Location: Neuschwanstein, Germany

After Stephani's high school graduation (congrats to her) we headed down to Bavaria, yeah, Bavaria is not that great... hehe, have you been there?

First stop, Stuttgart to get Cody of course. While there we had to wait for mom and dad to get gas in their car so we had a LITTLE fun with picking on Steph and her bear. It's not our fault. Don't make such a big deal about it and we won't torment you so. We made him ride outside the car... don't worry, he still made it to Garmisch with us! (Dont' judge me!)

Onward to Garmisch, pitstopping in Neuschwanstein, aka, Cinderella's castle. So it's my second time going, it is pretty cool, I mean the drive is nice, but you can't take pictures inside the castle... or can you??? Ask my dad whether or not you can... this is his pride and joy... he was being a little bit of a rebel and took a picture inside, funny thing is he did it without looking through the eye piece, without focusing it, without even aiming and he got a good picture. Too bad it flashed and he got a little embarassed about that...So Neuschwanstein was cool, but we were all a little tired and needing some sleep, it was later in the afternoon and we still needed to check into our hotel... OH OH, while at Neuschwanstein my dad got a little timed phot happy and made us take about 20 family pictures... quite literally we were taking family portraits every 10 feet or something. Probably my favorite:It was a good first day, with so many more to come.

Where in the world is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know (late, but you still know!)

Location: Way far away, Germany; High school graduation

Alright, so I'm playing MAJOR catch up, forgive me, but someday I'll be able to balance school, traveling, blogging and hopefully working.

So it was a crazy day when I graduated, but not 4 years (almost to the day) later I'm headed down to some German city out in the middle of nowhere near Pirmasens... yes, it was a drive and even then we were still limited to seats. Still a touchy subject for our family; anyhow!

So we get to this little theater, it was nice, definitely more grand than most stages for high school graduates and we wait in the hot back side of the theater for that oh familiar (in my eyes overplayed) song of Pomp and Circumstance. The crowd rises and in walk the grads, you can imagien my surprise when I realize that her graduating class was much bigger than mine. We take our seats and let the LONG program begin.

I loved living in Germany, really I did. But I HATED having to do things for TWO countries. For example, at the beginning of the ceremony a senior sang the American national anthem, yay, we can sit, Oh wait, no, not yet, listen to the German national anthem. Oh, now you want to sit? Just kidding, time for the invocation (which makes me wonder, if there's an invocation why do most places NOT do a benediction? I know, spoiled Mormon over here), after the invocation, ok, now you can sit.

Welcome to the Kaiserslautern American High School graduation of 2009! Cheers errupt, but oh wait, what is that in the background? The same thing... in GERMAN! Are we going to do this for everything? I know we are in Germany, but it's an AMERICAN high school. You just said that!

**Side note... when I graduated from a foreign country I don't think we translated the welcoming. Granted it might have been way too hot, but still!!**

So we go through this whole speach done in english and then we have to listen to it in German (yes I can speak German, but I don't think ANYONE needed to hear it in German!). So imagine the fear when I thought that we would be there for 17 hours listening to people say one thing in English and then in German. I was hoping they wouldn't need to translate the names of the graduates... How dumb would that be? Ezekiel Graham... Azikehl G(rolling r)ahaaaam... I'd be pissed!

So we watch as the pool of red, seniors, await for their turn to stand, walk to the side, wait in line for their name to be called, receive their diploma, pose for pictures, return to their seats and sit. Was my graduation that bad? NO! it wasn't, I will tell you why!!!

At this graduation they would say, Ezekiel Graham (was that even a real person? I don't know...) and then, Ezekiel's favorite memory is blah blah blah blah blah blah blah he is headed to such and such school to study blah blah blah blah blah where he hopes to persue blah blah blah blah blah... cheers... Next... can you see why it took about an hour and a half to get through 100 kids???

Needless to say when Stephani's turn came I waited for it to get quiet then yelled at the top of my lungs, LOVE YOU ANI! Did she hear? NO! What a waste of breath that could have been saved for my death bed Steph!

Lucky for us because R is towards the end of the alphabet after watching Steph walk we were near the end. I feel bad for the Valedictorian or Salutatrian or even anyone whose last name is Adams! They see their kid walk and then it's like... BORING! Yawn fest over here!

After they all walked they did the hat toss, Steph did NOT throw her hat... good ole Ray tradition (I wonder what would happen if nobody threw their hat.. what a lame picture...)

We made our way out the doors and through the hoards of masses that thought it would be a good idea to mingle IN the foyer instead of in the courtyard just outside the building and finally found Steph, not easy when looking for a midget! It's almost like it'd be easier to lay on the ground and look for her between people's legs.
What a happy day, welcome to the real world Steph... and don't worry, I won't post pictures of you and Erik holding hands at the Ice cream parlor we all went to after ya'lls graduation. ;)

Where in the World is Sara D. Ray? Well, now you know!