I knew this day was coming but man… it feels like time has flown by and the day has finally come. T graduated from high school!
Jake and I are so proud of him! He finally made it through and graduated with honors and in a few short weeks he’ll be shipping out to join the US Army.
Compare that with this photo of T from 2009 when he was just 11 years old! This was back when he was still shorter than me.
Those days are long gone!
A few more photos since I’m feeling sentimental!
This one is from 2010 when we stayed at TusCa with the kids.
Not sure what year this is from, but we’re toasting our salt & pepper wings at Mandarin Chinese in Chula Vista.
T, Jake, and I at the Dog Beach in Ocean Beach.
For graduation day, Grandma got us a sweet ride to take us to the ceremony which was being held at Copley Symphony Hall in Downtown San Diego. The football stadium is still being renovated at Crawford High School so their ceremony took place at Symphony Hall instead.
Here’s T’s friend in front of the limo!
Inside the limo on the way to graduation!
The new graduate!
Graduation Cake
I decided to do a Strawberry Crunch Cake based off those Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Bars. I used the recipe from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.
Crumb coating stage of this FOUR layer cake.
All frosted…
And ready for the crumb topping which is made out of Golden Oreos, Shortbread Cookies, and freeze dried strawberries.
I used the leftover cake to make mini strawberry cake bars. I simply pressed the leftover pieces into my bar pan. Strawberry cake on the bottom, strawberry frosting in the middle, vanilla cake on top, plus the crunch topping.
Here’s the cake with all of the decorations on top! I got the stars at Michael’s and attached them to wooden skewers. I cut some of the skewers to create different heights for the stars. The “Congrats” labels are made out of stickers.
The graduate was quite pleased with his cake.
Four layers of sweet goodness!
And… a photo of Jake and I being silly post-sugar cake high.
Congratulations to T and this awesome achievement! It’s been a privilege and a pleasure to watch T grown into a respectful, intelligence young man. I’m proud of his accomplishments and his choice to join the US Army. Hooray!
Congratulations to Thackeray on graduating with honors from high school and best wishes as he embarks on a new phase of his life, induction to the US Army. He is such a nice young man and I can’t believe he is an adult and ready to move on! I like his quirky sense of humor and his willingness to go out of his comfort zone (when trying foods with you guys and and various food crawls in the past). Congrats to his dad Jake (and yourself) for raising a great young man!
Thanks so much, CC! He is a great young man. I’ll pass along your well wishes. 😀
Love the cake and the clever star decorations. Very professional! ??
Aww, thanks Mary! I saw it in Pinterest 😉
The cake you made is also amazing Mary! Love the flavor combinations and the star decor. Anyone would be thrilled to get a cake from you!
Aww, thanks, CC!
Congratulations, T! Good luck in the Army!
Thank you, Jessica!
Oh gosh that was such a great photo compilation of T. He’s such a fun guy. So happy for his accomplishments and will be sad that he’s leaving in a few weeks 🙁
Aren’t they great photos? We’ve made some great memories with that kid! I’ve been getting all sentimental lately!