Cheering for the Class of 2025: Talia's Graduation

Our Talia Lily graduated this June as well.  I don't know if I can blog about it without crying--I miss having her home so much!  The house feels so different with both Brooklyn and Talia gone.  Gosh, I wish someone would practice strings in the early morning.  Jason, perhaps you could pick up the viola?  You know, in all that spare time you have.

Talia spent a full six years at West High between the Extended Learning Program and International Baccalaureate Programme.  Sticking with such rigorous academic programs for so long is really difficult.  Lots of kids burn out at the end, but Talia pushed through.  Not only that, she remained kind and helpful at home, despite all the stress and sleep deprivation.  Gosh, we love this girl!

Here's Talia at her IB Graduation Ceremony. What a great way to celebrate all that hard work and the completion of so many exams!  At this point the students didn't know if they had scored well enough to receive their diplomas but spoiler alert, Talia did.  :)

Talia and our favorite neighbor/teacher, Sonja Blackham.

Papa Kay congratulating another grandchild on their IB accomplishments.  As a former IB coordinator NomiAnn was extremely proud as well.  After all, not every grandma has "IBDP" on their license plate.

Jason and Eli join in the party.  (Sadly I was working and missed the fun.)

Check out this "Anonymous" face.  😆

Talia and her bestie Clara.  These gals shine!

Joined by Josh.

As evidence of her hard work, here's a photo of Talia's graduation paraphernalia.  She certainly earned a lot of medals and cords!  An IB Diploma, Honors cord, >3.5 GPA, National Honor Society, HOSA (healthcare professions club), UHSAA (recognizing her as student athlete for cross country), AP scholar, Krakens (for Ultimate Frisbee), and a seal of biliteracy in both Spanish and ASL.

  

Brains help, but really it was Talia's grit that got her here.

Time for a celebratory photo shoot up Memory Grove.

Naturally we brought the dog.

Zion's a pretty great jumper.

He's often the fastest dog at the dog park as well.

Back to the real star, our 2025 graduate!

Picking a favorite photo is too hard, so I'm just going to share them all.  I'm a bit partial, but I think they are all great.

I definitely appreciate a little sass.

Proud Mom moment.

By the way, super cute shoes ReddiWip.

In case you are wondering who the great photographer is, Jason took most of these photos with Eli's new camera.

Here's Talia contemplating what she's going to do next with her life.

Not to worry sweetie.  You've got this.

Now for the graduation processional.  As one of the participants, Talia was seated in the very front row, literally in front of her art teachers.  

We thought it was pretty cool that Mr. Smith (who never attends graduation) came to this one because he loved this particular group of students so much. Personally, I really enjoyed his choice of color palette.

But let's face it.  It's the Polynesians who really know how to dress best.

They ran out of programs, so here are some photos of one I was able to borrow.

Talia's friend Audrey spoke, her friend Danyn played the guitar, and her friend Joshua (pictured earlier) performed on piano.

As for Talia, she signed the national anthem.  Two years ago we loved hearing Brooklyn sing at graduation: watching Talia sing was just as special!  I seriously don't know how I ended up with such amazing children.  

Proof that she made it.

And here's part of her cheer squad.

Walking across the stage with her diploma (cover) in hand.  Woot woot!

Celebrating outside the Huntsman Center.

Talia may not have had much hair as a babe, but she's sure made up for it!

Naturally we partied at home as well.  It was fun to go through the house and put up evidence of Talia, whether photos, art, medals, or crocheted creations.

Thanks to Justin and Brianna's spritzers, we even had a Lemonade Bar.

Cheers!

Papa Kay made sure that we had plenty of frog-eye salad.  No one went hungry!  (Hopefully no one walked away with diabetes...)

Thanks to the Wilhoits for the cute graduation krispies.

Congrats grad!

Also, kudos to Eli who made Talia the most beautiful rings in jewelry class.  This class ring is incredible, and the second one spells her name. Well done, Cheezstick!  This year Eli is taking both welding and another jewelry class.  It will be exciting to see all his unique creations.

A fantastic annotated Book of Mormon from Ben and Christy

Excellent dorm supplies from both sets of grandparents.

Last but not least, the most incredible quilt from NomiAnn.  When it comes to crafty talent, it may have skipped a generation, but the apple still didn't fall far from the tree.

Talia, you are loved by so many!  Whether Young Women leaders (ahem Diane Shumway, Tara Behunin, Megan Buell, and Sonja Blackham pictured below), friends, or family, we are all so blessed to have you in our lives.  Congratulations to our 2025 West High grad!