Prom - All Dressed Up

Prom is a big dance party surrounded by getting beautiful in gorgeous clothes, sharing a nice dinner, and doing fun things after the dance. Usually only seniors and juniors go to the prom, but Jacob was invited by Rachel, his friend from Musical Theater, so he got to attend as a freshman.

Dancing at the prom comes in all forms, styles, and levels of expertise. There seemed to me more socializing and celebrating than just dancing.

Nancy and I attended our fourth Hardin Valley prom together. My students are always very excited when I tell them that I've got my date to the prom lined up already! Then they find out it's just my wife. We have fun checking in the students as they arrive at the front door. That way we get to see all the fancy dresses and tuxedos. Notice that we didn't spring for the full prom look.

Graduation Day!

Hardin Valley Academy completed the fourth year of operation and celebrated the graduation of the first class to attend the school for all four years. We had over 500 students graduate. The ceremony was held in Thompson Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee. The arena is UT's basketball stadium and seats over 20,000. Even though our graduating class was huge, there was plenty of extra space!

Students gathered before the ceremony and lined up in the proper order. This was a bit challenging because for many students, this would be the last time they will see each other (for a long time). Despite this need to make connections with friends, we were successful in getting students ready to walk into the arena.

Students wore special decorations to signify accomplishments during their high school careers. The white collars signified membership in the National Honor Society. The cords with tassels designated the student as one who completed a special endorsement program in addition to completing basic graduation requirements.

Teachers were dressed in black gowns, with colorful hoods for those with Masters and Doctorate degrees. The special colors are those of the school where the teacher completed the post-graduate work.

Students walked out of the Big Orange tunnel into the arena and moved  to their seats. For some of the girls it was a fashion show of fancy, very high heel shoes. Thankfully all of them made it safely in and out.

Almost all the teachers attended the ceremony to show their support for the students.

After many speeches the name of each student was read as they walked across the stage and received congratulations from the school system superintendent and the school principals.

Nancy's Fruit Pizza

Nancy acts like she can't cook but in reality she can crank out some great stuff. Recently she made "fruit pizza" for a reception at her school. The pizza includes a base of sugar cookie, with a sauce layer of whipped cream cheese, topped off with a colorful variety of fruit.

We didn't get to taste this one! But it looks beautiful.

We didn't get to taste this one either. Next time we'll have to insist that Nancy make one for us too!

Jacob's Birthday Event

Jacob and his friends went to a lake house on nearby Lake Norris to enjoy a day of  fun, including paddling around on the water in a canoe and a small aluminum boat.

Frau Brooks provided all the food, two delicious meals, and we wrapped it up with a cookie cake for Jacob.

A Glorious Easter Sunday

Easter at St. John's is a glorious celebration. Our Altar Guild works very hard to clean and arrange the sanctuary so it is truly beautiful, complete with many dozens of lillies. Our first worship service of Easter morning actually begins across the street in the Old Gray Cemetery, one of the oldest graveyards in Knoxville. We gather amid the tombs and proclaim the news that He is risen. After reading the Gospel and praying, we process across the street into our beautiful sanctuary. A thousand thanks to Owen Peterson, our church photographer extraordinaire, for sharing these images.
Easter is the highest of "high masses" and comes complete with the banner and torch bearers, the Bible bearer, and one of my favorites, the ecclesiastical kite, representing the Holy Spirit.
Pastor Steve shares the good news that He is risen, He is risen indeed!
In between worship services the children gather to decorate the cross with flowers. Even though Jacob is almost 15 he helped out with the decorating. Notice Jacob's spiffy yellow bow tie, part of his Easter fashions.
Jacob didn't hog the ladder and many children played a role in completing the cross. Notice Jacob at the right right, with his friends Andy and Sarah.
This is the same cross that stood throughout Lent draped in purple, and then was draped in black cloth from Good Friday until Easter morning. Children of the church often pick flowers from their yards to bring for the cross.

Knoxville is Especially Beautiful in Springtime

Here are some images of the beauty we are surrounded by in Knoxville this time of year.

More Mizuki Photos

Here are several more pictures from Mizuki's visit. One afternoon Mizuki joined Jacob in his backyard garden and helped him with weeding and pulling out rocks. Jacob has onions and lettuce planted right now. One beautiful afternoon we went to Sequoah Hills for some exercise. Nancy and Jim biked while Mizuki jogged.

The gang poses in front of the Peace Bell in Oak Ridge. This bell was cast in Kyoto.

We were all excited to see the chocolate cake at Mitzi and Rolands.

Mizuki calmly waited her turn to have a piece.

Mizuki made her own chocolate cake for us on her last Sunday. She used a mix sent from Japan by her aunt Eri.

The very rich chocolate cake was iced with a layer of real chocolate.

Jacob put on the final finishing touches with a last swirl of chocolate on top. The cake was delicious, but was too small to share. We each had just a little bite.