High School Fun

Last week was the 'last' Spirit Week for Emily as a Senior at WHS. Every morning the Seniors gather (as early as 4:30am) to rally themselves to be the most spirited class in the school.
Monday: Army
Tuesday: Hippy
Wednesday: Nerd
Thursday: Celebrity
Friday: Unity (School colors)

Emily went all out this year! Going out with a bang!

Backpack Emily joined by Alex Map and Dora Julian

Emily even participated and danced in the Senior Skit! 

Hannah went to her first high school dance.. a Sadie's Dance... a prize given to the best themed costumes.

The Three Good Fairies

Mary & Burt; Tourists; Insurance Guy; Baseball Fanatics and the Three Fairies

Some of Hannah's freshman classmates

I wasn't very involved in high school until my Senior year, being the true introvert as I am. Emily is taking my lead but Hannah has a head start!  Both had a great time at their respective schools.

Legal Adult

I threw a surprise birthday party for Emily's 18th.

Lunch at Jang Su Jang in Milpitas - Korean BBQ feast!

I gathered friends from both the schools she attended. So it was like a mini-reunion.

Kimber Hills Academy reunion of friends from Preschool - 8th grade 

Washington High School friends 9th-12th grades

Huge thanks to Danika who helped me keep this secret celebration a secret and helped pick up the balloons and cake and gather the kids for me at the restaurant. before we arrived.

Danika, Emily's devoted youth counselor,  created this beautiful favor card!

Emily didn't know what type of party she wanted and doesn't really like to bring attention to herself but I felt that 18 is a momentous age and we should celebrate her! I mean she had to find a new doctor because she can no longer go to her pediatrician whom she has seen her whole life. She is in a whole new age category when I book a flight or hotel for our family. I don't have to sign any documents for her as her parent/guardian. The next would be 21, legal age to drink alcohol, and 25, legal age to rent a car. Then it all goes downhill. Every age afterwards is non-celebratory except maybe 80!

Last First Day of School

Today is Emily's LAST First Day of School.. (and I forgot to even post last year's first day of school oh well..) It's her Senior Year and she's driving herself. No more chauffeuring her but I still have one that I need to drive..

Emily's Buick Verona and even has a reserved parking space at school! Life as a Senior has perks!

Hannah started her Freshman year at FCS (yes, a different high school than her big sister!) 2-1/2 weeks ago and even as a 0 period.. start time 7:00am! Yikes!

Hannah's Freshman Year.. Emily as a Freshman also.

No worries.. she'll be eligible to practice diving next summer! YIKES again!

Seventeen

Happy 17th Birthday to my first born! 

She is a truly a gift from God! It was an unforgettable memory! It was January 2000. I was feeling tired and rundown for awhile so I went in for a blood test and told my doctor that I probably had the flu, was anemic or had a thyroid problem since it does run in my family. Little did I know that it was because I was pregnant! A phone call came through into my classroom phone after school (I was not one of the privileged who had a cell phone) and she told me I wasn't sick .. I was pregnant!! It was an answer to prayer since we had been trying to add to our family for two years. It was only until I decided that it may have been the stress of working and teaching full time that was preventing me to conceive. So I decided to quit teaching at the end of that school year and surrendered my desire to have a child to God. In His time; not mine. And when I relinquished my desire to control my life, He blessed us with Emily Ka-Yen when I did not expect it! #HE>i #godisgoodallthetime #beingamotheristhebest #mybabyisalmostanadult😵

Friends since the womb! Literally! We were having dinner with her family at Chevys when one of the older Yee siblings came up to me and asked 'Ms. Cezanne, I think we need the bassinet back.' Now we've only been using it for like a month or two and I didn't know why it was such a rush for them to want it back! Well Rachel was a big surprise for them! And now they attend school together with the last two years having almost identical class schedules. Thank you Rachel for being Emily's forever friend, sharing your love of bunnies with her and coming by today to wish her a happy birthday!! #friendsforlife❤️

Summer Camp

Emily went to Hume Lake Christian Camp again this summer and had a grand time!

16 students, 5 counselors!

Here is a summary by Emily, in her own words:
This year’s camp experience was pretty similar to last year’s. It had the same schedule, with the same food, activities, and band. The camp theme for this year was called Forsaken, a medieval theme, about Saul and David in 1 Samuel. We had 11 girls crammed into a 10-bed cabin, and the cabin we got this year was a lot smaller and older then last years. Last year we only had 7 girls in a very nice and new cabin that was very clean and spacious. So our room was extremely messy the entire week. Free time was usually spent with a lot of volleyball and cards. We usually played Kemps and sometimes Egyptian War, BS, and Spoons. This year I did the high ropes course, which is up in the trees. Planks and blocks of wood are tied by ropes and we have to try and get across. I though that this was really fun, there was even a zipline at the end. We also explored the lake, going upstream during the last day. The water is cold at first, but then you get used to it so it was a good temperature. On Thursday, we had church time instead of regular chapel, so all the churches would get together to do their own thing. So our counselors David, Richard, Danika, and Jacquelyn washed the students feet in the lake, just as Jesus washed his disciples feet in John 13. When we get back to our cabins at night, there is usually a lot of bugs, even mosquitos. There’s no AC so we usually open up the windows or door, but then all the bugs would come in to the light. Since there was only ten beds, one counselor had to sleep on an air mattress to fit all 11 of us. Overall, I had a really nice time with good friends.

11 girls roomed in a 10-bed cabin with one shower and one toilet!

 A highlight was one of the students, Courtney, got baptized by our new youth pastor, David Dang!

Can you find the photographer?

Spirit

I rarely showcased my 'spirit' in high school not because I didn't want to but because I wasn't very creative nor I had the 'resources' to get what I needed.

Emily's sophomore year Spirit Week was this past week and of course we planned the Sunday before it started since she wasn't sure if she wanted to participate. So thankful for friends and neighbors who have children that are in high school to borrow clothing from. Borrowing is so much better than buying!!

Can you guess the themes below?

Clockwise from Top: Western, Animal, Fashion Disaster, Pirate

Hannah hasn't had any Spirit Days at her private school yet but for Halloween she's been planning this costume for months!

She is "Oona" from one of her favorite TV shows, Odd Squad on PBS. Apparently she is an Odd Squad scientist.

I had to order the lab coat from a medical supply website, purchase the uniform pants from Old Navy and suspenders from a Halloween store while Emily created her bowtie and belt from green fabric. Hannah made her badge, buckle and gadget (not seen) herself.

Oona with her cousin, Officer Sam

She had great fun in putting together this costume. She's already thinking about next year... sigh...

Sweet 16

Emily turned 16!

I can't believe that 16 years has passed!

2000 and 2016

She celebrated with her closest friends by watching a movie...

Can you believe I taught all these gals 7 years ago?

.. eating dinner...

...and having ice cream for dessert.

She's a very low-key gal.

Of which we are very thankful for since our other daughter wants to go to DisneyWorld!

First Day of School x 2

FINALLY! School has started! Well actually school has just started for one of my girls. The other one started two weeks ago.

Hannah started at a new school. We didn't want to leave KHA but knew that God was in control. Long story-short, KHA temporarily suspended their middle school due to low enrollment so we moved her to FCS this year. Their school year starts mid-August so Hannah had to cut her summer short unfortunately. She literally had two months of summer vacation: June 15 - August 15.

She's smiling here but on the inside she was a wreck!

We were still able to go on an Ow Family trip to Seattle and Vancouver in June (a first since 2002 which was the last time all my siblings and parents traveled together) and our annual stay in Monterey at Matthew's boss' vacation home.

Hannah's summer consisted of:
- Making many DIY videos
- Vlogging our Monterey trip
- Working on summer homework: a pre-algebra review workbook assigned by me
- Reading 2 novels as summer reading homework assigned by FCS

After school on the first day of school was all smiles.

Hannah's transition to her new school even with three former KHA classmates, was tough the first week but as the weeks went by her anxiety lessened. We are thankful for the kind and understanding support of the FCS teachers and administration.

Emily started school today! A sophmore at WHS! She got an extra two weeks of sleeping in and staying in her pjs!

My sophomore is almost as tall as me.. just little under an inch.

Emily had a heavy load her first year in high school and did well so I let her relax for the summer. I thought she would have a boring summer but apparently she was quite busy..

Emily's summer consisted of:
- One week away at Hume Lake Christian Camp
- Five days of volunteering at Resonate Church's Turn It Up Summer Program; she was on the Food team and completed 23 hours of community service
- Completed the online driver's ed course and passed the written DMV test so now she has her learner's permit! YIKES!
- Bunny-sat for five days
- Created our Monterey vacation home video (Matthew says now he can retire)
- Read 37 books

Emily has all but one of her classes with Rachel (left) again!

The years go by so quickly.. ten years ago..

First Day of Kindergarten for Emily - 2006

Change is never easy. I don't like it. I don't look forward to it and I don't ever look for it. I don't get bored and antsy. Starting at a new school was hard for me as a parent who has been volunteering/working at the same school for the last 10 years. But life needs change or you get complacent. Change helps you grow and at 50 I think I'm ready to grow! LOL!

Hume

Emily's first time away from home for a whole week.. and went to High School Summer Camp!

Hume Lake in the background! So gorgeous!

Emily and 12 other members of her Youth Group at FCC went to Hume Lake Christian Camp during July 4th week.

The girls' cabin

She has never been away without one of her parents so this was a big independent step for my first born! And she had a great time!

Emily attached to Courtney

She enjoyed the recreation time, food and cabin time.

 The camp grounds look so beautiful!

Emily and Brandon, one of the counselors, braided Adrianne's hair!

She made a cool key ring during craft time.

The kids woke up so see the sun rise against Hume Lake at 6:00am!

The camp had a professional photographer and posted the following pictures on their website. Of course, I did not purchase any so that's why the Hume marks on the photos.

Crazy Campers!

Can you find Emily in this picture? I'll give the first person  a $10 Amazon card if you can find her! Show me proof that's it's her!

This was how many kids that were at camp that one week!

At church, the following Sunday, the kids went up on stage to share about their experiences and thank the congregation for supporting and praying for them!

Grace, Courtney and Danika shared on stage how God spoke to them.

Here is what Emily said to her supporters regarding her experience:

"I really appreciate your help in supporting me on my trip to Hume Lake Christian Camps. I had a great time bonding with friends and studying the word of God. I really enjoyed the worship and listening to the sermon during chapel. I also enjoyed times casually hanging out with some friends.

In a typical day, we’d wake up for breakfast and then head to chapel, which consisted of worship and a sermon. Organized recreation was afterwords, where we play engaging and competitive team games outside. After we eat lunch, there is 4-5 hours of free time. This is a time where we can do any activity of our choosing. Most of our time was spent at the volleyball deck to hang out and watch, or play cards. We had dinner, and then went to an evening chapel service. At night we had about an hour of time, there was usually a scheduled event we could attend.

The camp theme for this year was Bingo (farm themed). It was based on the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 16-19. When Elijah’s faith in God was tested, Bingo’s trust in his farmer was also tested. A short film about Bingo was shown, which relates to Elijah’s story. I learned about our love for God. I learned that God wants our genuine love for him."

The two gals below are not super close friends of Emily's even though they attend Youth Group together.  Funny thing is .. both attended one of Emily's birthday party over a decade ago.

Grace I. in 2016 at camp........2003 at Emily's 3rd year old birthday party (13 years later)

Grace F. in 2016 at camp.......... 2005 at Emily's "Princess Tea Party" 5th birthday (11 years later)

Bottom line.. you never know when you reconnect with some 'old' friends!

Alumni Performance

Emily performed as an alumni for the first time!

We had students from the Class of 2000 to Class of 2015.

At the last KHA Band Awards & Concert, we had a total of 20 alumni and former students come back to perform for the very first time. A few of whom have not taken out their instruments to play since their 8th grade Band Concert. (My daughter would be one of them!)

It was one of the best highlights of all our years at KHA.

They performed with the current KHA band of 24 students (in white polos).

The alumni are wearing shirts from their current schools either high school or college.

They performed outstandingly! KHA's band director, Tony Bolivar, was so proud of his current and former students!

The Highlights of "Star Wars Saga"

"Best Day of My Life"

"It Is Well"

Sadly since the Middle School will be temporarily suspended, there no longer will be a KHA Advanced Band but I hope that the Alumni will be invited to come play annually! It'll be the only opportunity for Emily to have to take out her clarinet and play!

The Big Apple

Our 7 day trip ended in the Big Apple.

The weather was so opposite of DC. It was drizzly-cold and overcast.

The kids saw Phantom of the Opera at the Majestic Theatre.

It was a beautiful performance. We had great seats!

All but 4 of their class went on this trip.

The kids got dressed up twice on the trip... once to see Phantom and the second was on a Dinner Cruise on the Potomac River

It was a beautiful day and the food was delicious.

After dinner there was dancing and all the kids joined in.. even some of the parents.

This definitely a trip to remember!