as he took this step into manhood which Robert calls, "Rights of passage." We both think it is essential for our children to have a day like this to acknowledge that they are no longer children-that they have now stepped over into adulthood.
Cora's former music teacher, Rev. Lane Keister, played piano for about 45 minutes before the program started as people came in and sat down. People were just amazed as he got that old piano rumbling in ways that I'm sure it hasn't since he played at Cora's graduation 4 years ago. He definitely is a VERY gifted musician, the likes of which is not usually heard in North Dakota. Thank you, Lane, for blessing us in this way. This was a great way to begin the afternoon and
the program followed. Here is what was on the program.
Introduction and Welcome by Robert
Pledge of Allegiance & Recitation of 10 Commandments
Instrumental music by boys: BLACKBERRY BLOSSOM
A word from the Principal--(Robert's thoughts) with poem, "IF"
Family song:WITH MY SONG
A word from the teacher (Me) with poem, "TROUBLE TROUBLE"
Valedictorian's Address with Poem, "Farmer's Prayer"
Geography Class Skit by Andrew and Dawn
Presentation of Diploma
Puppet show, "Would you grad-ge-ate Jethro?"
with the Dagley children providing music
Andrew's life pictures slideshow
Open mic--Bring a song to share
Closing prayer with Pastor Steve Kyner
I'm hoping to be able to post the video of Andrew and I doing the Geography Class song soon. Andrew did so well and the people just loved him. I enjoyed being able to share the way that we do things in our school and also some of what we have learned.
During the open mic time these friends blessed us with music or a poem: Angelica Miller, Delores Miller, Clifford Johnson, the Dagley family, my brother Rick, Sarah Keister, Robert's mom, and Cora and I played our piano duet. We did, "Fugue on a Russian Theme" and it went ok. It wasn't like playing it on our own piano but it was a good thing that Lane got all of the dust out of the thing before we played. :) At least we couldn't use THAT as an excuse for our mistakes. :) It was more like a case of weak nerves, but Robert said that it sounded good so maybe others didn't notice our bloopers as much as we did. :)
Our puppet show went ok. We were trying out a new concept of putting the puppets in front of us instead of killing our shoulders lifting them up over the top of the stage. We had done puppets like that in Bismarck Baptist because our puppets were not full body puppets. This means that they had no legs so we had to put them over the top of the stage. However our puppets do have legs so it made sense to try putting them out in front of us. It worked great in that our shoulders didn't weary at all. When we watched the video of it this afternoon, though, we all had a good laugh. Most of the time our puppet's feet weren't on the floor--they were hanging in mid air!!! I had noticed it about half way through the skit and kept Polly's feet down better after that but the first half was pretty bad. Oh well, that's how we learn. If we never try anything, we'll never make any mistakes, to be sure. We'll never accomplish anything though either, right? How's that for a recovering perfectionist? Anyway, it was sooo much fun to be able to work with my children in this way. It was a dream come true for, ever since directing puppets at our church in Bismarck 17 years ago, I have dreamed of having a family puppet ministry. Perhaps this will become a reality in the future?
I'd best move on. This is the picture of the punch table. Jerome, Robert's cousin, is helping himself while the Geiger girls and Amanda Dagley visit having caught up with their work. It's always nice, when home schoolers have an event, to see the young people visiting with each other. Check Cora's blog for pictures of the adults visiting. :)
The boys and I are reciting Exodus 20:1-17 here. This is the long version of the 10 Commandments which we recited at the beginning of every school day for the past 17 years. I don't know if I had the jitters or if we just should have gone over it once beforehand, but in a few spots I blundered. This means that I wasn't perfect--oh my. Andrew chuckled under his breath and kept going. Jacob wasn't feeling the best so he didn't really lead out--therefore it was a good thing that we had Andrew with us. :)
The boys are playing Blackberry Blossom here. What a joy it was to see them enjoying music so much that they would choose to share a song. My mom would have LOVED hearing this!
Here Robert is sharing his thoughts about raising Andrew. It wasn't hard to tell that he has a very deep love and affection for this son who is so much like him. Many of us were wet eyed when he was finished--including Robert!
Me in my yellow dress sharing some stories about Andrew's life that only a mother could know.
Me in my yellow dress sharing some stories about Andrew's life that only a mother could know.
Here Andrew is giving his speech. Being I had shared that he taught me how to combine sunflowers, he thought he would explain how I happened to get lost that night in the dark. He is a good story teller, an art which is fast disappearing in the computer age. He did such a good job of explaining why he was glad that he was home schooled and Robert and I wiped our eyes several times. I'm sure that he will post the video of this sometime soon.
Our first born son, Andrew Robert Bornemann, on his graduation day.
Here Robert is reading the diploma and Andrew is waiting for his father to hand it to him.
This is Angelica Miller singing THE VIA DOLAROSA. She is the daughter of our friends, Lyle and Becky Miller. It was beautiful especially when she sang one verse in Spanish. Becky was indispensable in the kitchen and as always, her smile lights up my world. Thanks for coming and sharing Miller family!
These are our friends, the Dagley family. Four years ago, when there family was larger by three children, they sang BE THOU MY VIVISON. Andrew REALLY likes that song and asks for it many times in school or church hymn sings. I wasn't at all surprised when he asked them to sing it for his special day. As always, the hearts of this family blesses ours!
This is Delores Miller whom our family has grown up thinking of as a grandma. She took a poem out of her pocket in the kitchen and said, "I was going to read this for Andrew." It was "IF" by Rodyard Kipling which Robert had just read a few minutes earlier. We laughed together. She said that she had a second selection along and would read that instead. This taught me the value of being prepared with an alternate song or reading when I REALLY want to be able to share something for someone special. Thanks Delores!
This is a picture of our dear friend, Clifford Johnson, who sang about our Lord's sacrifice on the cross. He also helped Ellen and her crew in the kitchen when he wasn't jamming with the Dagleys and later with Andrew and Rick included. Clifford and Ellen are examples of what I wrote about at the top of this blog. They don't know the meaning of the word "Old," and just keep getting
better every year! We could not have gotten through the day without their help and their love.
This is a picture of Robert's mom, Marly Bornemann. She conquered her fear of public speaking and did a great job. She read, "The Farmer's Son" to Andrew. It was as though someone wrote it just about Andrew and we all had lumps in our throats. What a fitting tribute it was to the graduate AND to Marly's own son, Robert. :)
Here is a picture of most of the Keister family. Lane at the piano is playing for Sarah who sang, Psalm 121. This is the song that Lane accompanied for Cora 4 years ago when she sang it for her graduation. Sarah is a former opera singer and now challenges herself by singing with a baby on her hip. How wonderful it was to hear you again, Sarah!
This is our pastor, Steve Kyner, right before he blessed the meal. He was saying that he remembers when he came to Alfred that Andrew was "So tall." We were very glad and honored that he and Vangie were able to join us for the afternoon. :)
This is a picture of Andrew after supper. He was showing Justus Geiger how his turntable works. It's built to hold 90 pounds so Andrew had taken the bathroom scale along to make sure that nobody heavier than that stood on it. He's just a little protective of his Lego creations--kind of like me with my goats. :) Andrew told me one time that he has over a thousand dollars stuck into his Lego collection. He certainly drew lots of attention to himself at his Lego creation display where he shared with everyone what he really loves--creating things. I often wonder if he likes yellow because that's the predominant color that Legos come in or does he like Legos because they're yellow? I wonder if we'll ever know?
This is the litle lady who kept the kitchen running smoothly all afternoon--our friend Ellen Johnson. She manned that kitchen like a battleship and not a minute was wasted in preparing the supper. By the time the program was ended, food was being set out on the tables and I never had to lift a finger. What a gift that was!!!! Then Ellen said, "You go and eat with your family." When I protested that the guests should go first, she said, "If you want me to run your kitchen, then you have to follow my orders." We laughed together and I picked up a plate. She said that the family should eat first and then visit with the guests instead of worrying about the food. How's that for a friend? Other ladies helping in the kitchen were Roxanne Gill from Eureka; Delores Miller from Streeter; Becky Miller from Streeter; and the Geiger girls from Baldwin. Cake cutters were Estella Merkel and Marly Bornemann, both of Eureka, SD.
When all of the kitchen was spik and span after supper, Ellen sat down to rest. This was when she picked up her crochet hook. Talk about an amzing woman!!!!!!!!! I have learned so much from Ellen about preparing food--whether for a family or for a crowd. May God bless you richly, Ellen, for how you have blessed my life with your wonderful friendship!
May God richly bless all who helped us to celebrate Andrew's life yesterday, June 7th, 2009. Thanks for all of your prayers that helped make the day a joyous celebration for Andrew!!! Feel free to check Cora's blog for more pictures and Andrew's blog for some videos of the big day.
One thing that I just noticed, as I proofread this post, is that there are no pictures of Cora. How can this be? Well, it's because she was the one taking all of the pictures. Chuck said that he'll send all of the pictures that he took soon so then we'll have pictures of all of us doing things throughout the program. I'm sure that SOMEBODY here will post some of them and then you can see Cora in her cute outfit that she redid from an old prom dress.
Happily tired,
Dawn
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