Alex's Graduation Celebrations and Grandma's visit

End of school year is busy always during regular years, but especially during the senior year. Alex had only two classes to go to at the school during his winter semester, but he was busy working every day for a property management company, driving all over, running errands, building stuff, moving, etc... 

Nevertheless, we knew that Alex absolutely loves parties, so we needed to celebrate his graduation in a special way! So we asked his friends Jay and Graydon if they wanted to join Alex as we throw a graduation party for them at the Apex Nature Park. Of course, they agreed! We were expecting a lot of friends to come, especially those who knew Alex. 

We made a bunch of desserts like brownies and rice crispies, had fruit and popcorn, chips and salsa. It was perfect! Here is Robert prepping for the party. 

We decorated the pavilion by the amphitheater at the park, set up corn hole to play and brought lots of food! 

Here are the boys we were celebrating! 

A picture with a special guest, Natalia, who absolutely loves Alex. We did not take pictures with most guests, but Natalia loves pictures, so we couldn't miss the opportunity to get them-hahaha. 

We had a great turn out and such a fun evening! 

Alex is so fun! He just knows how to talk to people of all kinds! That is definitely one of his many talents. 

We were so grateful for all the friends who came to support Alex! He received very generous gifts that he, himself, couldn't have imagine! 

Our graduation activities continued as Alex also graduated from seminary! 

Four years of early morning seminary! Although he did have a M-W-F schedule of in person morning schedule, it still required a lot of sacrifice on his part. I was out of town when Alex had his seminary graduation ceremony, so you get Alex and Robert on this picture. 

It's so wonderful to always have the temple in the background too! 

Our neighborhood also celebrated this year's graduates! We had a party at the pool with shaved ice, treats and amazing gift baskets for the seniors! It was fun! 

Finally, Grandma was able to come visit us in mid June for a week! It was her first time in North Carolina. We did a bunch of fun stuff with her, including taking her to Topsail Beach for the day. 

It was a very nice relaxing day! Especially for Mark-haha. 

Our cool high school graduate:)

Normally, we don't bring this blow up thingie to the beach, but we are so glad we did this time! 

Mark fell asleep and enjoyed a nice nap on the beach. 

And so did Robert. We should bring it with us more often. We also bought a canopy to use for shade as our previous one got destroyed by a sudden beach thunderstorm on the beach. 

Wow! What a wonderful and busy time it is to celebrate a high school graduate! Lots to take care of but also fun to watch where their journey will be taking them. Good thing we get a break of four years before anyone else graduates from high school... 

Lyana. 

Alex's High School Graduation--Class of 2023!

This day almost did not happen...

As in Alex almost did not get a chance to receive his High School Diploma officially...

But then... 

This is the story about how our High School Principal because our family hero.

Alex was one of 600 something students who were graduating in 2023. I mean... no one even notices if you decide to skip your graduation. As you can see from that wall--that is a lot of people. Alex is posing by his name. This wall has become a tradition since the year of 2020 when Principal White decided to write out each graduate's name for that year. Granted he had more time on his hands because of the quarantine, but the tradition stuck. 

Back to our story. When we found out that Alex's graduation ceremony was scheduled for the same day as his Nationals regatta in FL, we knew we had a problem. He HAD to pick one. After much deliberation, he felt that he could not skip the regatta, his last chance to row with his crew. So I emailed the principal at the end of May and told him about our situation. 

Miraculously, Principal Pittman offered us to pick a date and time after the graduation ceremony when Alex could come to the school, wear his cap and gown and officially receive his diploma in a mini ceremony. We could not believe it! So we scheduled it for Jun 15th, at 8:30 am, just a few days after the actual AFHS graduation ceremony.

We had a group of staff and a policeman join us in the auditorium, they turned on the fancy graduation entrance music and Alex got to walk down the aisle while the principal greeted him on the stage. Robert, Mark, Grandma Lorraine (!) and I were in the auditorium, taking pictures and videos of this special private event. 

He said a few personal words about Alex and his future plans and then gave him the diploma. 

It reminded us a lot about Katya's private graduation ceremony during Covid! It was a bit funny and crazy that both of them skipped the two thousand people event at the Raleigh Convention Center and enjoyed a private event at the school.

Alex had some time to walk around the school and get more pictures around the school. 

We don't have an explanation for the principal's kindness, but we all were truly grateful for that. And we timed it well so that Grandma Lorraine was able to be here to witness that. 

Our college map is very unevenly distributed with most kids staying in North Carolina and only a handful going to the other side of the country. 

We took a lot of pictures to remember this momentous occasion! 

Alex protested very little. 

This is the day to feel on top of the world! 

We are missing Katya, of course. I know she was celebrating with us virtually! 

And Grandma got to be there, which is so rare in our family! 

We are so proud of you, Alex! 

Three elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school--that's how many times Alex switched schools! 

Are we done yet?? Not quite! Alex graduated summa cum laude. He was ranked 12th out of 648, which is quite an incredible accomplishment! 

Mark will miss having Alex around, that's for sure. 

Alex is graduating high school with 30 credits, which basically makes him a sophomore at the start of college! 

The steps of our house--the place where we have been taking first and last day of school pictures for the last six years... I will miss Alex tremendously because of how great of a son he is. 

I love how strongly Alex feels connected to his Ukrainian heritage. It means a lot to me as a mom and to my whole side of the family. 

And finally, this picture was taken to strategically show Alex's Clifford, the "Don't Tread on Me" sticker and the Ukrainian flag:). 

It actually happened! Alex graduated form high school and is starting college in the fall! We are so excited and proud of him! 

                                                               

Lyana. 

 

Rowing Nationals 2023 Sarasota, FL

Alex is in college (that just sounds weird in my head).  But before we sent him off to college, we had to finish off his final High School related responsibilities. 

Anyway, we flew into Tampa and rented a car, this time it was a Nissan Altima or something like that (not like the flame orange Charger we rented a couple years ago).  Nonetheless we cruised around the Sunshine State in style!  Oh, so to recap Alex rows crew with the Triangle Rowing Club.  You may have seen his video he and his buddies made (i.e. pay $45 to a group in Africa to sing) to cheer him and his time on. Actually, that’s what made rowing so incredible for Alex.  He seriously made his closest buddies on that team.  

Okay, so back to Nationals.  It was HOT!  As in temperature.  But also Alex’s rowing team was HOT too.  As in they rocked on the water, and when I say rocked I mean they didn’t actually rock, because that would tip the boat, but they went fast!  This year I watched from the opposite bank of the river (doesn’t mean anything I guess if you haven’t been there before) where I didn’t have to pay $80 for a spectator ticket.  I saw the race just as well, or better, too. And let me say I miss being part of the rowing community.  This was Alex’s last race :(  

The sad thing about Nationals was Alex had to miss his graduation ceremony (more on that in another post as it all worked out!). BUT the cool thing was that they recognized senior rowers there and gave him a certificate.  

Okay, so you’re wondering how did Alex’s boat do at Nationals?  Better than they expected, so I’m told.  They placed 25th overall.  Now mind you when I say they placed 25th at Nationals what that really means (at least in my head) is that they are the 25th fastest boat in their category in the whole United States!!  Mic drop...

Nope, not done talking here.  So as cool as that was to place, we also had a great time hanging out with friends.  Mostly Alex just loved hanging out with his buddies while I went back to the hotel (no tears for me, I actually enjoy just relaxing away from people sometimes).  He played mini golf at one point.  I think he might have gone to the beach too.  Several of us parents with our rowers did go to a Japanese restaurant together though, so there’s that.  

I’m sure I’ll remember more of the details later.  Like what it was like walking around the venue (that reminds me, one of the rowing parents had an extra ticket she gave me so I went inside the paid area after all - I forgot about that till just now).  I didn’t really do much except buy a couple pieces of rowing merch for Alex - which I hope he still wears with pride, even though I told him Medium was NOT his size (lol).

In closing, I will just say adieu.  I will miss you TRC and all the cool people I got to know either by name or by face.  And for those whom I remember both your name and your face, you made the greatest impact of all.

Robert.

 

Last Days of School 2023

This time, Alex truly had the LAST day of school. Senior year is over!!! 

He had a great year taking only two classes on school campus and one online through Wake Tech. Congratulations, Alex, on finishing your school career that included three different elementary schools, three different middle schools and one high school. 

Next step--BYU! 

Mark finished 8th grade!!! Goodbye Middle school!!! 

Although he was teased a bit by his friends that he wasn’t going to a real school, he actually was. It wasn’t home school and it wasn’t a real traditional school, but it worked perfectly for our schedule. We knew that we were taking a big risk by switching schools mid year of his 7th grade, but it worked out great! Taught us one more time it’s okay to be afraid of change and okay to make mistakes if they happen--it won’t ruin everything. 

Next step--Crossroads FLEX High school (are you intrigued? You should be intrigued-haha)! 

 

End of an Era--Rowing

It is hard to believe that this chapter of Alex's high school life came to a close. He did rowing from 7th grade to 12th grade. That's a lot of hours of training--a lot of days on the lake! 

We celebrated Alex throughout May and June. Triangle Rowing Club posted a few Senior shout outs and I got a couple of screenshots. 

Alex is in great shape, as you can see! And we love that he loves to work out and stay strong. 

First weekend in June, the club gathered together for the End of Year Banquet. 

We were there to celebrate Alex's rowing career and support him in saying goodbye to his best buddies. 

Alex told us multiple times how he is grateful that he pushed himself when it was really tough at the beginning when he transferred from Jordan Lake Crew to TRC, especially since it was in the middle of Covid. 

Alex made friends for life! These guys were in his boat 8+. Here is Alex's description of the picture:

Back row from left to right--Christian Shaffer (6 seat), Charlie Saxenmeyer (5 seat), Luke  Award (stroke seat), Aidan Humbert (7 seat). Middle row--Nate Moore (3 seat), Marshall Kane (bow seat), Gavin Ng (coxswain). Front row--Alex (4 seat), Alex Dick (2 seat). Practically family! 

We are so proud of Alex! His dedication and hard work are teaching him a lot and we are grateful that he is so self motivated. I know he will miss rowing while at BYU... 

 Congratulations to Alex for finishing his rowing career strong!