{Hannah Rebekah}

The other major event in our family last month was Hannah's graduation from Trinity Academy of Raleigh. She graduated last Saturday, May 29th. Hannah----what can I say about Hannah---she was the youngest for nine years----then the special blessing came along and she wanted to share a room with him. She had no idea that this would last until Caitlin moved out three years ago, but she was fine with it---most of the time. Here are some observations to help you know Hannah better:

• She loves learning---now, don't get me wrong, she's not the perfect student, but she LOVES to learn---very curious, very interested in books, people
• One of her favorite things to do IN THE WORLD is hang out in her room--ALONE--watching Gilmore Girls or Dr. Quinn reruns.....or any of a dozen other tv shows she loves! And if you enter the room while she's so engaged, she'll pause the dvd because you have messed up her experience---it's truly an escape.
• She's a RABID Harry Potter fan ---seriously.....it can get ugly!
• She loves to travel---she's on her fourth overseas trip right now (Senior Class trip to Italy) and she's 18---WOW!
• She has a beautiful singing voice---I'm amazed sometimes at her talent
• She loves the Lord---her prayers indicate a strong and intimate relationship with Him---
• She loves her Daddy---now, she loves her mama, too---but she is almost dependent on her Daddy---she loves to sit and talk to him---to learn from him, to bounce ideas off of him, to analyze life with him
• She watches The Jonas Brothers with Joshua. It's their thing---now, at first, I just thought she was doing it to hang out with Joshua and I thought that was sooooo sweet---since then, I have learned that she actually likes it---hmmmmm, not sure about that, but this is an honest assessment!
• She doesn't clean her room----seriously---it's awful---WHY am I telling you this? I suppose to let you know that even really bright, eager, over achieving children have some terrible quaility! David and I just keep the door closed! Now, lest she read this and get irritated with me---she will clean her room if we FORCE her to---so, it does happen occasionally!
• She loves good literature----Lewis, Austen, Tolkien, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Albert Camus----the list goes on. She hopes to be an English teacher someday---perhaps in a University. 
• She's a good student---it all goes back to that "loves to learn" thing---she really does love to learn and this translates into being a good student. That doesn't happen for everyone---but it has for her.
• She loves her friends. She will be the first to admit that she will likely not be best friends with these friends in 4 or 5 years, but I do think she will stay in touch with many of them all her life. She knows that college changes your relationships, but she's sentimental and loyal enough to go to the trouble to keep up with people.

SOOOOO, that's a lot of information---and there's so much more I could tell you about Hannah, but, I'll just show you some pictures of the day. Hannah has decided to take a Gap Year with Thinking Beyond Borders next year. I'll tell you more about that in the coming months. The short of it is this: She will travel the world for 8 months with this group---learning, serving  and growing. She has been granted a deferrment to Davidson College, in Davidson, North Carolina and will begin there in the Fall of 2011---I believe she will be a changed girl---I can't imagine traveling the world and it not changing who you are! I can't wait to see what God does in her life to prepare her for this next step on this journey we call life. She's started a blog so we can keep up with her travels---I think it's mostly for her mom! Since she's in Italy with her class she decided to start it early!

Anyway, here are pictures from graduation day!

 Getting that silly mortar board to stay "flat" can be a problem.

Hannah and Sarah Beth---one of her dearest friends.

Here's a picture of the choir singing the traditional "Irish Blessing". They ask alumni to come up and sing with them. We had SOOOO many alumni this year---it was so sweet!

David was still the Chairman of the Board at Trinity ( for a few more days---he's about to roll off the board), so he had a part in the ceremony.

Hannah with Dr. Robert Littlejohn, our Headmaster and Steve Pond, the Upper School head.

Here's the class after the ceremony--yes, there are only 14 in this class.

This is David's oldest brother, Gene. There are twelve nieces & nephews on David's side of the family---Gene goes to all the graduations & weddings. He had just been here two weeks before for Caitlin's wedding, but he came back for Hannah's graduation. So sweet!

Here's a picture of the kids at the reception after the ceremony.

Hannah with my parents---it's so nice to have them close by so they can be at all these special events!

This isn't the best picture, but it's the one we have! :)

So, this is our Hannah! She's such a great girl--I wish you could know her. I can't wait to tell you how the Lord provides for her to go on this Thinking Beyond Borders trip. It will be a great summer watching Him work! Thanks for looking in~

Kathleen