Kassandra's Graduation

Congratulations Kassandra! 2010 Britton Highschool Graduate!

The graduate, Kassandra and her Great Great Aunt Edith. Grandma Edith (as we all call her) is the last remaining sibling of our Grandma Evelyn's.

She is the heart of our family and proves that being a strong-willed, independant lady leads to a long worthy life. Each and every day she looks more and more like our grandma, so I could not pass up this photo. She is a very special lady that I may take after just a little bit.

Jay and his buddy Bryant. We have had Bryant watch Jay a couple of different times and he loves him. He even cried when it was time for us to leave. He can not wait to have Bryant come to our house to play again.

This photo is a rarity. My dad is in the middle along with two of his three nephews. The other one was not able to come down to the graduation. Even though my dad may not realize it, I believe he played a huge role in these two guys' younger lives. My cousin Tim (the one on the left in the hat) lost his dad at a very young age (he was in his late thirties when he died), so he looked to my dad for guidance and support as he grew up. All three including my dad, have had their bumps along the road, but I wouldn't trade them for the world.

I will cherish this photo forever!!!!! These two special people are my Auntie Yvonne (my dad's only sister and sibling) and Unkie Don. Growing up, I would visit their house every day after school. No more was I off the bus that I was in their house for an afternoon snack. I lived just down the road from them so I could visit their house quite regularly. My Auntie over the years has become my second mom, whom I keep in touch with and call sometimes on the spur of the moment just to hear her voice or to get her approval on something. Her opinion means the world to me and I love her with my whole heart. I am not sure what I would do without her guidance in my life.

My cousin Ally and my sister in law Jenny.

My cousin Paula (on the right) and two of her four children, her twins were not able to join us.

I spent a lot of time with this lady too, I always wanted to be like her and look like her. She became like a sister to me as I was growing up, as I spent so much time at her house with Auntie. As she had kids of her own I was part of her life even more. I got pretty attached to NaTasha her oldest daughter and I would spend weekends or summer hours watching and playing with her. She has grown up to be such a beautiful young lady. I later became god mother to Tia one of her twins. It saddens me that we do not keep in touch better, but I hope they all know how much I love each and every one of them.

And my clan. I really like this photo. I can not believe that we are all smiling AND looking at the camera at the same time. I am so happy that my kids got to spend some time with this side of my family. Many of my childhood memories revolved around these people, so I was excited to have my children make memories with them too. I only wish that I would've gotten photos of all my family members that were there, but of course many of them were not willing to take a photo or had snuck out before we started snapping.

Here's to next time Christianson Family....You better get your smiles ready now, because my camera will be ready, so you had better be too.