Homecoming 2014 - Part 2

So after a basically sleepless night, I got up bright and early and had Kenz curl my hair, Then we headed into the school.. The program started at 9. It was pretty strange being back there. I don't think I've been to a program since my last year. It's pretty neat. They sing the school song, (which is about 15 minutes long!) then the choir sang the school hymn. Than they have the different alumni from all the years back stand up. (1924-2014). It's always neat seeing who graduated in those different classes. I was one of only 3 people who stood for 2004.

I got to speak along with my most favorite Kindergarten teacher, Carol Petersen. She is the sweetest. I really did love her as my teacher. Then it was my turn to speak. I really wasn't all that nervous. Our theme was "Bringing Excellence to the surface." I thought it turned out okay. I just got up and talked, but people seemed to enjoy it. I had lots of people come up to me after with tears in their eyes, actually I should say McKenzie had lots of people go up to her, thinking she was me.

I think the best was when I was done, I had made a few jokes about Coach Toomer being mad at me all the time, he came up to me and gave me a hug and joked about how I was the one mad at him, and Coach Nate even piped in with a, "Yeah, I remember those looks she used to give." I joked back with, "Yeah, but I made your job that more fun," to which Coach Toomer replied, "Yeah, I'd take you back anyday." It was really sweet. I loved all of my coaches and was very blessed to have each and everyone. And yes, everyone still calls them all Coach.

I will  post my speech at the end for anyone who is interested in reading it. Unfortunately, it does not include all my hilariously funny jokes! ;)

After the speakers, they have the football and volleyball captains speak, then they announce basically the entire 9-12 student body. (All 50 of them.) Here is my cute brother who got to 'escort' my sister-in-law's cute brother Macen. They were pretty excited about it.

After the program, there was a little break while the students got ready for the parade. Oh, the parade. It's always a good time. Each class is responsible for creating their own float, then the town and the Elementary kids are invited to come watch. It's about a 10 minute parade, depending on how long it takes them for drive down main street, go around the park, and drive back up. It was fun watching the little kids though. They are all decked out in their orange and black, and just think it's the coolest thing ever.

After the parade there was a small break before the football game. I went to Grandma's and just chilled for a while. I was dead tired. I was pretty excited for the football game though. I have never watched Kennan play, so it was fun to be able to watch him for about 10 minutes before they were already up like 40-0. It was still good to watch him play.

It really was a lot of fun watching them play. After the game I saw my classmates standing together chatting, so I made my way over there to talk with them. We were having our 10 year reunion that evening, so it was really great to see everyone.

And, now I'm tired, so I'll have part 3 up soon.

Homecoming 2014 - Part 1

Cokeville High School Homecoming was held on October 3. It is my brother's senior year, and I have never seen him play football, so I decided I would go. Plus it was my 10-year class reunion (WHAT?!) so I thought it would be fun to be able to attend that as well. A couple of weeks before I received a call from one of the CHS Student Body officers asking me if I would be one of their speakers at homecoming. I told them I would do it. Believe it or not, speaking in front of people doesn't really freak me out anymore (at least not as bad!) I found out what the topic was and thought about it for a while, never having a real concrete idea of what I was going to say, but figured I'd put it all together eventually.

My mom and grandma came to Logan on the 2nd and we headed back to Cokeville. It's been a while since I've been to homecoming, so I was actually quite excited for the festivities to be had. We went early for the "Lighting of the C" which is something you just have to be there to witness. Seriously. There's nothing quite like it. While we were waiting, one of my classmates showed up. I haven't seen him in about 10 years, so it was good to talk with him and get caught up. After the pep rally on the street we headed to the bonfire, which is always a good time. Once the captains had spoken, the race to the school was on.

Each class 7-12 comes up with a class cheer, then the coaches all do their little speech, then it's time for donuts. A ton of memories definitely came flooding back to me. It's so fun to see certain traditions carry on throughout the years. Of course, after donuts the football boys go do their thing (I still have no idea what it is...It's somewhat of a secret...lol) and the volleyball team does their thing. I asked my dad what they were doing, and he said, "What do you think?" He shows an awesome volleyball video that has been shown since before he even started coaching at Cokeville, back when he was coaching at Bear Lake. It brings me to tears every time, so I wanted to watch it. Then the coaches left, and the girls did their secret business.

 
Here are some pictures from my senior year of Homecoming. See that little boy on the left, yeah, that's the brother that is graduating this year. Crazy, right? 

The girls in my class after the donuts.

Here is a picture of me and that little boy now...He still has that same little smirk. Love him!

When I got back to my parent's house that night, I decided it was time to put my speech together. Holy mother of something, my thoughts just would not come together. I was up until about 1:00 before deciding to just get some sleep. Good idea....I got very, very VERY little sleep. It's kind of funny because anytime someone would ask me if I was ready, I told them I'd just wing it. I kind of thought that I might have to. But it came together, at least I thought so.

To be continued... (mostly because I don't want this to be super long, and I have to get ready for work.)