Kevin graduated from UTK (the University of Tennessee at Knoxville) yesterday!! He was excited. We had to leave our house at 5:30 in order to get there on time, which meant we were all waking up sometime before 5 so that we could shower and eat some breakfast. We had a to hour drive ahead of us, and we knew graduation would last at least to hours. It lasted 3. So, we went about 7 hours with no food. Plus, the only food we'd had was cereal (you don't really feel like making anything else at 4:45 A.M.). Anyway, the actual graduation was 3 hours long, but we got there an hour and a half early so that we could actually get seats. Then we had to wait another hour before we actually got to the resteraunt and got our food. Al Gore gave the commencement speech. It was interesting. He talks in a very convincing way...like some other politicians we know. No wonder he became VP and co-won a Nobel Peace Prize. After his 30 minute speech, every single graduate had to have their name read out and then walk the stage. There were over 1,000 graduates. It took a LONG time. But afterwards we got to eat some delicious food and then we caravaned home...and took naps. After dragging ourselves out of bed, we just kinda hung out the rest of the night. We did puzzles and drank lots of cold water (did I mention we had to eat outside...in the 90 heat). It was exciting, to say the least.

She did inspire me. While she was looking over my shoulder, Caroline saw my blog. And the picture of SJ laying on the garage floor looking dead. She was perfectly fine with the fact that Sarah appeared to be dead. In fact she asked if she was. Mary and I explained that no, she was just laying on the floor and there happened to be red paint there. (we didn't elaborate further and explain that SJ had wanted to look dead. we thought it wasn't necessary information.) She then asked "oh, so she wasn't praying or eating or going places?" We said no, that she wasn't right then, but that when she got up she did. She nodded, as if satisfied. When I remembered this, the first thing that struck me was "wow, she mentioned prayer first." Her parents are not perfect, and they don't pretend to be. Right now, they are even going through some rocky times in their marriage. Caroline is completely unaware of any of this. But even unconciously, she is learning from them that prayer is important. Other times I have talked with her and she has asked me if I had Jesus in my heart. Without even waiting to hear the spiritual state of my heart, she proceeded to tell me how amazing He was. "...He loves you and me and he comes into you when you ask. And He never leaves. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy leave and go somewhere and I have to stay behind but He never does. He's right here..." She said all this in the Nursery with me during church a few weeks ago. Exact quote. Granted, she doesn't really understand what she's talking about or what it means, exactly, but it's still one of the sweetest things I've ever heard. She talks about prayer the same way, explaining how God really does hear you every time you talk to Him. She says she talks to Him about the flowers and the butterflies and her little sister.She's only four, so she doesn't understand how badly she really needs Jesus in her heart and how often in this life she's going to be falling apart and cry out to God, wondering if He's still there. But for now, she's on the right track, and I thank God every time I see her for the precious little gift she is.

The computer isn't letting me post pictures...it's been having (other) problems lately, too. I'm going to try moving pictures from this computer to another one and see if I can post them from there. There should be (more) pictures of our trip to Huntsville, and I might be able to find a picture of Caroline. If I am successful, they should be online by tomorrow at three. :)

so, right now there's a 4-year-old looking over my shoulder while I decide what to write about. She's cute.

This past week, Dad and Mom went to the Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit VI conference in Minneapolis, MN. So, the five kids stayed with, you guessed it (if you aren't one) the Ruffs!!! And of course, in keeping with the Ruff/Zeglen way, we took lots of pictures. And a picture's worth a thousand words, right? So, here are a few pictures.

Okay, so I know I wrote last week about being done with school, but yesterday made it official. We had our end of the year Awards Ceremony. Each class did a 5-minute presentation to show what they had learned. Our class did a skit about philosophers...no one's favorite subject. (except our teacher...she's the one who chose it.) Ours went remarkably well considering we hadn't managed to achieve a serious rehearsal previous to performing it on stage. In front of like, two hundred people. Peter's class did an amazing job! His teacher is really great, and she introduced the class really well. Their presentation was 'myth-busters'...addressing misconceptions that people have about God and His character. Peter had to be on stage for the longest, and he had a bunch of lines, and he was AMAZING!! It was pretty fun. I'm really excited about being done, except I'll miss my friends. :( Speaking of friends, I am packing right now to leave for Huntsville tomorrow!!!!! YAY!!! I'm excited!!