The biggest news around the Jacobsen household is we are one down and 4 to go! Taylor's graduation was wonderful and as you can imagine, filled with a variety of different emotions. He has worked so hard and what a warm fuzzy feeling it is to see it all pay off :) He maintained his 4.0 GPA and graduated wearing the distinguished honor chords! The craziest thing to me, was the size of the graduating class. The ceremony was held at Boise State in a ginormous auditorium- and let me tell you, trying to pick your kiddo out of a sea of caps and gowns is not easy! I felt like a mama duck trying to find her duckling!
Fortunately, Taylor sang with the Acapella Choir and had to leave his seat to join them up on stage. I'm not sure how long it would have taken us to finally spot him- I felt such a huge relief knowing where he was and it was then that I really had to fight back the tears. I was shaking when he was walking off the stage with that well deserved diploma- I'm not sure why, emotional me I guess :) , so the picture is pretty fuzzy.
That weekend we had a nice little get together with family and friends at my parents. We went with a BSU themed party to get Taylor used to being surrounded by blue and orange ;)
Thanks mom and dad for always being so gracious with your home! It really is a spectacular place for entertaining! It seems like literally overnight, Taylor went from being carefree in high school to a young man with a job, a place he can call his own, and a full-time college student. As of right now, he has chosen to major in mathematics- he is definitely gifted in this area. A trait that he gets from his dad :) -certainly didn't come from his mom!. I am soo incredibly proud of him!! He really is doing great! A big thank you as well to all of our friends and family who celebrated in Taylor's accomplishments- through cards, letters, and words of wisdom- we appreciate it so!
Kate survived her sophmore year and is officially an upper classman! With Taylor moving into a condo with friends, the race for who would lay claims to his room was on! After a family discussion, it was decided that Kate would get the honors- ok mom & dad decided- it just seemed to make the most sense :) Project "Take Over Taylor's Room" began.
Plain white walls just don't seem to fit Kate- she is full of passion and spunk! Plus, well, lets face it, she's a girl :) This is really the first time she's ever had her "own" room so we wanted to make it special for her. After a trip to kohl's, we found the cutest most girly bedding set! Then a quick trip to Lowe's for paint and we were ready to get started.
The colors turned out beautiful and with the help of my dad's super duper nail gun (seriously Tim the Toolman would be impressed!) a chair rail was added.
We still have a few things to put up on the walls and find the perfect window treatment- but I think Kate is pretty pleased with her new private place :)
Drew is a freshman this year and looks more and more mature each day. He is coming into his own, and I must admit- this is the best part of being a mom. Watching them mold and grow is fascinating to me. After a summer spent being pretty relaxed, he tackled freshman year full speed ahead! He is playing football, joined a robotics club, and was given a lead role in a play. The juggling and balancing of all of these is getting tricky but I am so proud of how he is taking it all in stride. He's also been such a great help to grandma and grandpa- despite his busy schedule, he mows their lawn and helps grandma tackle her to do list. He's been on the go so much, that getting him in a picture these days is nearly impossible :)
Hannah is changing right before our eyes as well. I see so much of Beth in her- her smile, her sweet spirit, her fashion sense :) If I didn't know better, I would think she was Beth's kiddo :) She is enjoying jobies, spending time with friends, and loves being with the family. I'm sure the later will fade somewhat in the near future, but for now, I'm cherishing every moment! She is alreay anxiously awaiting the start of tennis- a sport she started last year and really does well!
Carter is doing great! He is loving preschool and amazes all of us on a regular basis with how his little brain thinks. He is convinced he is a teenager- one of his favorite things to do is listen music on an ipod..
His imagination runs wild and always keeps us guessing :) With some coaxing from dad, we finally got him on a "real" bike this summer- he is definetly the most cautious of all my kiddos. Once he got the hang of it, he's been in love with the whole bike riding concept :)
Never the family to keep life simple, we've added to the Jcrew. Meet Oliver Zeus Jacobsen...aka Ollie :)
He is a Mini Old English Bulldog- although I'm not sure where the "mini" part comes in lol.. He is a chunk! He has been a great addition and quickly had us all just in love with him. I especially like that he is incredibly mellow :)
We also experienced something incredibly scary and life changing a few months ago. You might have noticed that my Dad is not in the pictures from Taylor's party. He was in ICU recovering from open heart surgery. A few weeks prior to Taylor's graduation, my dad had an angiogram where they discovered he had a very significant life threatening blockage. It was at that time we were told he would need to undergo bypass surgery. My dad is so strong and I think we all draw off of that...now here we were- mom, Ben, Beth, and me in a cold waiting room- searching for that strength from ourselves and each other. After a consult with a cardiovascular surgeon, my dad decided to have the surgery the day following Tay's graduation. He didn't want to miss his first grandchild graduate. It made that day even more bittersweet because we knew what a long road my dad had ahead of him in just a few short hours. We went to dinner following the ceremony and we were seated in the banquet room. I wanted to freeze time- the entire family was together and you could just feel all the love in that one space- and I couldn't even imagine not having one of us there. My dad, being the most selfless person I know, kept telling us not to worry and enjoy Taylor's party. The next day, we all gathered in the ICU waiting room- trying hard to be strong for my mom. She handled it all amazingly though- and in the end, I think she was the one who was strong for us. It hasn't been easy, but my dad is doing great! He is such a trooper and has been a model patient- following all of the doctors orders no matter how difficult. Thank you God for holding us close and giving us more days to create priceless memories.
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