At the end of May Adam, my 3 sisters, and I all went to Iowa to surprise my brother for his high school graduation. We arrived in Omaha at midnight and then made the 3 hour long drive to my parent’s house in Iowa. Upon arriving at 3 AM we sneaked into Trevor’s room and began singing the Cougar Fight Song. (GO BYU!) I was marching on his bed and singing at the top of my lungs “Rise and shout the Cougars are out!” Trevor screamed like a little girl and then looked around wondering what we were all doing there. It was great!
Bright and early the next morning Trevor had his open house. In Iowa it is custom to hold and open house for the graduate. Friends, neighbors, and family members come to congratulate, look at pictures (usually baby to present), eat refreshments, and wish the graduate good luck. I am sure part of this is so the graduate can see everyone without them attending the ceremony and have the bonus of receiving presents! It was fun to be at the open house because I spent a few summers and holiday breaks at my parent’s house. I know most of the church members who came to support my brother and it was good to catch up with them and introduce them to my husband.
Note—I am not always a poser like this. My sister, Lisa, stuck me on the end so she didn’t get the full body shot. I figured if I was going to be the one stuck on the end I was going to attempt to make my waist look smaller…due to the fact that I enjoy the brownies during the open house. 
WHAT! They were mushy and I could only mush food because my teeth hurt so bad.
Can you tell the boys were getting sick of pictures?!
That evening we went to a great Mongolian barbeque restaurant called HuHot…Trevor’s fav! It is an all you can eat restaurant (of course that makes it a guys favorite) where you pick what noodles, meat, veggies, and sauce you want. Then you give it to the guy working the grill. He grills it up and you eat! Repeat as many times as you want! It is fun because each time can be completely different. Note: this was not an enjoyable dinner for a girl who just got braces on a few days before. After dinner we came home and laughed our guts out watching family home videos from the 80’s and early 90’s. WOW!
Sunday, after waking up bright and early again, we went to church. Again I really liked this part because I got to see past church friends again. I just wish I could have seen all the kids my age who I became really good friends with the summer after high school. I miss them! After church we jumped in the car and headed to Trevor’s graduation.
We had front row seats…which I am sure automatically made Trevor nervous. You see, my family always has a way of finding just the right time to embarrass our family members way more than necessary. 
It is great!!
Trevor came marching in and we yelled his name and I played paparazzi. Look at how embarrassed he is! Since my sisters and I don’t live close to him, he isn’t used to being embarrassed in public. We took care of that QUICK! With many waves and thumbs up throughout the ceremony we unloaded the years of embarrassment he missed out on.
Just before they began calling the hundreds of names of the graduates they stated, “We pride our school in having an honorable and classy ceremony. We ask that you hold all applause, whistles, and yelling until the last name has been called.” Well, after about 15 names there were sporadic “Woot! Woot!”, claps, and cheers. No one was getting escorted out so I decided we decided we could not let this great opportunity pass without a little family support being shown. Here is the video…after he walks you can stop it…Adam just kept the camera rolling.
Can you hear the girls in the band? They yelled too! See even if my sister and I didn’t yell for him the ladies would have.
After the ceremony all the graduates had to turn in their cap and gown in order to receive their diploma. WAIT! We hadn’t gotten pictures with Trevor all dressed up in graduation gear. My mom tried to get Trevor to not turn in his things so quickly but being a stubborn Pollmann (he must be the only one because the rest of us aren’t that way 
) he turned it in anyway. Well…I wasn’t going to let my brother miss out on taking pictures in uniform and definitely wasn’t going to make my mom miss out on getting those. So I just went past security and got a cap and gown myself. (PS…on my way out of the area where the rest of the high schoolers were turning in their things, I walked past a fan and accidently pulled a Marilyn Monroe! HAPPY GRADUATION BOYS!)
After a little coaxing Trevor put on the graduation garb and we got the cameras flashing. –Trevor, you will thank me later for that!– I can’t believe my little brother graduated high school. I mean, I CAN believe that he did it but I CAN’T believe that both Trevor and I are old enough for that moment to happen.
WAIT! How did I get on the end again!? See why no one wants to be on the end! It makes you look HUGE! I look like I have a huge gut!!
Once Trevor warmed up to the idea of pictures, he got really into it. This one was his idea. Complete with the Class of 2010 white rose in his mouth.
Yeah for the graduate and his parents!
Okay…now Trevor is done with pictures. Check out his faces in the next few. My mother is always smiling so nicely.
Okay Trevor! Just one more!
Oh what fun we had! Trevor is always such a great sport. Like it or Not.
That afternoon I visited my sweet dog Buster’s grave site. It was a tearful moment. My mother and I just stood there and cried. He was such a great friend and always gave unconditional love. I wish he would have lived 2 more weeks so I could have seen him before he passed. I was SO looking forward to Adam meeting him. Miss you Bussy boy!
It says: A heart of gold stopped besting, two shining eyes at rest, God broke our hearts to prove He only takes the best.
Sunday evening we played Uno attack and then finished our laugh fest of family home videos. Question: How did we EVER like the styles for the 80’s and early 90’s!? They were hideous!! Then we went out back and roasted the world’s largest marshmellows. They were HUGE!
To end the night, at 2 AM we soaked our feet in the hot tub. We all really wanted to get in but since it was so late we just soaked and chit chatted.
Again, another bright and early morning on Monday. We got ready, packed up, ate a delicious French toast breakfast the madre made, and headed out to take that long drive back to Omaha.
It was a short trip and we were all extremely tired afterward but BOY WAS IT WORTH IT! What an exciting time for Trevor. I am so glad that we were able to make it out there to share his moment in the spot light AND embarrass him.
CARPE DIEM!
Thanks again, this time to the two people that entered the Cradle Rock giveaway. The winner is Camille of The Millars!! Her cute little Lincoln will love the tunes for sure!
Here is the skydiver that jumped out of our balloon
Life with Mr. Robertson is fun!
