GRADUATION!

After all of these years of studying hard and taking part in a lot of extra-curricular activities, high school finally came to an end for Rebecca on Friday evening, June 11. Rebecca finished 4th in her class of around 190 students and her membership in the National Honor Society is signified by the white hood that she's wearing.

The festivities took place on North Reading High School's new field turf athletic field and the students were well behaved and paid attention most of the time.

There's Rebecca in the middle of the group.

The scoreboard was even set to recognize the graduating Class of 2010!

Towards the end of the ceremony, they read off a list of scholarships that were being given out to students from local organizations. The students were not aware ahead of time whether or not they were going to be receiving anything. They were asked if their name was called to stand. Here is Rebecca standing for the second of the two scholarships that she received.

Then it was time to receive the diplomas!

Were were very proud of Rebecca and happy to be able to share this beautiful evening with her, our family and all of the grandparents.

Rebecca and one of her very good friends, Nicole Diamantides, decorated their mortar boards together ahead of time. Can you tell?

Here's Rebecca and her proud grandparents!

Here's Rebecca and her group of friends that are affectionately known as HARK. (Haley, Amelia, Rebecca and Kiara)

Haley, Amelia and Kiara have always been very fond of Erik, so he had to join in.

YES...it appears that the ever skyrocketing Erik has passed his sister in height.

Here's the proud family!

Here's Rebecca back at home after graduation, with her ice cream cake. (Yes, it is a Carvel cake, but it's not another variation on the Fudgie the Whale theme.)

One of Rebecca's graduation presents, from Erik, was an Eeyore with a cap and gown. It was even wearing the appropriate colors!

With graduation only a day behind us now, Rebecca is already looking ahead. She takes part in her Northeastern University orientation in late June. College will be here before we know it! For now though, we're celebrating everything that Rebecca has accomplished over the past 4 years!

PEONIES & PROMS

It's Spring, the Peonies are in full bloom and that means one thing...

...it's Prom season! Here's Rebecca and her prom date, Liam, getting ready to go at their first pre-prom stop.

Here's Rebecca with her friend Haley. They've known each other since that were only months old!

Here's Rebecca and her friend Nicole.

Rebecca and Liam again. (They're friends from the school's drama group.)

Here's a closeup of the three of us. (Erik wasn't around yet.)

Now we've moved on to the second stop on the pre-prom tour...another house and many more prom attendees! This is Rebecca's group of friends that affectionately refer to themselves as HARK. (In order, Haley, Amelia, Rebecca & Kiara. Amelia and Kiara are twins.)

Here's Rebecca and more friends.

Here are all of the couples that are sharing a large party bus to go to the prom.

Here are only the ladies.

Here are the people from the group above that take part in the school's drama group displaying their "jazz hands".

Here they go on their way out to the bus.

Here are Rebecca and her date boarding the party bus.

There's one final stop before the prom itself, the "Grand March" which is held at a nearby park. Here, every prom attendee from the Senior class parades with their dates so that everyone can see them and their outfits pre-prom. Erik joined us for this part and even dressed the part. (To an extent!)

Here's Rebecca and Liam taking part in the Grand March.

Finally, here's Erik joining them for one last picture before they take off for the prom. The prom was Monday night, June 7 and Rebecca and her friends had a great time. It's a nice way to end their high school experience.

There are more activities this week, culminating in the graduation ceremonies themselves on Friday, June 11.