from the freeway is called University City, and it really could be its own city!  We spent several hours exploring and really enjoyed ourselves.

This is the main entrance to the quad, where Kaleb would have lived in Freshman year.

The best looking dorms, I've ever seen!

The side entrance isn't too shabby either.

Only Freshman live in the quad, so this is the dorm Kaleb would have lived in if he continued at Penn for his Sophomore year.

My mom always taught me that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Ali photo-bombing Hiram, in front of Dietrich Hall.

I love my five guys!

Kaleb can call himself a Quaker, a Cougar, and a Fighting Irish!

Chloe and Dallen

Once again, Blogger put my photos on backwards.  Scroll to the end of this post and read it going up, so you can get the story in the right order, geesh ;). 

Ali made them this cute sunset picture that says, "Love never sets."

Chloe and Dallen we're so happy for this new adventure you've embarked on!

They stayed the night at our house after, and we were gifted two bouquets of these gorgeous peonies!

Macy thought Chloe was a real princess and loved dancing with her.

and visiting with friends.

The reception was a lot of fun, with good food, great dancing,... 

Set up many tables and chairs and dressed them up.

Dropped the ceiling.

We made balloon arches, swags, and chandeliers.

We blew up over a thousand balloons and I had the shredded fingertips to prove it, but it looked so lovely when it was all put together!

They also had a reception in Ottawa, and I was honored to be a part of the "Prom" committee :).

The beautiful Cardston Temple.

Bubbles!

Chloe is my good friend, Rebecca's beautiful daughter.  Dallen is her sweet prince charming.

This darling couple got married in Alberta!