3.21.23 State FFA convention

We made our trek across central Oregon to watch this 5 minute even.t We are proud of his work ethic and ability to make friends. 

I cajoled him into a picture with me. 

One more with dad and Mark as a photo bomb. our little FFA enthusiast Andrea always along for the ride. The convention seemed huge this year, like double the size of last year. 

John was way more comfortable talking to peers than his parents. That's ok I knew that would be the case. I'm always thankful for the many parents who chaperone and for the comfort the advisor plans for. The kids are well fed, well housed and doing good things. 

New for me this year was having my sisters at convention. The one in tan had a daughter also receive her degree. The other is a supportive Aunt. Another sister was there supporting her husband who was running a college booth. And finally my brother came the next night to receive an honorary service award. FFA helped each of us grow and become more confident and capable. I'm thankful that so far my kids can have similar experiences and learning. So much has changed Boy scouts has succumbed to problems, church programs are vastly different but FFA persists for now and for that I am so grateful. It was fun to go to ice cream with these sisters after the session and visit without kids or responsibilities. 

 14 kids from our FFA chapter received their degrees I'm very impressed with the effort of the kids, advisor, and parents to make that happen. They were by far the biggest recipients per size of school. 
Big screen view of John.

I love the science fair portion. It's fascinating and impressive how the advisors are linking life situations to agricultural education. 

I'm thankful the kids were engaged in service being courtesy corp or door holders for session. They took on the bouncer persona pretty easily. 

Another shot of the recipients. No John is not shorter the middle man is on his toes. 

Addie got 3rd with a photo, Mark 2nd with an essay or his speech, his friend got first with hers. Another friend got 1st on her information poster. So new entries and activities it was a good experience to spend time with other FFA members. We are blessed and life is good- even better to be home and eventually caught up on rest.