Last Day of Kindergarten

Ashlyn on her last day.  She decided to wear the same dress she wore on the first day. 

    Yesterday, was Ashlyn's last day of kindergarten.  It was such a bitter sweet moment for me.  I am so immensely proud of our girl.  On the other hand, this is all going by way too fast and I can't believe she is already in first grade.  It makes me sad that she is no longer the youngest of the school.  They make kindergarten such a special year for kids and I know first grade won't be as special. 
      Ashlyn had a truly amazing kindergarten year.  We feel so blessed to have her at the school she is at.  It is ranked as one of the top schools in the state and I now can see why.  Her first year of school far surpassed any expectations we had.  Ashlyn just flourished at school.  She learned so much this year.  She's a math whiz and constantly wowing us with her math knowledge.  She is becoming a really strong reader.  She reads almost every chance she gets a home.  She reads words that I am just amazed by.  She has started to read some pretty hard books and I couldn't be prouder of her.  She had a great teacher that did an excellent job of challenging the kids.  She held them to high expectations and I was so amazed at what the kids in her class were capable of.  Ashlyn also made some great friends.  Her teacher told us at conferences that Ashlyn was friends with everyone and I really believe that to be true.  She is such an outgoing and sweet girl.  She made two really close friends and I hope their friendships continue over the years.  Joey and I continue to be so proud of our girl.  She is such an amazing little girl and I can't wait to see what the future has in store for her. 
    Her school held a program yesterday morning for their graduation.  Ashlyn's grandparents came all the way from Buena Vista to watch.  Her gram also came to see this very special moment.  Like all the teachers at the school, the music teacher is phenomenal and goes above and beyond.  She taught them quite a few songs that they sang to us.  They sang a really cute one about growing up.  It was a very nice program.  The day before, they had done some graduation stuff in class.  Her teacher made each of them an awesome book with different pictures of them throughout the year.  I can't imagine how much time she put into making these special books.  Its something we will cherish for years to come. 
    Ashlyn finished the day at school.  She said she had a great last day with all of her friends.  I really wish Ashlyn could have the exact same classmates next year.  They were such a nice, neat group of kids.  After school, we decided to take Ashlyn out to a celebration dinner.  She reminded us that graduating from kindergarten is a once in a lifetime experience.  Ashlyn chose her favorite restaurant, Red Robin.  It was a perfect ending to such a special day.
    We are sad the school year is over, but very excited to finally get summer break started.  Dawson is done with daycare for the summer, so we have a lot of fun planned.  I am sure it will be another summer filled with lots of fun and great memories!

They opened up with the song "You're a Grand Old Flag" Ashlyn is in the back row.

The kids at the ceremony. 

Her teacher made each student an award.  Ashlym got the award for most creative.  I totally agree with that one and couldn't be prouder of her. 

Coming out of the school as a new first grader. 

Ashlyn and her best friend Sofie.  Joey has become good friends with her dad, so they have planned lots of play dates for over the summer. 

This is a picture of Ashlyn and her 3rd grade pen pal.  Ashlyn really loves her pen pal and they became good friends.  This is a frame she made Ashyln.