FINALLY!! Whitney got her day to walk across the stage and officially become a high school graduate! I have to brag on her since this is my space on the internet and doesn’t feel as “braggy” as it does on social media. She finished with a 3.962 overall GPA! Poor girl tried so hard to get that 4.0, she had a 4.8 GPA both semesters her senior year with mostly college classes, we proclaim her effort a major victory. She also is taking 26 legit college credits with her to KU and a terrific starting GPA (over 3.5 just not sure if the official number). I’m hoping this will give her the opportunity to get a minor or at least a concentration with extra room in her schedule before she transitions to Nursing Schoo in 2022. Whitney finished 109 out of 442 in her class. This class of seniors is full of extremely brilliant kids who take stacked schedules and do so very well! We are proud of all of her friends and especially her bestie, Abby, who was in the top 1%, had a 4.3 (I think) took all AP classes and worked so darn hard to get that distinction. My very favorite thing about Abby is that she encouraged Whitney to do her very best and never, EVER compared or looked down at her for her path that was hard, but not AP hard. Whitney too a lot of college classes and high level math and science along the way. Abby 100% respects other people’s paths and truly loves our girl. When Whitney struggled on the ACT Abby told her she was proud of her for trying her hardest. **cue the tears…so sweet to support a friend with so much on her plate.

I’m beyond grateful for Abby’s unwavering friendship. They’ve been friends their whole lives and it makes me want to cry I’m so thankful for th their bond. Who would think they’d meet their ROCK in the baby room at daycare?

While we were on vacation we got the notice that graduation had been moved up a day and to Sporting KC’s stadium. It was supposed to be a scorching hot day but thankfully we got a little break, shade and a breeze. It was a terrific day, a beautiful ceremony, and Whitney said it was so fun and much better than expected. It is so strange that she will move into her dorm in less than a month and just graduated but we’ve been celebrating all Summer. She deserves the longest graduation celebration in history! #classof2020strong

So many people ask me about college and what it all looks like. I’ll let you all know that right now Whitney has a mix of in-person and online classes including hybrids. With technology the way it is most classes are somewhat hybrid compared to when Brad and I were there. She feels really good about her schedule and has already landed a server job at Jefferson’s in Lawrence. My kids are so different….I begged Carter to apply there and he flat refused the idea. Whitney applied, interviewed and had the job lined up two months before school starts. One wants to carve his own path without mom, the other takes into consideration my ideas and then chooses to take the advice or not. Hey, at least she considers it. Carter’s classes were all in-person before they did some shuffling, not sure how they ended up just yet. He’s busy finishing his Summer classes and is on track to graduate next May! We will have a HUGE PARTAY with LOTS of people and PLEASE LORD can we not social distance by then??? May 2021 will be off the chain!

Sorority Recruitment starts the week of August 16th and will be all virtual. This time has taught us patience, flexibility and trust. We trust that KU will do their best in all aspects and leave it at that. Carter and Whitney just want to be there no matter what it looks like. I hope this also changes their expectations for it to be *PARTY PARTY* all the time because that WILL NOT be the case. There will be restrictions that will be tight and hopefully loosen but raging across campus will not be the case. I remember those semesters when campus would be more locked down due to police paying extra close attention to underage drinking. We hated it but didn’t want to get busted at the bars and in turn the bars and staff suffered from minimal business. This reminds me of those days. As a kid who wanted to go out and a bartender who suffered financially. Anyway, we are on track for LAUNCH and they will be moving in the weekend of 21st.

Brad update: The short story is his tests look good but he feels like crap. We had a short meeting with his new oncologist as his previous doctor retired. I think we were pretty encouraged because he had some new ideas about treatment. After two weeks of thinking about that appointment, we are ready to explore new things to give him a better quality of life. There are just too many side effects that really don’t seem to be worth it right now. The cancer looks quiet/dormant so it might be a good time to take a break and heal from the treatment. We’ll see how the conversation goes but first he has a scan on Monday, 7/27 then appt and treatment on 7/28. We celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary on 7/29 so it will be quite the series of events next week. Whitney’s Graduation, our 25th Anniversary and Brad’s 50th Birthday are 3 very big milestones that had been on our minds when he was diagnosed. As we approach year 3 of this battle we are so incredibly thankful to be celebrating these milestones together. God is with us in this battle, we are sure of it!

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Prayer requests would include continued bold prayers for our children to stay strong, stay focused and continue to enjoy life. They are normal teenagers…frustrating at times, responsible, helpful, selfish but always loving. This extra long Summer break has been wonderful but we are ready for LAUNCH the weekend of August 21st! Brad appreciates continued prayers for his health, his treatment and all of the support we receive. Recently I had a really hard day keeping everything in check, doing a lot of heavy lifting and dealing with some bad moods amongst my tribe. The next day a book for caregivers was on our doorstep from our church. Brad took a picture of it and sent to me. He said “the Lord has spoken.” I don’t know whether to laugh or cry but that gift came at such a perfect time…like really, really perfect! I will update this blog when we know the results and where this path will take us in the near future.

oxox, Kim