Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Celebrating Ellen's Graduation

Saturday was the day. A drop in at our home from 2p - 8p was designed to not overwhelm our special daughter. Ellen was looking forward to her party.....each of her siblings had a graduation party and this was on her wish list too. But, Ellen loves her alone time. We decided that planning a drop in over many hours would be the best for her. That way our family and friends could show up when it suited them and Ellen would not be overwhelmed by everyone all at once. 

It really worked! Ellen had a wonderful time. She stayed with the party even when it was just her siblings. She only asked to get her iPad at the very end of the evening. That's something that is usually with her all the time while at home. We were very proud of her!

I took so few pictures. Guess I was kinda busy! (I'm being very distracted by sirens right now. Lots of fire trucks going to a fire somewhere. God help those the firemen are responding to!)

Three of Ellen's close friends. These girls always have a good time together. 

Another friend and her parents came later...no pictures :(  

These special people (parents of Ellen's friends) enjoy our porch. Thanks for coming, Dottie, Terry and Coach T!
(Coach T is Ellen's Challenger Baseball coach and friend Elizabeth's dad)


Hubby enjoys conversation with some of his family around the dining room table. 


Some of the food :) 


Ellen enjoyed opening the cards. She also collected money for her favorite activity....UDS Cheering. They provide everything our kids need for this activity, costing us nothing. What a blessing! Ellen will deliver the donation to UDS sometime soon. 
 Ellen agreed that she really didn't need a lot of graduation gifts. Her friends and family did give her lots of her favorite candy, though....Reese's PB cups! She is all set for a long time :)


Our girl loves cake...and the colors yellow and orange!

It was a delightful day! Congratulations, Ellen!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I especially love the last photo of Ellen! Looks like a great party with lots of delicious food. Congrats again to Ellen!!!

From the Kitchen said...

What a happy looking graduate! I wish her all the best--along with enjoying all those Reese Cups (my favorite too)!!

Best,
Bonnie

Unknown said...

A grand party for a lovely young lady.

Susan said...

Congratulations Ellen! What a great celebration for her and your family!! Looks like so much fun and lots of delicious food ... {and I'm learning that sometimes the camera is just a distraction from the moments we share & memories we make ... love you, Doris!}

Mari said...

Congratulations Ellen! I can see she enjoyed the day, and it looks like you really worked hard on all that food!

Mary Ellen said...

It was a lovely party, Doris. The displays of pictures of Ellen through the years, and her school notebook were so interesting. Your house felt very festive.
I just love that the schools are better equipped today to meet the needs of students with learning challenges. Ellen was so beautiful on Saturday. The food was very good today. I also enjoyed seeing your family again.

Theresa said...

What a wonderful party for Ellen! Great idea to have a drop-in! I like it because it gives more time with the graduate one on one:) Enjoy your day dear Doris! Loved all of the pictures showing everyone having fun!