suzie, the graduate..

my baby sister, suzanne elise, graduated from high school last week!

to say we are proud would be the biggest understatement ever.

i am the luckiest person on earth because not only was i blessed with the best big brother on the planet, but my parents also decided to add to our family when lanny and i were a little older. there are 15 years between the youngest and oldest in my family.

what does this mean? that lanny and i got to watch hannah and suzie grow up.. and remember it. i remember learning my mom was going to have suzie like it was yesterday. i was not thrilled.. because i would have to change rooms in the house. i was 11 :-) but man, oh man.. was i wrong. suzie (and hannah!) are two of my biggest blessings. they have shaped who i am today. they (along with my mom) are the reason that i love kids so much. i am probably a better mom because of them. for being much younger than me, they sure have taught me a lot.

with that said, and i could go on forever, i am one proud big sister. i remember holding suzie for the first time. here it is..

i remember holding her and hannah.. babysitting them.. probably bossing them around :-) ok, i definitely bossed them around..

here i am swinging suzie around after her dance recital in 2000..

so, the purpose of my rambling? this girl is very special to me. rob and i were so excited to be in atlanta to celebrate her.

we started off the celebration by going to her last dance recital. i was so excited to see her dance! she is amazing.. so much ease on stage.. she's a natural. we all cried during her solo. you just can't take your eyes off her when she dances! here she is in the middle..

hannah, mom, and mom's sweet friend, judy, all watched so proudly!

the next night, we went to suzie's baccalaureate mass. it was beautiful! this is us afterwards! that's my sweet aunt laurie on the right! we were so glad she was there!

the next day was the big day!! time to graduate!! 

my sweet family of 3..

suzie's godparents :-) my uncle bill and i! it was so fun having bill there!! 

do you guys think my mom is proud? ;-) this is my favorite picture of the weekend!!

we had such a great time! my mom threw suzie a fabulous graduation party afterwards. little robert was the life of the party and super social. he had so much fun mingling with everyone and staying up way past his bedtime!

we had such a great weekend celebrating our suzie!! suzie is headed to georgia southern in the fall where she will study special ed!

we are so proud of you, suzie. my favorite things about you? your smile, your ability to laugh at yourself, your confidence, your thoughtfulness, your huge heart... just to name a few. love you so very much.

the only thing missing from the weekend? lanny and his sweet family! we missed them so much.. but they were busy in dallas birthing babies :-) pretty great (and cute!!) excuse! love you!